1993 Ford Festiva consumer reviews

I bought a 1993 ford festive for $350 had sat in the parking lot at the Mansfield University in Mansfield Pa. For 6 years. I put 5 gallons of fresh gasoline in and 1 quart of oil in and jumped the battery and on the second time I tried it started right up. Cost me $55 to get inspected and $10 for the registration my wife and two daughters drove car for 8 years. I put 15” wheels and tires on and a K&N air filter on and a $70 power chip made the horsepower go from 63 to 107. Also used Lucus gas treatment every 10 gallon of gas. That’s all the tank would hold. Got 55 mpg and had it undercoated with used oil twice a year and car had zero rust. The car had 484,000 miles on it when I traded it in On a 2015 Nissan Versa model S with 8,350 miles on it and they gave me $4000 for it because it was just like new. I have owned 14 of these cars from 1988 to 1993 and they are the best most reliable vehicles we have ever owned. To bad they quit making them. I just bought a 1992 4 cylinder 5 speed with 261,000 Miles that has been always been in a garage sense new. Also is a one owner vehicle. Paid $250 for car and runs great. c

The vehicle satisfied my basic needs and then some. Very reliable, great air conditioning and heating, cruise control was wonderful, and held up quite well during a cross country trip with an amazing amount of horsepower for ascending the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

This is my third Ford Festiva. 1993 L manual 5 speed fuel injected 63HP 1.3 Lit. I was getting tired of the cars I owned always breaking down, so seventeen years ago I quizzed a few Mechanics about a small economical and reliable car for me and they all told me about the Ford Festiva. After taking the plunge...I was hooked. Its like that girl you see every day and as you learn more about her, you eventually fall in love. On the Freeway on level ground in fifth gear at 60MPH I get over 50 MPG. and I use the cheapest gas.

This is my third Festiva! Bought one new in 1990 another used one 1n 1999 and now my third one that I have owned for almost seven years. Just like everybody else says, this Festiva will not die. I put a new clutch in this one at 150K and it still gives me just under 40mpg's with the four speed manual transmission. I did replace the very small twelve inch wheels and tires with some thirteen inch wheels from a Ford Falcon with the small dog dish hub caps and trim rings. Way cool, very retro looking. My High School aged son has been driving it the last couple of years and really loves this car. Everyone is interested in the car and he gets more looks and thumbs up as he drives down the street. If you can find a decent one, BUY IT. So simple to work on, cheap to maintain, license and insure. You will tire of it before it wears out.

I have owned 4 Festivas and I i put over 150,000 or more on all of them. my last one over 250,000. I have hit deer (plural) and drove them (the Festivas) home. My last one i used to pull gang movers to mow the fields around my house. Two of them are still going and run pretty well, but the rust is taking over. I have owned many high priced cars and trucks but none were as reliable and fun to drive as my Festivas.

My first Festiva was an '88 LX. It died T-boning a Geo Tracker. The Tracker flipped over and rolled. My wife only had a broken pinky finger. I bought her a used '93 L with 12K miles on it. She now has 190K+ and it purrs. I bought my '93L new and have 397000+ miles on it. Yes, three hundred ninety seven thousand plus miles on it. It still gets about 45 mpg on the freeway, 50 if I drive gently (55mph) and still has the original clutch and starter motor. It also passes emission testing with the original cat. converter. I have replaced the crank sensor (202 Kmi), alternator (240 Kmi), water pump (328 Kmi) a couple of temp sensors and one hydraulic tappet (39? Kmi). These three Festivas alone (I've had others) have accumulated nearly 73000 miles. Durable, reliable, fabulous! If you can find one with minimal rust, BUY IT!!!!

We have a 1992 Festiva with a 5 speed and we drive it everywhere,work, groceries, we average 45 to 48 mpg. It has 140200 miles on it and does not use a drop of oil. We have had this one for 3 years and have not been stuck in the winter here in southern Michigan. It ggets a little cold in the winter but for a car this size not to bad. If you want a no frills car this is it.

After spending some time in Italy, I was intrigued by the tiny cars that they have over there and started looking for Sub-Compacts here in the states. I wanted a hatchback and the least amount of amenities offered in a car. The original Festivas fit that description. The car is so small you can buy whole parts of it off of eBay and have them shipped to you. I've put 75K on mine with a 80K on the clock when I bought it and it still runs strong. The GL model has the automatic three speed transmission and Air-Conditioning. If you run the Air-Conditioning it gets 30 MPG highway. You can feel the car slowdown when the ac compressor kicks. Its sort of funny, you can FEEL the car slow down when the AC starts. If you take the AC belt off, it gets 37. The stick model gets 42 MPG. There were only 4 different key sets made for these, so if you lose your keys you can just insert what every keys you may have handy: Most any will work. Its not like someone is going to risk grand-theft auto for a Festiva. In a sense the entire car is an anti-theft device. What amazes me about the Festiva is that it weights less then a Smart Car! And this thing is responsive and zippy. It has 52 cubic feet of cargo space with the back seat folded up. I use every inch of that when I take trash to the dump or do recycling. I've had five adults in the car, and it still can accelerate better than many cars I've owned. Some people think this car is a Tin Can. I could not disagree more. It is a Base Mini Car that makes no pretense that it is anything else than what it is. I like the purity of that. The only annoyance is the 12 inch rims which I'll be swapping out for 13's. There are fan clubs for these cars. And it is fun to be at a gas station and have someone come up and ask you about your car. SUV owners, mostly ask what the gas mileage is. I use it for commuting to work and the occasional trip from Eugene to Seattle on I-5: 75 MPH is no problem. I've also had three tire blowouts at speed. the tires that wee on it when I bough it had something wrong with them. The car was stable and controllable in each event. Its a cool little car.

I've owned my festiva about 5 years, put about 40k miles on it. Gone through 2 other cars in that time, but the Festiva has kept going strong with verry little maintainance. Fun to drive, it's like a street-legal go-kart. I average about 44 mpg with about 2/3rds of the miles being city. Spacious for it's small size. At 6'1" and almost 200lbs, I can drive comfortably for hours.

I completely agree with the above review!! My Ford Festiva was the best car I ever owned. Drove it to over 225,000 miles and only repairs needed were tires, brakes and mufflers. It was still on the original clutch!! Great car and unbelievable gas mileage!!