Interesting comments about a Festiva...

[fastivaca]

http://www.infobarrel.com/Who_Makes_a_Better_Car%3F

[deathegg]

Interesting little article, and of course he's simply stating what we Festiva fanatics already know.

The post says it's from June 30, 2010, but it's several years old actually. It references Mazda, which is no longer has a controlling interest in, and also the brands of it's former P.A.G (Premier Automotive Group), which consisted of Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo, etc, none of which belong to Ford now, having been sold off.

[freshtiva]

Yes sir, I wonder if its a member. If not he should join and meet others who share his view.

[Mctiva]

one thing I tend to notice is: that these companies have, and always will strive to build disposeable vehicles that demand customers far beyond what they are willing to spend in maintenance. This is why the few excellent brainchilds of major auto-manufacturers are short lived, and quickly pushed to the side---and dare I say there is a noticeable scarcity of replacement parts and modifications.This I believe is meant to limit the longevity of these rare gems.

[Mike McKown]

I think the Festiva was dropped because the design didn't lend itself to the adapting of the coming Federal airbag requirement, not because it was "too good" a car.

[25Horseplay]

^^That was the reason I heard.

[batstiva]

Interesting, he says the Festiva was manufactured between 1989 and 1993. Wonder if that car in my barn manufactured in 1987 is actually a Festiva?

Tho, he is right, Ford doesn't really make what I would call a modern Festiva. The Fiesta might be it, too soon to tell. I'm dying for my local Ford dealer to get one in, just for a test drive.

[stevewl1164]

All the dealers I spoke with said they never had a Festiva in for repairs.....but from the info on here that would appear wrong. That is why they said Ford dropped it.

[batstiva]

All the dealers I spoke with said they never had a Festiva in for repairs.....but from the info on here that would appear wrong. That is why they said Ford dropped it.

So, by that logic, Denny's should drop toast from their menu?:scratch:

[Pu241]

Strange you should mention toast bastiva!
I've seen toast sent back for some sort of defect, multiple times, I might add.
Don't remember if it was a Denny's or not!

[blkfordsedan]

Caution! The following is only my opinion. I apologize in advance if I offend anyone!

The author makes it sound like Ford wasn't smart enough to build a good car so they just "bought into" other brands. Is he serious? Ford's partnership w/Mazda goes way back before the Festiva. Mazda was building the Courier for Ford in the early '70s. Up to that point, when gas prices started to skyrocket, most American consumers didn't want the small imported Japanese vehicles. They wanted the Galaxie, Caprice, Mustang, Camaro & F150. It was a brilliant financial move by Ford (and GM & Chrysler) to look to Mazda, Isuzu & Mitsubishi for the vehicles they were not tooled up to build before. Ford has been building high quality, small, fuel efficient 4-cyl vehicles in Britain and around the world for decades (Cortina, Anglia, etc.) ....because that's what those markets demanded. Some people in those markets complained that they couldn't get the "powerful" American cars. In addition, the unfair price advantage of imports like Datsun & Toyota in the early years and increasing Federal regulations on safety and emissions did not help. Maybe he's too young to remember the "World Car" German Ford Fiesta?

There's no chance that we'll ever see an ultra-light, bare-bones modern equivalent to the Festiva. Federal regulations for safety and emissions have made it impossible. The closest we could get would be the Ford Ka. My understanding is the Festiva was only imported for CAFE standards so they could keep building the profitable larger cars & trucks. It was not a desperate attempt to market a car they couldn't build. It was more financially sound to import an existing car.

He writes, "But where is this kind of affordable, fuel efficient car today in Ford’s line up? It isn’t. Even the Ford Focus doesn’t come close. So the consumer is forced to look elsewhere for a vehicle. And in doing so, Ford loses.".

My answer is: Where is that kind of car in anyone's lineup? Those days are over for most manufacturers! The next wave will be reverse engineered copy-cat knock-offs from China (like Cherry) and these type of people will buy them in droves. Then they'll complain that American jobs are going over-seas. All the while voting people into office that support corrupt Union leaders and enact the same regulations that make it impossible for manufacturers to operate here in the states. Meanwhile, he can go buy a new Mustang with 305hp that gets over 30mpg, a new Fiesta or an Escape Hybrid. Or, he can buy a massive new Toyota pickup with a 5.7L V8 that gets 19mpg.

He was, however, dead-on about the greatness of the Festiva! Unfortunately, it was not feasable to bring it within safety regulations without a redesign into the Aspire. As much as I love the Festiva type of bare-bones automobile, they're just not desirable to the majority of the public.

[ORLANDO GALVEZ]

guatemala

buenas soy de Guatemala y acabo de Comprar festiva gl mod.93 queria preguntarles si es normal Que la temperatura en Sí vaya Uno y la Mitad ahi Mantegna Sí hablo del Indicador de la temperatura

[TominMO]

buenas soy de Guatemala y acabo de Comprar festiva gl mod.93 queria preguntarles si es normal Que la temperatura en Sí vaya Uno y la Mitad ahi Mantegna Sí hablo del Indicador de la temperatura

El threado hijacko. Seems he's asking about the normal temp range for Festys, when driving in the mountains(?). Help from Spanish speakers?