So I think I'm going to get out of the Festy game, sell everything in one big package

[ryanprins13]

my son is 15 and I've got to get him something safer than a Festy. Thinking full size Bronco or EFI F-150.

Thats a common and annoying (to me) misconception. A larger vehicle is only safer if you hit something smaller than yourself. While that is more likely it doesn't really make it safer. I would rather hit a brick wall doin 120km/hr in a festiva or smart car than an older f-150 with a canopy or something in the box. Its simple physics but no one thinks about it. Just look on youtube of a crash test for the 2001 f-150 if you dont believe me. Also the idea that 'ill get my kid a big vehicle so he feels safe and when he does something stupid he kills the other person instead of hurting himself' annoys me, but whatever.
Anyway, hope you manage to sell it all if thats what you want but i cant think of a better first car for a teenager than a stock festiva.


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[TorqueEffect]

Thats a common and annoying (to me) misconception. A larger vehicle is only safer if you hit something smaller than yourself. While that is more likely it doesn't really make it safer. I would rather hit a brick wall doin 120km/hr in a festiva or smart car than an older f-150 with a canopy or something in the box. Its simple physics but no one thinks about it. Just look on youtube of a crash test for the 2001 f-150 if you dont believe me. Also the idea that 'ill get my kid a big vehicle so he feels safe and when he does something stupid he kills the other person instead of hurting himself' annoys me, but whatever.
Anyway, hope you manage to sell it all if thats what you want but i cant think of a better first car for a teenager than a stock festiva.


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Very good point. I think the Festiva's durability in a crash is more related to it's weight than anything, it's more likely to just toss the car around than to crumple like a tin can like a heavier car would.

Though I wouldn't want to get t-boned on the driver's side though, these doors are paper thin. lol

[Larry Hampton]

Do you have teenagers? Have you ever been in a big wreck? I have. T-boned in my '67 Mustang 'vert, lady in S10 blazer ran a red light and t-boned me and pushed me into a '68 GTO going the opposite way, totalled all 3 cars. Would you rather head on a suburban at 45mph (both at that speed) in a festy or a f150?

[Larry Hampton]

My worry is in a crash with another vehicle, everything out there will outweigh you, you'll lose.

My daughter drove the black car to school for a semester. She had a 3/4 ton econoline work van pull out in front of her, she had to go into oncoming traffic to avoid (thankfully no one was coming), she still clipped the front bumper of the van and spun out in her lane. Damage was a cracked marker light and scuffs on the bumper and a slight indention behind the marker light. I won't put anyone under 23 in a festy. Life is not a video game, there are no do-overs. You need experence to be able to drive around in a beer can. TominMo is right, much of it is whats between the ears, my son is smart as a whip, but skiddish. I had no problem putting my daughters in cars, they could handle it, my son, not so much. They've all been treated the same way, every kid is different.

[Larry Hampton]

Besides, there's a rumor that Ford is going to reintroduce the Bronco and I think old ones will go up in value.

[TominMO]

I agree, he has ADHD and I think its too much risk. F-150 will be reg cab, if Bronco the rear seat will be removed.

I"ve let him drive on county roads and he scares me.

Given he's only 15 and has ADHD--are you sure you want him driving so early? Why not wait until he gets some more maturity under his belt, and maybe has a better handle on the ADHD?

[Larry Hampton]

He will. We talked, he'll get his permit but probably not a license till 18. I couldn't wait to drive, him, not so much. That may change, he's just now in the middle of puberty.

[jfd64]

You are wise to err on the side of caution Larry.There is a good reason festies carry a 2-5 safety rating.My wife is a very good driver but travels in heavy traffic so i keep her in something safer especially in the winter months on icy roads.It is more about the other idiots out there.One thing i have noticed is people tail gate me harder in a festy as if i am not there.Preferably they should only be driven by those of great faith that are ready to go or by those that have a death wish lol.

[Bert]

Wow, lot's of people are getting out of the Festiva game these days.

They don't last indefinitely especially if you drive a lot and enjoy/appreciate their snow and ice driving qualities in the Rust Belt. I had a lot of fun with Festys for 10 years but moved along all three of them (package deal) in 2014 and stepped over to an 05 Echo hatchback. Not only did a tach, underseat tray, cloth seats and rear wiper come with that car but the heater will melt your boots (quite the opposite of lousy Festy heaters) and the 1.5 DOHC engine with 5 speed goes like stink. No timing belt (they use a chain) on those engines either. And the little fella will get 4.8 l/100 (almost 60 mpg (Imperial gallons)) when I'm careful and which is quite a bit better than any fuel economy I ever got out of a B3.

