1988 Ford Festiva L plus from North America - Comments

Shifter cable slipped out around 23,000 miles. Repaired under warranty. These are all preventive maintenance.

Timing belt replaced 100,000 miles, brake pads 80,000, rear brake shoes 90,000. I performed all maintenance as a hobby. I bought the car new from Florida, very reliable car! Never had a problem, the only thing that I have ever done pretty much, preventive maintenance. Still running on original clutch disk! Very well built. The car was actually KIA assembled in Korea, Mazda engine 1.3 and sold as Ford Festiva badged in US.

Reliability, practicality, ease of maintenance. 4 speed transmission needs a fifth gear, 5 speed did not come until later and only with fuel injected models. Never failed to start! After 109,000 miles, does not burn or use oil, healthy compression, auto choke never failed. Smart design with the seats that can be folded forward for maximum cargo space. Instrument panel, gauges are easy to read and no non- sense design. Since new, I have replaced the tires and rims 13X5.5 alloys, 185/60/13 tires, (Original equipment was 145SR12 with 12" rims), 3" lowered, formuling steering wheels, side skirts, monza twin exhaust tips, tinted windows, I had the a/c installed aftermarket for $800.00, (needs in Florida) All of the accessories was installed as wants and not needs.

I once saw a 1988 festiva with a carberated engine & a 5 speed trans with a/c.

I own an 88 & 89, both are carburated, have A/C and 5 speed manual trans.

In 88 and 89 the LX models were 5spd and the L / L-Plus were 4 spd.

You may get another 200,000 out of that clutch. My 1989, which I've owned since new, still runs fine on the original clutch at 303,000! Still gets 40mpg with virtually no highway miles in the mix. This will be its 18th New Hampshire winter. I could go on and on about these amazing little cars and their durability, practicality, economy, dependability, longevity, etc, etc.

Mine is a 4spd, carbureted "L" model.

This car should be a required case study for all engineers and accountants at auto makers. What incredible reliability under all conditions. Had mine for seven years and only had one real problem, the starter, which was very cheap to replace.

Only sad part about this car is that it is cheap to buy used so the examples I see on the road are virtually all highly abused. I took care of mine religously and even had it detailed once a year - I loved it that much.