Found a Festiva for sale, what do you guys think?

[jules083]

Sorry no pics, I didn't have my camera on me. It's at a dealer, he doesn't know what he wants for it yet. He's going to call me with a price. Anyways, it's a 93 GL in almost perfect condition. No rust and one dent on the piller by the back hatch about the size of a baseball. 55,xxx miles. perfect interior. The only problem is that it's an automatic. He bought it at an auction and it's at a mechanic shop right now getting a new tranny put it because the old one blew. I tried to talk him into selling it with no tranny but he won't do it. Are the autos any good in these cars? All the ones I see with stupid high mileage are 4 or 5 speeds. What do you think it's worth? He said the shop is re-building the tranny and will wattenty the work for 90 days. My car has seen better days and I have a guy that's been trying to talk me out of it, i'm halfway looking for a new one but I don't really need it. Thanks for the advise.

[Charlie1717]

Well you can look at it this way. It's not hard to swap in a new tranny way down the line. The Auto Will be fine. I'd say if he offers a decent price pick it up for sure. 55,000 miles is very very low and it should last you a long time

[wybnrml]

I've had two auto's, my current Festiva is an auto and I like it, averages about 35 MPG with mixed driving, not bad, but not as good as a 5 speed, but I have no complaints.

[JPT]

The auto transmissions hold a lot of power. Something to think about if you decide to keep it.

It seems like a good deal. Hopefully, the dealer will decide to dump it for cheap.

[freshtiva]

Ive been driving one of my autos this week. MPGs suck. Im trying to get use to the high RPMs at highway speed. I feel like Im abusing the car. Its pretty nice driving it around town (up to 55 MPH) though , I actually like holding a drink if I want at stop lights for a change. Its pretty peppy too till it hits third.

[perucho]

I wouldn't pay more than $700 but I think the dealer will want quite a bit more. Good luck.

[jules083]

I do a lot of highway driving with work. I average around 30 to 40 thousand miles a year driving, most of it running 70 to 75 on the highway. Does the auto have that much higher RPM's on the highway? Mine starts really screaming at 80 or so now and I let off, then some of the hills I drop down to 55 or so. Maybe I'm better off just keeping mine. It's low miles, 145000, just not taken care of by the PO.

[freshtiva]

Does the auto have that much higher RPM's on the highway? .

Yes

Just think of it this way. When the auto and the five speed have the same RPM, the five speed is going 20-25 MPH faster then the auto.

[eurotiva]

You could always swap in a 4 speed auto (f-series). With n/a capri auto axles.

[jules083]

Never mind then, that wouldn't really work for the kind of driving I do. I don't really want to deal with pulling the motor and swapping trannies, I'll just keep what I have before I go through all that. I'll get the number of the guy tomorrow though if anyone here wants it.

[25Horseplay]

I like auto trans for daily driving. I drive mine on the freeway all the time without any trouble. The only thing is the gas mileage is lower then a 5 speed. But the car has plenty of power. Post the details if you don't buy it.

[Charlie1717]

Yeah if you could find out about what he's wanting that would be awesome I'm currently looking for one for my dad..

Edit: Crap 5 hours heck no ha