First Festie?!

[thedirekter]

Looking into getting my first Festiva here in the next 2 weeks or so! Before I do, is there anything I should be on the lookout for that is a telltale sign of a major problem on these little cars? Just want to make sure I don't pick up a car that's only going to last 6 months like my current car has.

The one I'm looking at is at the link below. '88, just over 100k miles, pretty clean minus a seat tear and skirt rust. He does mention it's a salvage title due to front end damage, but says the frame is straight and the damaged bumper was replaced. I'll definitely be checking that out for sure. Other than that, it looks pretty sweet!

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/4537346212.html

Thanks for any help!

[bravekozak]

Personally, I wouldn't even consider any car that's been hit.

[Studebaker]

check the headlights. make sure they are pointing forward and not pointing high.

the car is 25yo. it will need repairs. but they are easy to work on.

[nitrofarm]

Hey Stude, personally that car looks pretty dang good.Give the front end a good look obviously. Look at the upper/lower Rad supports for cracks or bends.Make sure the front sway bar is parallel with the lower support. Pull the air intake tube that goes to the VAF and look for an oil puddle.Nit pic on the seats/rust and a few other BS items and offer them $700.Around here that car would go for @ $1200 because its basically rust free.
Good luck, hope this is more help full than your threads first reply:puke:

[Bert]

Hey Stude, personally that car looks pretty dang good.Give the front end a good look obviously. Look at the upper/lower Rad supports for cracks or bends.Make sure the front sway bar is parallel with the lower support. Pull the air intake tube that goes to the VAF and look for an oil puddle.Nit pic on the seats/rust and a few other BS items and offer them $700.Around here that car would go for @ $1200 because its basically rust free.
Good luck, hope this is more help full than your threads first reply:puke:

Sound advice. Obviously he's already been there and done that. Accidentally me too, with having owned 4 northern (salt-belt) versions over the past 10 years. Any serious kind of structural rust is a no-no and turns a 'silk purse into a sow's ear' no matter how much time and effort you put in. Sure you can fix or patch obvious holes but in reality the whole car (they are uni-body) is compromised. Corrosion is not discriminatory!
If the shell is in good shape and only the mechanicals and cosmetics need a lot of TLC that you can tangle with methodically, economically and carefully and at the same time seek advice on how to improve on flaws inherent with the now-30 year old design.
That and Festys still get excellent fuel economy, and even more so now continue to turn heads when you go by.

[thedirekter]

Thanks for the info guys! As for the "hit," it's totally arbitrary until I can take a look at it. It could've just dented the bumper or it could have damaged the frame, we'll see. I definitely won't get it if the rust is beyond just the skirt, my Golf has some NASTY rust and it's terrible cosmetically and soon to be structurally.

What exactly are the Rad supports? Haven't heard of them before. As long as the structure is solid and it's mechanically decent, I think I'll snag it. I eventually want to do a B6T swap once I become more familiar with the platform! I already have a bunch of buddies giving me flak for wanting a Festie but being a student, I can't afford to fix my current car, and I could certainly use the gas savings! Plus I think it's a phenomenal platform for a first, real project car.

Thanks for the help guys! I'll let you know how it goes once I'm back from my trip!

[nitrofarm]

Thanks for the info guys! As for the "hit," it's totally arbitrary until I can take a look at it. It could've just dented the bumper or it could have damaged the frame, we'll see. I definitely won't get it if the rust is beyond just the skirt, my Golf has some NASTY rust and it's terrible cosmetically and soon to be structurally.

What exactly are the Rad supports? Haven't heard of them before. As long as the structure is solid and it's mechanically decent, I think I'll snag it. I eventually want to do a B6T swap once I become more familiar with the platform! I already have a bunch of buddies giving me flak for wanting a Festie but being a student, I can't afford to fix my current car, and I could certainly use the gas savings! Plus I think it's a phenomenal platform for a first, real project car.

Thanks for the help guys! I'll let you know how it goes once I'm back from my trip!

Radiator supports are what holds the rad in its place top & bottom.Its very common item for a body man to replace on a newer car with front end damage.They are spot welded in place,but on this car they might have just bent them back into shape.And in doing so they might have cracked them.Its not the end of the world if they did,but it would show you the tell tale signs of a hard hit. Also look for a hard hit at the frame structure that the sway bar brackets bolt to. People will drive their car really hard into a concrete parking block or curb and bend these.If its bent really bad you will see that the sway bar isnt parallel to this part of the frame.This type of damage made me walk away from one fairly decent Festy.Peace-

[sc72]

thedirekter, if you would like to see how phenomenal these cars are, go to youtube and look for, stupid fast festiva, watch some of the videos, then get back to us. I think you will be amazed at how good the Festiva really is.

[thedirekter]

Thanks for the help nitro! Wasn't sure what the abbreviation was for. Fingers crossed that everything is in solid shape!

Sc72, no convincing needed here! I've been reading about Festivas for quite some time now and have caught the Festie bug full on! I had almost picked one up this past November, but ended up getting a '97 Golf instead. I really enjoy it, but it's got tons of rust and have had a ton of problems just fall out of nowhere: CV assembly is shot, front bearing is shot, valve cover gasket is extremely leaky, back window was blown out, master cylinder only works half the time, and let's not even begin on the electrical problems...

I digress... Overall, it's time for a new-to-me car, and I want a solid, simple platform to build off of for my first real project, and the Festiva is proving to be the car for me!

[lessersivad]

CV assembly is shot, front bearing is shot, valve cover gasket is extremely leaky, master cylinder only works half the time, and let's not even begin on the electrical problems...

I want a solid, simple platform to build off of for my first real project, and the Festiva is proving to be the car for me!

Welcome direkter,

I'm not posting this to discourage you from your desire to build or have a project vehicle but, the above mentioned problems can also lurk or "pop up" even on a Festiva. As long as you have another mode of transportation while you work on your project car you'll be fine.

Myself, i have 2 that are driven on a regular basis. My '93 is the actually the newest vehicle I drive regularly.


The best advice I can think to give is to use the "search" button if you are wondering about a certain problem or repair. I'm not saying you can't ask questions but a lot of the common questions can be answered, and have pretty much been answerd in the past.

From my limited experience of the interwebz THIS forum is the most helpful and supportive of any I've been on or belong to.


Hope you can find a Festiva that will be of your liking.