[eurotiva]

As per the for sale rules, you must list a price.

[ryanprins13]

So I think I'm going to get out of the Festy game, sell everything in one big...

They don't last indefinitely especially if you drive a lot and enjoy/appreciate their snow and ice driving qualities in the Rust Belt. I had a lot of fun with Festys for 10 years but moved along all three of them (package deal) in 2014 and stepped over to an 05 Echo hatchback. Not only did a tach, underseat tray, cloth seats and rear wiper come with that car but the heater will melt your boots (quite the opposite of lousy Festy heaters) and the 1.5 DOHC engine with 5 speed goes like stink. No timing belt (they use a chain) on those engines either. And the little fella will get 4.8 l/100 (almost 60 mpg (Imperial gallons)) when I'm careful and which is quite a bit better than any fuel economy I ever got out of a B3.

They dont last forever but they do outlast most cars driven in the same conditions for the same length of time. My brother had an '04 echo hatch. Fun car but he never got over 50mpg trying hard and i was getting 55in my festiva without trying at the time. It had heat but i never found it as fun. Hated the centre cluster, no temp gauge but it sure could go fast top speed wise! Stable with 215/xxr16 tires too. But they are rust buckets. I have seen a ton of them around here basically rusted out and they are only 12yrs old. But if i had to replace my festiva with a non-festiva i would get an echo.
We put a good set set of winter tires on it and that car was incredible in the snow! His car was a manual and i tried to chase a cyote through a field. Was doin 30km/hr in second gear and hit a drainage ditch that was drifted over flat. I floored it and made it 70ft through snow that was hood level! We could hit drifts on the road deeper than hood level doing 90km/hr and the car would stay straight! It was sweet. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1452455256.583867.jpg
Ok, almost hood level... Higher than the tires anyway! And he had a hard time getting to me to pull me out with a 4x4 F-550

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[Larry Hampton]

I will, and put it in the for sale section.

[Bert]

They dont last forever but they do outlast most cars driven in the same conditions for the same length of time. My brother had an '04 echo hatch. Fun car but he never got over 50mpg trying hard and i was getting 55in my festiva without trying at the time. It had heat but i never found it as fun. Hated the centre cluster, no temp gauge but it sure could go fast top speed wise! Stable with 215/xxr16 tires too. But they are rust buckets. I have seen a ton of them around here basically rusted out and they are only 12yrs old. But if i had to replace my festiva with a non-festiva i would get an echo.
We put a good set set of winter tires on it and that car was incredible in the snow! His car was a manual and i tried to chase a cyote through a field. Was doin 30km/hr in second gear and hit a drainage ditch that was drifted over flat. I floored it and made it 70ft through snow that was hood level! We could hit drifts on the road deeper than hood level doing 90km/hr and the car would stay straight! It was sweet. [ATTACH]19052[/ATTACH]
Ok, almost hood level... Higher than the tires anyway! And he had a hard time getting to me to pull me out with a 4x4 F-550

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I hear ya. But 52 mpg was very best I could ever do in a Festy. Every make of car has (and increasingly more so these days) it's problems. For me Festys were spectacular for curb hopping and for busting through snow banks and Echos unfortunately feature lo-slung and unforgiving (and un modifiable) mostly-rigid plastic bumpers. I am much more careful now (and lucky for me also much older) during snow storms and ill weather after having also discovered that Echo hatch bumper skins are $300 a pop. Rust-wise though Festys and similar age Toyotas don't differ that much. Ya gotta routinely/methodically oil spray the poop out of them to get them (and almost any Rust Belt car) to go beyond 10 years here. Believe it or not Echos (1999-2005) are still quite common on the streets of Ottawa as we speak whereas Festys (similar timeline (1989-1993)) outright all but disappeared 10 years ago.
I go back quite a few years. I bought my first Austin Mini (a 1967 model) as a rusty derelict in 1972 (which was average lifespan of any winter driven British car in Ottawa) and owned a dozen more over the course of 5 years. These revolutionary FWD transverse engine cars were an absolute hoot to drive and you couldn't roll one if you tried. Ultimately I gathered together a bona fide Cooper S version which could actually keep up with Detroit V-8s, and managed to win some local ice races and slaloms with it. But even ordinary 1350 lb Minis (0-60 mph: 45-60 seconds) with their anemic 850cc overhead valve non crossflow engines, 1 1/4 SU carb and 4 speed trannies couldn't touch the kind of fuel economy I'm achieving with an 11 year old 1.5 DOHC 5 speed Echo now.