Small car ???s

[tomstractormag]

Anyone have experience with a Subaru Justy or Ford Festiva?
I am looking to buy a small good on gas basic ride for cheap.
Whats the good/bad? Get parts? Reliable?
Thanks. Tom

[Alice In TX/MO]

Ford will deteriorate and cost you in parts and repairs.

Subaru is a more solidly built, reliable car.

I'd look for a used Toyota.

[coup]

we bought and 04 aveo because it was $8800 out the door....it gets around 40mpg..it is a standard no air,,people really looked it over when gas went so high.... we have two other friends with them and no trouble..we have around 70,000 miles on ours....

[pheasantplucker]

I owned a Ford Festiva a couple years back. Paid 850 for it. Got @ 30mpg. I liked the vehicle. We had four or five cars at the time (three drivers) so my wife gave it to Good Will, kinda wish I still owned it.

[HermitJohn]

I own a Ford Festiva, just started driving it again after got neighbor on board repairing access road. The nice thing about Festiva is that engine is a Mazda B3 1300cc. Now when time comes you want to replace it, the single overhead cam version of the B6 1600cc is a direct bolt in. The B3 was only imported to US in Festiva, but the B6 was used in several Mazda and Ford models and much easier to find. Can even get low mile version imported from Japan as cars are scrapped early in their life in Japan via higher taxes the older a car gets.

I've also driven a Justy. Simular vehicle. Good luck getting parts. There were also couple different version of Justy, different mechanically. STAY FAR AWAY from Justy with an automatic. They are an oddball and very rare and very expensive transmission. Though person have to be nuts to get one of these mini cars with an automatic.

Weaknesses of Festiva. Ignition modules go out on these and are very expensive to replace. I havent had this problem but its something to think about and you might want to pick up an entire spare distributor to keep on hand. I will probably convert mine to cheap 70s era GM ignition module like I have done on other cars. The carburetor on early models is feedback type and very complicated and very expensive. I put an old Weber on mine and eliminated the computer. Had to make my own adapter plate. Not hard to do this kind of conversion as Festiva distributor has a vacuum advance unlike most cars with feedback carb.

Later Festivas were fuel injected. You are on your own, I know nothing about the fuel injection system they used. The fuel injected Festivas will get slightly better mpg though some of that also may be to carb Festivas only offering 4spd manual tranny and fuel injected Festivas got 5 spd.

Next Festivas used 12 inch tires. These are rare, special order, and high dollar anymore. Walmart used to be one of few places you could buy them and fairly cheap, but they no longer offer them. However the very common and cheap 155-80R13 tires are only like inch bigger in circumference and 13 inch wheels off many cars will fit the Festiva. It will throw your speedometer off a bit but not by much. My guess ones off Mazda 323 would be easiest to use, but people have used wheels off Nissans, older water cooled VWs, Metros, and many others. I am still using 12 inch tires with only my spare a 13 inch, but will migrate to all 13 inch when the 12 inchers wear out.

Lastly if you have more Festiva questions there is a forum dedicated to them: www.fordfestiva.com Unfortunately you have to register to even read the forum. The Festiva is Kia version of Mazda 121 that was never imported by Mazda to USA. This is the old KIA when it was an independent Korean car manufacturer. It has since went bankrupt and taken over by Hyundai. All newer Kias are relabelled Hyundais.

[Pelenaka]

Originally Posted by coup

we bought and 04 aveo because it was $8800 out the door....it gets around 40mpg..it is a standard no air,,people really looked it over when gas went so high.... we have two other friends with them and no trouble..we have around 70,000 miles on ours....

We have an Aveo also, basic standard no a/c hatch back.
Last Summer we put a hitch on it to pull my 1968 tent trailer which is about 10' long & 5' wide. Yeah I know the mechanics were we take it got a chuckle when they noticed the hitch.
What can I say I was able to buy it for cash @ 7k, average is 35 mpg, and no worries about theft.
So far we have had brakes, timming belt, front wheel bearings besides tires. Hit 2 good size deer & ended up in the ditch last Winter. Bodydamage but no issues with mechanical. This is a front wheel drive car which handles Buffalo Winters very well. Currently have almost 100,000 miles on it.
About the only after market items on my wish list are; louder horn, beefed up supension, rain guards over the windows, and a tint job.
Oh & those neon glow lights under the bumpers ...maybe a set of those hub caps that spin.

