1990 Ford Festiva review from North America

The rear axle needed to be replaced shortly after I bought the car because of rust. Luckily, I found a shop where they could replace it with a used axle (and also where a friend of mine worked) so it was rather inexpensive.

Although the car was small, I never felt unsafe in it. In fact, when I totaled the car on the highway at 65+ mph, the only injury I received was a bruise on my chest from the seatbelt. This despite the fact that I had been hit from the rear and knocked into a guardrail, and then bounced back across two lanes of traffic.

The color (pukey aqua) was not to my liking, but the gas mileage (40-45 mpg) definitely was.

The interior is a bit small for a larger person, but it is not uncomfortable.

Because it is so light, and because I usually drove it alone, my Festiva would really accelerate quite well.

My only real complaint was that I didn't have one of the models with a rear window washer, so at times, especially in the winter and early spring, it was hard to see out the rear window.