NEED HELP! Buying my first festiva!

[Mercilesslee]

Hey guys I've been on this site for a year now one failed sale in and I think I have finally found the festiva for me.

I'm not the most mechanically inclined person but here are some pictures of my possibly first festiva. Its a 1991 auto LX

Could you guys tell me if there is anything you can immediately see wrong in the pictures also the most exciting part is that it is 63,000 original kms!

Anyways let me know what you all think

Thanks,
Eric

http://imgur.com/a/LKpWW

[Mercilesslee]

Also some more information: New tires, new wheel bearings, wheel alignment, and passed e-test and safety april 2012.

Any advice you guys have is welcome I would like to finally join the club hahaha

[caoverlock]

fuel injection is the way to go ,you dont have to screw around with a carb.give it a bath ,it will clean up nice,congrats good luck with it

[Festy46]

Get under it and look for serious rust. It looks like the bottom of the door is showing rust and as white as that car is with salt, it may be rusted very bad underneath. Check the frame where the rear trailing arm connects to the body and check the brackets up front that the radiator sits on. Take a screw driver and push up against the floor on any suspicious looking areas under the car. They will look like thin rusty layers of metal peeling off.

[Mercilesslee]

The car is undercoated though do you think maybe they did that to hide the rust?

[Mercilesslee]

where do you find the VIN numbers on a festiva? I'm going to ask her for it so I can check on the car.

[FestYboy]

vin is on the dash and on the firewall.

[TheresGabe]

Looks GOOD to me! Low miles, nothing wrong with a carby, split rear seats! Congrats!

[Bert]

vin is on the dash and on the firewall.

..and the driver's side door post.

[Festy46]

The car is undercoated though do you think maybe they did that to hide the rust?

I did that on my Jeep to get it through state inspection, so, yeah there's a good chance the guy did it to sell it.

I know of a guy (not me) that got stopped for a "big truck" safety inspection. The inspector found a small crack in his frame and red tagged the guy's truck. The guy got himself a tube of silicone and covered the crack using a pumping motion with the tube to make it look like a weld bead. He then painted over it. As long as nobody picked at the silicone, he was good to go, and he went. So you see there are all kinds of ways to cover flaws in a vehicle.

[FestYboy]

..and the driver's side door post.

if the sticker is still there... but the other 2 are a bit more permenant (one more than the other). And they have to match....

[FestYboy]

I did that on my Jeep to get it through state inspection, so, yeah there's a good chance the guy did it to sell it.

I know of a guy (not me) that got stopped for a "big truck" safety inspection. The inspector found a small crack in his frame and red tagged the guy's truck. The guy got himself a tube of silicone and covered the crack using a pumping motion with the tube to make it look like a weld bead. He then painted over it. As long as nobody picked at the silicone, he was good to go, and he went. So you see there are all kinds of ways to cover flaws in a vehicle.

and those jackholes continue to be on the road, i'm not a fan... (i mean the big truck, i could care less about a jeep, they only weigh 24-2900lbs vs the 60-80k lbs rig)

[Bert]

One of my 93s is in similar shape to yours and I've oiled the daylights out of it ever since I got it in 07. Rad shroud will likely be rotted off at the bottom and various brake lines will have been spliced and/or replaced. Gas tank seams and straps are really vulnerable. Really important to make sure attachments for the lower control arms are intact and pivot point brackets for the rear trailing arm are still sound. If she passes inspection get out there and oil rust proof the bejesus out of it for the winter. Krown and RustChek aerosol cans are about $10 each and 2-3 of them will do the entire car.
There was a lo-mile red auto 91 (I think) EFI LX up at auction last year at Winchester near Ottawa. It looked like a million bucks until you got up close. Quick and dirty commercial fresh coat of paint but the passenger side door was mostly crazed bondo in the middle and along the bottom . May well be you got that one. New paint, tires and exhaust on it if I recall. Nothing insurmountable though and the interior was mint except for a big dimple in the driver's side door card behind the arm rest!

[Bert]

if the sticker is still there... but the other 2 are a bit more permenant (one more than the other). And they have to match....

Hey be careful what you're insinuating here! When was the last time you compared the firewall VIN to the dash rivet plate?

[TheresGabe]

I know that I've read somewhere on the forum that something like 90% of all Festivas came with undercoating. My super no frills, 1991 has no rust, and great undercoating... I wouldn't assume at all that that implies any foul play. Why is everyone down on this purchase? Sounds like a good deal. If you are getting it cheap go for it!