[Mel-]

I have a 2000 escort. it is basically a mazda (made in japan just slapped the ford name on it). check years because that didn't last long. 30 mpg. bought it with 90k miles and have put 32k on it with just regular maintenance UNTIL this spring when it needed all struts, sway bar, tie rods and stabilizer bar replaced. but I run a very heavy paper route with it. mechanic said with 133k miles on it it wasn't that unusual.

my other car is a 97 subaru outback sport. also 30 mpg highway. was told by an insurance agent this is the only maker of cars that he will fight to keep it from being totalled if it has 200k plus on the odometer (according to him, most insurance companies he deals with automatically total out a car involved in an accident if it has over 200k miles on it). he thinks only a subaru is worth saving.

I've put close to 30k on mine, again practically all driving a paper route (hard stop and go miles). I don't like AWD as well as 4WD but otherwise have been very satisfied with it. hard to find, more expensive to repair but never had to wait for parts until ujoints on the drive shaft went out. took several days to order the parts from subaru. I need 4WD with good gas mileage which is why I chose this car.

[sheepish]

My kids have had very good experience with their KIA's. They drive high mileage to work so the cars get a good workout. They have been inexpensive to buy used and have not needed much in repairs besides the usual maintenance, such as oil changes, brakes, etc.

[Ken Scharabok]

Have you considered a diesel VW. If you want to make your own bio-diesel from used cooking oil you could perhaps double your purchased diesel mileage.

[ldc]

To second what Ken S. said above about a diesel VW; I had one, a Golf, about 20 yrs ago, and it got 45 MPG then. With biodiesel, you'd be rolling cheaply! Was a great car.ldc

[Ken Scharabok]

If you are willing to put up with some body damage take a look at this VW diesel:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VW-Go...lenotsupported

[m39fan]

"Whats the good/bad?"

Good - great gas mileage

Bad - If you get into much of an accident, they'll have to cut you out. Believe me I've done the cutting!

You have to make the decision as to how much risk you're willing to carry to get good gas mileage. My wife gets 25mpg out of her Taurus, we get 23 out of our Pathfinder and 18 out of our F250 Powerstroke. The truck doesn't get driven much and the other two I feel are a good compromise of Mpg vs Safety.

Just my .02

BTW Ken, the auction listed is just for the transmission.

[tomstractormag]

Thanks for all the replies.
I did buy an 89 Festiva sat. Its VERY clean, 135K, 4spd, car is clean inside and out. Everything works fine. Even has a CD player
Pick it up mon afternoon. Paid $700. The one easy payment plan.
Looking forward to driving it.
Tom

[BillHoo]

Some folks are paying about $4K-$8K for used Geo Metros circa 1995. I've been fining them as low as $300.00

Apparently a well maintained one will perform at 55 mpg.

Haven't driven one myself, but lots of articles on their sudden popularity.

[fellini123]

Had a 1990 Ford Festiva just loved it. Got great milage and could carry a bunch of stuff. Son stole it one day, totalled it, he didnt even have a license. It was a great car!! I know you will love yours.
Alice in Virginia

[whodunit]

I second the Geo Metro. I have a 1997, 3-cylinder, which I love. I bought it in 2003 for $1999 and made almost $1000 in insurance claims (someone hit us, I hit a deer...just all dents). It has 136K. I just put in a new timing belt and tuned it up and got 45 MPG on a recent long distance trip. I guess ones older than mine were lighter and get even better mileage. Mine had A/C (which doesn't work) but I guess the extra equipment weighs it down.

If I didn't need full sized trucks, I'd buy a Toyota or Honda. I love my Ford trucks but to be honest, they are money pits and true pieces of #2.

[pcdreams]

Originally Posted by Ken Scharabok

Have you considered a diesel VW. If you want to make your own bio-diesel from used cooking oil you could perhaps double your purchased diesel mileage.

ditto this.. We've got an 02 diesel beetle 5 speed. gets 50 hwy and about 43 in town. I've seen the greasel setup for it. as far as mpg there is no gain, but it does help reduce emissions and recycle the oil.

another + oil chages 5k instead of 3k

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by tomstractormag

Anyone have experience with a Subaru Justy or Ford Festiva?
I am looking to buy a small good on gas basic ride for cheap.
Whats the good/bad? Get parts? Reliable?
Thanks. Tom

I had a dodge colt in the 90s, and it was extremely dependable, but they are hard to find now. If I could find anpther one, Id sure buy it.
I also had a geo metro, but I didint have it long enough to determine its dependability. I hit a deer, and totaled the car.

I dontknow much about fords, or subaru

[AngieM2]

I had a 1989 Ford Festivia for 5 years. 157,000 miles then I had an engine problem and could not fix it.

I'd love to have another one. It rode well, and I could get myself and 2 half grown girls and anohter adult and stuff for 3 days at Ice skating competition in that little car - much more stuff than anyone thought I could.

I sat well, even for my then 80 something grandma.

I'd wish they'd kept making that model.