1988 Ford Festiva L from North America - Comments

Muffler rusted out @ 176K miles.

Replaced steering wheel and shifter knob- the plastic started to decompose and was sticky.

Parking brake cable snapped when I bought it.

Stuffing's coming out of the driver's seat.

There's rust on the car - its only enemy!

I consider the $200 I paid for the car a bargain.

It has never let me down (except when I got a flat and the tyre iron was missing!).

I get great gas mileage - about 38 mpg city driving.

The 63 hp engine is adequate for one or two people, but you can feel it strain when you pack 10 high school students into it.

Acceleration is not as fast as I'd like, but given the engine size I'm not surprised.

Still has the original transmission, clutch, and engine. However, the syncromeshes between 1st and 2nd are starting to fail since the gears grind if you shift too quickly.

I have never been let down by the car; the previous owners took very good care of it and it ran like a champ when I bought it. However I spent $1000 replacing the rear struts, all four tyres, the CV joints, the transmission oil seal and doing a few minor cosmetic things.

This little aluminium can on toothpicks has no blind spot, can park almost anywhere, and is practically indestructible.

The cabin is surprisingly roomy, and 4 people can fit in the car comfortably.

You must really love this car to have spent that much money on it.

Hope it lasts long enough for you to get your money's worth out of it, but the mileage it already had on it when you bought it might be some kind of record for a Festiva, a disposable car if there ever was one.

I have a 1988 Festiva, bought it with 272,000 miles for $350. Put new tires on it, plugs, timing belt and a fuel pump. Have about $800 all said in the car. I now have 297,000 miles and is still running like a champ.

Aside from the work mentioned in the review, I recently replaced the water pump, which leaked; and timing belt, which was in imminent danger of breaking. Mechanic said the belt *should* have broken a long time ago, but somehow it managed to stay on long enough to roll into his shop. I hardly realised just how close I came to totally destroying the engine (interference type) until I took the car in for routine maintainance...

I bought my 1998 Ford Festiva L new, loan and all $7004. I paid $125/mo for almost five years, I still drive it every day 8/14/06. I love this car. It is a five speed manual trans., no AC, fuel injected. If I am getting on the freeeway I can get up to 65-70mph easily and quickly. I believe the five speed manual is the best. Roomy, basics. It still gets mid 30mpg and it's never been garaged. I'm easy on a clutch and don't tailgate.

There's 131,000 miles in it now and she never fails to start. I am going to be so disappointed in any other car when the time comes

Problems are bad rust underneath, I had it undercoated when it was new. Vandals cut my bumper to expose Styrofoam. But as a friend told me, I'd float if I went into a river. 5 exhaust pipes, two new axles last year and brakes. I've been driving it for years with bad shocks. The right headlight sprung a leak and I silicon-ed it, but it is dim. I have to put about one quart of oil in every 3 months.

A man is selling a 1992 automatic with little or no rust for $1500. I desperately want another, but I believe it's the five speed that keeps it able to jump on command. I'm tempted to put that much into some body and engine work and keep this one, any comments?

Wow. It's been 2 1/2 years since I wrote the review on this car.

I sold it in Feb. 2006 with 201,000 miles on it, and to my knowledge it's still rolling around San Antonio, TX.

Since then I have regretted the sale, as this was my first car, and I spent a lot of time tinkering with it.

I ended up buying a truck, but then one day I saw a Ford Festiva for sale, and my love affair with these cars started all over again.

Now I have three of them and I won't let any go due to gas prices!

Hi...My 88 Festiva is a 4 speed. I love it, altho I'm getting very enamored with electric cars. I wonder if the Festiva may be a good candidate for converting to EV. But the engine only has 72000 miles & has a lifetime of running still in it.

I purchased my 1991 Festiva new, and used it commute to work for eight years.

Then my children used it for school and work. My son 19, is still using it and refuses to drive any other vehicle.

In the 17 years that I have owned it, I have had only two major repairs.

At 190k I had to replace a burned out valve. While I had the engine apart, I put in new front and rear seals and bearings, timing belt, head and cover gaskets. All this work, parts and tools cost just under $400.00, as I did the work myself over a period of one week.

I replaced the clutch at 240k at a cost of $960.00 at a tranny shop.

Other than that this car has only cost me general maintenance, tires, brakes, fuel etc. All I can really say about this car is that after 17 years, it still gets 43 miles to the gallon highway.

Had the comment for July 11, 2007. Replaced my sparkplug wires & timing belt. Three trips to the mountains have averaged 51.3 MPG! The last trip was 50.8 MPG including ups & downs of 11,000 feet. I took it easy on Festiva because I knew this $4 per gallon gas would come. Now my Festiva is getting the best MPG of its life, which got great MPG in its early life. Love my Festiva.

See if you can beat 50+MPG in the mountains.