Should I buy this?

[budthedog]

Had an old guy chase me down yesterday during work, he saw my Festiva & has one for sale. Must have figured I needed another one. Out of curiosity I followed him a few blocks to his home & took a look. It's an 88 with about 142K on it, but he says it doesn't run & the dash is taken apart. He started out at $400 but even before we saw the car he was already down to $350. I told him I had to think about it, plus I was supposed to be working & had already taken too long a break. I told him I'd come back next Tuesday after work & see if I could at least get it to turn over or maybe even run, he told me he would even tow the car to my house if I bought it. This is like 30 miles away.
My biggest concern is the dash being apart. I've only had a festy for under a year, mine's been very good but were 88's known for electrical problems? Thanks in advance for any input.

[neanderpaul]

88

I've never had any electrical issues with a festiva. Out of 13 that I've owned. I don't know why the dash is apart though. You can part it out here though and get your money back. If it's an LX and your car isnt the gl or l Plus You can upgrade your car with all the goodies. Tach, shift boot/ storage console, cargo cover, power mirrors, door pockets. If you don't care about that stuff or if you already have it all of the upgrades will sell here or on ebay. I've gotten over $150 2 different times on ebay for the power mirror setups with the wiring and switch. I've sold 5 sets on ebay. The least I got was $50. His price is too high though. I give no more than $200 for a non running festiva w/ a title. $100 for non running with no title. A 30 mile tow is worth something though. Offer him $200 delivered.

[miami man]

sounds like a $200.00 car to me also

[packrat427]

Bud , where are you in Illinois ??
Anywhere close to Decatur ??

[88lx4speed]

uh oh, you better snatch that festiva up before packrat gets to it :twisted:

[packrat427]

I would never do that to someone :lol:
I just see all these new people that have joined from Illinois , And I am curious where in Illinois
If we get more we may need to have a Midwest-Central meet
Hummm Illinoistiva :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
It just doesn't sound right :lol:

[Hot_Wheels]

yea let me know where its at too i can tow it...

[budthedog]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was thinking of offering somewhere in the $200 range as well. It isn't anything fancy I don't think, about the only thing I really noticed as far as fancy goodies was a sunroof (which had been caulked shut) & a luggage rack.
The guy told me the dash was apart because he took the radio out to put in his Goldwing & he had to take the instrument part off to get to 1 of the wires. Sounds a bit suspicious to me too, but he's an Eastern European & doesn't speak & understand English very well.
I live in Pingree Grove, not too far from Roselle. The car is in or near Palatine, the borders all run together there.

[packrat427]

WOW , there must be 3 or 4 of you guys real close up there ,awesome !!
Tell him all you can come up with right now is $100.00 see what he says , he might say yes , he may say ,I need at least 150.
It would make a nice parts car , or a descent driver if not too much is wrong with it .

[budthedog]

I finally made it over to see the guy yesterday & he just offered it for $200. The language thing reared its ugly head again, he doesn't have a tow dolly so I'll have to get it home somehow....maybe AAA
Anyway I'll be looking forward to getting my hands in it.

[budthedog]

I finally got it home (for $150) & believe it or not it's ALIVE!!!! The guy must've felt bad taking my $$, he filled the back up with stuff from his garage before I left, probably got the $150 back in just stuff he gave me with the car.
All that was wrong was an extremely dead battery. Still not sure why the dash was all apart but it's back together & waiting for rear brake lines. Maybe a nice car for the wife, it's a 4 speed so that's 1 less gear for her, she has a hard time with my 5 speed.
She didn't think that was funny at all...

[packrat427]

Sweet !!
Nice snag there , glad you finally got it to a nice home