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A month ago, I purchased a '93 Festiva, my third overall. Due to some title red tape and general weather and scheduling issues, it took me until yesterday to pick it up. My girlfriend and I travelled 350 miles to Missoula, MT to get the car home from the seller's house. I was a bit nervous about driving it 350 miles back, as I had only taken it on a 10 minute test drive previously, but it's a solid 94k mile car, that seemed to run well so I took a risk, making sure I had spare fluids and tools with me. I'm proud to say the car performed like a champ every mile of the way. It cruised down the highway at 80 MPH without protest and it carried me through a snowy mountain pass on the continental divide, just east of Butte without drama.
My only complaint was an insufferable rattling in the back that was caused by some poorly installed aftermarket speakers that would shake at speed and come into contact with the interior trim, but as soon as I removed the speakers at a rest stop, the car was perfectly quiet inside.
I rewarded the car with a trip through the expensive car wash in town, and it's parked in my garage tonight. The car is fundamentally solid, but I need to replace a few little things like the speedometer cable due to a shaky needle, a cracked headlamp, I also plan on inspecting the brakes, installing a passenger side mirror and sorting out a few other minor things. My Festiva driving brother also has an Escort cargo light ready for me to pick up when I'm home for Christmas.
The entire sound system appears to be aftermarket and poorly installed. I suspect it may have originally been a radio delete car. They still made them in '93, right? I plan on wiring up some new speakers and getting a new head unit as well.
The faded bumpers are going to get a coat of Plastidip in the spring to make it a bit more presentable.
Once I get it completely sorted out to my liking, I'd really like to do an Aspire swap on it, but for right now, I'm looking forward to a few days off for Thanksgiving next weekend. I'll probably spend most of the time in the garage doing small fixes and applying wax if it's not too cold out.
Bottom line, it feels awesome to have a Festiva again, and I'm beyond happy I could find another aqua one in such great condition. I'm almost ready to sell my Fusion and make the Festiva my daily driver.
My only complaint was an insufferable rattling in the back that was caused by some poorly installed aftermarket speakers that would shake at speed and come into contact with the interior trim, but as soon as I removed the speakers at a rest stop, the car was perfectly quiet inside.
I rewarded the car with a trip through the expensive car wash in town, and it's parked in my garage tonight. The car is fundamentally solid, but I need to replace a few little things like the speedometer cable due to a shaky needle, a cracked headlamp, I also plan on inspecting the brakes, installing a passenger side mirror and sorting out a few other minor things. My Festiva driving brother also has an Escort cargo light ready for me to pick up when I'm home for Christmas.
The entire sound system appears to be aftermarket and poorly installed. I suspect it may have originally been a radio delete car. They still made them in '93, right? I plan on wiring up some new speakers and getting a new head unit as well.
The faded bumpers are going to get a coat of Plastidip in the spring to make it a bit more presentable.
Once I get it completely sorted out to my liking, I'd really like to do an Aspire swap on it, but for right now, I'm looking forward to a few days off for Thanksgiving next weekend. I'll probably spend most of the time in the garage doing small fixes and applying wax if it's not too cold out.
Bottom line, it feels awesome to have a Festiva again, and I'm beyond happy I could find another aqua one in such great condition. I'm almost ready to sell my Fusion and make the Festiva my daily driver.
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