Bye bye festiva!

[kned33]

My 91 Festiva was totaled when someone tried to turn left from the side street on the right. As soon as I saw him pulling out I stomped on the brakes but there was no way to stop in time. I ran into the left front corner of his bumper. The hood crumpled, the headlight demolished, the fender crunched, the left front tire was pushed into mud flap.

The seat belt broke where it was stitched onto automatic part. My nose hit the stirring wheel causing it to bleed profusely. A passerby gave me a wash cloth as my two napkins were quickly saturated by my bloody nose. I ended up in emergency. Verdict - a bruised and swollen nose. I spent two days getting all the dried up blood clots out of my nose.

I am doing much better now. It all happened on June 10. My speed about 20 mph on impact. I think I suffered more damage because my braking cause my front end to lower and my bumper to go under his.

It might be a good idea to somehow reinforce the stitching on the seat belts especially where it sewed onto the automatic part.

The other driver admitted it was his fault so the insurance part is going pretty quickly. Not sure how much they will offer me though.

[mikeycar500]

that sucks glad to here everyone is ok

[MTec007]

Im sorry to hear that, glad you're ok! I've heard several stories of our belts breaking, sad thing is, call the ford dealerships.. I tried that. The guy had called every where he could call for me, and he found nothing.. you cant get brand new factory seat belts. makes me wonder what belts we can use for manual and automatic seat belts that mount good in our cars (safety demands a non-rigged solution). newer car seat belts will probably hold up a lot better than aged ones

[Safety Guy]

This is why I never recommend using the old original manual belts from early Festivas. They are now over twenty years old and counting, with endless summers in the heat and sunlight degrading their strength. The stitching may go sooner than the main material.

I'm reusing my '89L's left side belt in my '91L, but that's because I replaced it with a new factory one around 2001. I'll probably look into getting a new right side belt but who knows if it will fit the original dual latches?

Glad you're not too banged up, Kned! Will you be looking for another Festiva?

Karl

[freshtiva]

Bummer about the car and your nose. Hope you have a speedy recovery !

[Evil D]

I swear some days i feel like driving with a full face helmet on.

[hotfordcat]

I swear some days i feel like driving with a full face helmet on.

You mean you don't???

[Pu241]

The weak link is the stitching!
I've examined the belts on several of my fleet and they all show that the stitching has degraded and is literally falling apart.
The belt material I think is considerably more resistant.
I'd like to have the belt material tensile tested and compared to the OEM spec for safety belts.
I need to check and see if my associate is still willing to do this.
Anyone know what the OEM/DOT specs are for safety belt restrains?

In any case restitching the belt with UV resistant tread/cord should be an acceptable solution.
Another might be to get new belts from a more recent vehicle which has the same general length and width the OEM belts have and do a swap.
If someone does this and documents it, I will see that it becomes a sticky.

[Safety Guy]

Hmmm, early Kia Rios come to mind.

I think someone has put Aspire belts in their Festiva, but I can't recall exactly.

Karl

[Pu241]

I could see manual Aspire belts swapped for manual Festiva belts or replacing the automatic belts, but I do not know if this has actually been done.
That only buys you 3 yrs less UV damage though.

[kned33]

Automatic seat belts are not even made anymore because of all the electrical problems with them. California has a law that says you have to put new belts in so used ones, even compatible ones, are not a legal option in California. Someone put four rivets on the passenger belt - same place where mine broke. Maybe stitching it with heavy duty fishing line might work.

My nose is doing better. Probably another week and it will be fully healed.

[skimsucka]

My 91 Festiva was totaled when someone tried to turn left from the side street on the right. As soon as I saw him pulling out I stomped on the brakes but there was no way to stop in time. I ran into the left front corner of his bumper. The hood crumpled, the headlight demolished, the fender crunched, the left front tire was pushed into mud flap.

The seat belt broke where it was stitched onto automatic part. My nose hit the stirring wheel causing it to bleed profusely. A passerby gave me a wash cloth as my two napkins were quickly saturated by my bloody nose. I ended up in emergency. Verdict - a bruised and swollen nose. I spent two days getting all the dried up blood clots out of my nose.

I am doing much better now. It all happened on June 10. My speed about 20 mph on impact. I think I suffered more damage because my braking cause my front end to lower and my bumper to go under his.

It might be a good idea to somehow reinforce the stitching on the seat belts especially where it sewed onto the automatic part.

The other driver admitted it was his fault so the insurance part is going pretty quickly. Not sure how much they will offer me though.

Lucky there you got away with only the nose, glad to hear your okay, only 20mph that makes me think twice about highway trips! What are your plans, parting out the car or getting another, fixing it?

[kned33]

Lucky there you got away with only the nose, glad to hear your okay, only 20mph that makes me think twice about highway trips! What are your plans, parting out the car or getting another, fixing it?

I plan on getting another car provided the drivers insurance pays me enough. The cylinder head gasket on it is blown. I had coolant coming out the exhaust. Discovered it when I went to smog it a year ago. I put sealant stuff in the radiator that kept it on the road. So I was looking at replacing the gasket and possibly the head if it was warped. I am keeping my eye open for another festiva or something similar. I certainly can't afford to fix it and don't have the space to part it out. Right now it in the insurance companies storage lot in Bakersfield, CA. which is a 2 plus hour drive from where I live.

[kned33]

Just an update. The insurance company is compensating me $1325.10 for the my totaled Festiva. The base price is $960 + taxes and $175 in repairs I did in the last year. The insurance co. tried to pay me only $4.00 for repairs but I the adjuster thought that wasn't right since I replaced the ignition module and ignition coil about 11 months ago.

If my brother-in-law hadn't told me to include repairs, I wouldn't have know to ask for it. So if your car is totaled don't forget to send copies of repairs made in the last year. But check with insurance company to see how far back they will adjust for repairs.

The downside, I'm now seeing a chiropractor. The accident through my alignment all out of whack. Not enough to where I can't function but enough to make me uncomfortable. I have a slight headache most of the time now.

I'm debating whether to buy a 93 festiva for $900 with only 4000 miles on a rebuilt motor. New half-shalfs also. Down side no back seats and my wife wants me to get a bigger vehicle.

[collegeboi]

Glad to know you are safe.