16 Year Old Driver???

[GenevaDirt]

I would not hesitate to give anyone a Festy unless I knew they were going to purposely destroy it. My current daily driver was rear ended at 40 mph...bumper wrinkled and the hatch was stuck shut...got it working ok again. Hit a deer at 50 mph...core support ,hood,headlight,radiator and grill wasted. Replaced the hood, rad and light and grill. Pulled the core support out by hand and got it all working again.

Not safe in an accident....haaaa!

[FB71]

they don't do well in a side-impact collision.

[FestYboy]

somewhere i heard they did very well in side impact tests... hmmm

[25Horseplay]

somewhere i heard they did very well in side impact tests... hmmm

They didn't do so well in the "tree on the roof " test! LOL J/K!

[ruppenduro]

I would not hesitate to give anyone a Festy unless I knew they were going to purposely destroy it. My current daily driver was rear ended at 40 mph...bumper wrinkled and the hatch was stuck shut...got it working ok again. Hit a deer at 50 mph...core support ,hood,headlight,radiator and grill wasted. Replaced the hood, rad and light and grill. Pulled the core support out by hand and got it all working again.

Not safe in an accident....haaaa!

there is always an exception to the rule.

i couldn't find the festiva video, but here are a couple of geo metro crash tests. i'd say the cars are pretty simular when it comes to structure and metal thickness.

35MPH 1993 metro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzTP6cMLwRY

1995 style metro, you can still see the roof buckle in slow motion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bz3oLN93HA

offset geo crash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53j2wl16Ozw

and i'll throw in a classic beetle vid too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKf4dsn9Zs0

[JoDan]

I'm going to answer for my dad... he gave me a festy key the day I turned 16. But like everyone is saying... it's not the greatest car if you get into a wreck, but I think a festiva was a great first car for me and I love em now so I would probably share that with my daughter.

[Slyder]

Im almost 18 and i have been driving my festiva for about 20 months. it was my second car. (only owned the first one for a month) I personally dont see any reason why a new driver shouldnt drive a festiva as there first car. I realize that they are less safe than other vehicles but i dont really worry about that sort of stuff. I just drive carefully and what happens happens.

[turqfest]

The only point that I can think of against a Festiva, is the jerks out there that have little car bullying issues. You know the ones... tail gate you when your already going well above the posted speed limit, or somehow get offended when you use your turn signal in order to change lanes in front of them (How dare you do that with you small car!). The worst I have noticed are the people who incessantly pull out in front of you just as you approach them, even though there is no car for 3 miles behind you(Oh he's driving a small car - It won't hurt as much if he rear ends me).
I also drive a full size car, and I don't have nearly the occurances of the above mentioned behaviours. Other drivers turn signals seem to start mircaculously working!

My suggestion would be a P72(Non-cop spec) Variant of the 98 - Present Crown Victoria. Most people, except perhaps the ones in the know, are going to mess with you if your driving one of those... Plus, I believe they are reasonably safe... And very easy to obtain parts or better yet a parts car for.

[deathegg]

An old RWD Volvo would be a great first car. They're cheap, abundant, reliable, built like tanks, and ridiculously simple to work on. Plus they're slow and boring looking, so that kills any desire to drive recklessly.
-Tim

Exactly what I was thinking! What was the Volvo sedan in the late 70's early 80's...the 240?
That would be a great first car. (although for a better-looking one, the earlier Amazon sedans are very cool).

[Gforcefd]

My little sister is getting my yellow festiva when she turns 16. She has been driving my step mothers car for about a year now off and on, so I am not too worried about her. But I really think taking her to drive at a autox school would give her some more appreciation for handling a car on the edge of out of control. Her's is a automatic so I am not too worried about her getting a speeding ticket, more worried about someone hitting her.

[steelcurtain4386]

I personally would let my 16 yr old drive a festy, as it would be the car i'd teach em to drive in, so they are with someone in the car and get to know the car before goin out on the road alone.

[electronaut21]

My first car was/is a festiva. i would say it depends on how your kid drives, if he is typically a safe, cautious driver it would be a decent car, however, if he happens to drive like i do, its a bad, bad idea.

[JPT]

I'm with FB71.

A Taurus is safe, relatively inexpensive and economical, cheap and easy to fix and no big loss if it gets damaged.

[fastivaca]

I have to chime in on the safety issue.... my son was driving my first '92 Festiva and was stopped at a red light behind a newer Jeep Cherokee. Another driver hit him from behind doing about 60 km/hr (35mph). The front and rear of the car was banged up pretty good but I could open both doors!

Here's the result



From that experience I would have to say that the Festiva is a relatively safe car! The crumple zones crumpled as they were supposed to and Jordan and his passenger walked away with only a couple of sore muscles.

There's been a few posts on this forum in the past couple of years of some fairly serious accidents, rollovers etc., where the drivers and their passengers have come through with only a few scratches.

Just my two cents....

[Slyder]

Anyone can get into an accident. I wouldnt worry about it. Just drive carefully.