(Oz) Found a festy for sale, $450. Suggestions for inspection please

[Click_It]

Hi guys!
Pretty excited right now, my partner is in need of a new car and is awaiting her tax return and I've convinced her to join our flock and get a little festy! She gave me 3 simple requirements:

• First, it must be RED :lol:
• Second, it must be manual (5 speed)
• Third, it must be a 5 door (here in Australia we have 5 door festys)

So today I'm on eBay and stumbled upon this!

It ticks all the boxes! Only $450. It's got 218,000KM (135,000 miles) it shows interior in good condition. I couldn't get him on the phone tonight but since it's a dealership I'm planning to drop around tomorrow and have a closer look.




So... As I'm a festiva owner myself I have a fair idea on how to pick out a good festiva from a bad one but I'd appreciate some pointers none the less. Obviously money will be needed to be spent on it, just a matter of how much.

I know rust tends to creep up into the doors. I will check the timing belt / drive belt, test drive it to check the CV's, brakes, exhaust etc. What other things jump out at you to check on a Festiva?

Your suggestions are welcome

[TominMO]

That looks so good and has such low mileage that I'd get it regardless, since it's only $450 (how much is that in US $?). What year is it?

Some other things to check are:
the e-brake
front brake lines, where they go thru that little hole from the engine compartment to the wheel well

But it looks rust-free. Do they salt the roads anywhere in Oz in the winter? That is a major cause of vehicle rust in some parts of the US.

[Charlie1717]

That looks so good and has such low mileage that I'd get it regardless, since it's only $450 (how much is that in US $?). What year is it?

Some other things to check are:
the e-brake
front brake lines, where they go thru that little hole from the engine compartment to the wheel well

But it looks rust-free. Do they salt the roads anywhere in Oz in the winter? That is a major cause of vehicle rust in some parts of the US.

I think that would mean it's like 400 USD! Awesome deal! Good luck! It looks like a really nice Festiva, I'd love a 4 Door festy.

[DriverOne]

^Me too! 4 door, and even the Mexico Festiva sedan, with a trunk!

[1990festiva]

I wish they had those 5 door Festivas here in the US, I would buy one.

[Click_It]

Thanks guys, in $USD it's the princely sum of $394. That said, as it's an eBay auction the seller may have a different price in mind but the auction also states no reserve so it depends if others find it appealing or not (Festivas generally are rather unpopular/undesirable cars here, all the better for me!) There are other differences with Australian/US Festivas, we never got EFI here so our Festivas are all like your carbed 88-91 (?) models. EFI only arrived for the Aspire. We have different tail lights, we got mirror knobs inside the car, clear blinker lights and 13" wheels stock and most of our models have color coded bumpers... probably many more but that's just off the top of my head, so there are some pros and cons to buying a festy in Australia verses USA.

TominMO: It's a 1992. (Carbed as explained above) They don't salt the roads anywhere here to my knowledge, as such we probably get rust in very different places to yours. My 93 festiva's main rust is found inside the doors (at the bottom) but otherwise the rest of the under-carriage is spotless

I'm about to head over there now, will keep you guys posted!

[Aaronbrook37]

Wow... beauty! Best of luck picking it up... hopefully you kept it as a surprise!

[Click_It]

Hey guys I'm back.

Firstly the good news. The exterior looks great, a bit of clear coat damage at the front, nothing that can't be fixed. A number of aesthetic parts needed - boot gas strut shot, wiper jet missing, some questionable rubber seals etc. NO rust anywhere, heck it's better than mine in that regard! Can't be complaining for the price that's for sure.

The not so good (but still acceptable) news, the car evidently hasn't been looked after for the last 2-3 years I'm guessing. I can see signs of a last major service (entire exhaust system) etc and then signs of absolutely nothing been done to it since then. Radiator is wobbly and full (I mean somewhat empty) of rusty water, oil has been ignored, brake is spongy, oil is old and I wouldn't be surprised if there is a leak as its beneath the full mark. Funnily enough there was a brand new fuel filter in it :lol:, I can tell whoever last owned it was likely a young person who probably commuted to work as the muffler was all very clean. Battery was shot, needed to be jump started, looks like it had been sitting for some time. Also it's unregistered so the guy wasn't keen to let me take it for a drive, in his words "We'll wait until I see some money first" - when asking about prices he didn't like me "I'll follow the eBay auction for $394" answer much He also tried boasting about how new the timing belt was but I could tell it's near the END of its life not the start.

Now the bad news, and I need some advice here on how bad this news actually might be. When we jump started the car it was very rough. First thoughts were "okay it needs some spark plugs and leads", but it didn't take long to realise it was more than just that. The engine has a LOT of vibration in it, you can see it and feel it under the pedal. It's rev range was pretty awful, nothing like my pampered 93 at home. What threw me off a bit was no smoke out the back, of course a drive would answer that question better but from revving it I didn't see any smoke to help me form a solid opinion.

I'm thinking, if the engine is okay then it's a steal. I can service most of it myself, I can search junk yards for the missing parts needed and the rest isn't that bad. I'd expect all the brakes to need doing (maybe a candidate for another Aspire swap!) but I just can't stop thinking about that engine... What's it mean when an engine vibrates so much? It feels like it's had a hard life or hard last couple of years anyway (thrashed!) is it possible things are not as bad as it seems? This car isn't for me so I don't really want to go down the road of engine transplants, just need a nice little red festy that with a bit of TLC will be good to go in the near future. I think the $394 is all about the engine. Correct me if I'm wrong.

And cheers for all the feedback thus far

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

At that price, you can afford to fix whatever's wrong with the engine, or drop another $100 engine into it, or have the engine rebuilt (which I did on my pristine 88LX some years back after buying the car for $US 350).

When you tire of the car, let me know and I'll buy it from you and take it over to Switzerland-in-the-South-Pacific (aka NZ) where I'd like to spend my Alaskan winters (your summers). I still can't find any international law that says you can't enjoy two summers per calendar year.

[TominMO]

The engine vibration could just mean that the plug wires are in the wrong places, either on the disty end or the spark plug end. And if the timing belt is old, it may have stretched, and jumped a tooth or two. And of course as you said, plugs and leads, and maybe a bad disty cap. Maybe old gas in it too.

Oil leak is probably the valve cover gasket. Everything you mentioned could be fixed in a good day's work I think.

[MJD]

Your suggestions are welcome [/QUOTE]



All I can say is, that is a great looking car, wow !

Wish they had 4 doors here in USA now, I would certainly look at such a
beast !!

:p


mjd