How Reliable are used Ford Festiva/Aspire? - Car Forums

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How Reliable are used Ford Festiva/Aspire? - READ ONLY

125 messages, Last post on Jan 02, 2003 at 1:12 AM

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#93 of 125 Festiva, Aspire and Kia by curt3

Mar 15, 2002 (11:58 pm)

I recently went on vacation to Panama, Central America and saw sedan and coupe versions of the Ford Festiva being sold as the original Kia. The model there is called the "PRIDE". I would love to bring one back to the States to replace the 1993 Festiva LX that I could kick myself for selling. Since the Pride hasn't got airbags I imagine that it would not make it past a U.S. inspection.

I noticed in Central America that things like airbags are an option. That's really not a bad idea. I found Toyota Echoes being sold as the Toyota "Yaris" with a/c and manual transmission for only $ 7,500. This is well below the price of the U.S. version.

A previous poster (Costa Rica?) wanted to know if the Aspire and the Avella are the same car. Since the Aspire was discontinued in 1997 I would imagine that the Avella has some cosmetic differences that would make the two vehicles not identical in parts. But it never hurts to compare.

#94 of 125 High reliability...low surviability! by joffficer

Mar 19, 2002 (8:22 am)

Just don't get into an accident with either car. The Festiva was one of the top five cars to be involved in fatal accidents when sold. The others were sports cars (which probably ment they hit trees, etc), but the Festiva is just small. Not much there to keep an Expedition from driving through you!
The Aspire has airbag's, but not much else.
Of course no one wants to be in an accident, but they happen. If you drive one of these cars (or most any sub-compact) you learn to drive a little more defensivly (maybe a lot more)!

#95 of 125 Driving Little Cars... by curt3

Mar 19, 2002 (10:00 pm)

You are right about the small car defensive driving, jofficer. I drive 80 miles a day for work and an additional 70 miles a night when I have night school, so I really have had a few close calls on the road. I am 6'5" but have always driven tiny cars--Datsun 310, Protege, Festiva, Aspire, little Nissan trucks. I cannot even imagine paying for gas in an Explorer or an Excursion for that matter.

#96 of 125 BEST FUEL GAUGE... by mpgman

Mar 21, 2002 (7:40 pm)

I could almost call the fill up to a tenth of a gallon.....in addition to the 320,800 miles on the original engine and clutch on my 88 Festiva LX with rear wiper!

#97 of 125 Earlier Fesitvas Offered More Options as Standard... by curt3

Mar 28, 2002 (2:59 pm)

As a former owner of a new 1993 Festiva GL, I always envied the 1988 and 1989 LX models with the stock power mirrors and a trunk light, too.

Strangely enough, I bought my 1993 new in February of 1994 on a promotion to clear the way for the Aspire which I also bought a year later. It was bright green with A/C, manual, standard radio, painted bumpers and moulding, and the alloy wheels--the price was only $ 7,600 before negotiations began. What a deal! The earlier models were more expensive in many cases.

#98 of 125 EBAY and the Festiva by curt3

Mar 28, 2002 (3:02 pm)

About every week or so you can find a couple of Festivas on Ebay and they get many bids. They are typically beaters,however. What I would do for a mint-condition Festiva...

#99 of 125 1st car. Sure do miss it by andy83

Mar 29, 2002 (11:01 pm)

I bought my '91 red GL in April 1994, while I was a 16 year-old junior in high school. It had only 34K on the odometer when I bought it, for $3,400. I drove this car all the way through college and grad school, and took about 10 cross-country drives in it. I finally gave her up in March of last year, when I celebrated graduating by buying a 2001 Miata. It had 188,000 miles on the odometer, with the original engine. In 7 years and 150,000 miles, the only major replacements were the muffler(three times), the CV joints, the rotors and calipers, the timing belts(twice), and the clutch(once). This car was way too good to be a Ford. I honestly don't know why Mazda didn't sell it under their own brand name. One question though; why are Kias so bad now, when they used to be so good?

#100 of 125 Why are Kias so bad... by curt3

Apr 06, 2002 (12:27 pm)

Kia did a fine job putting together Fords and Mazdas using Japanese technology and under Japanese management. On their own, however, Kia uses sub-par materials and half-baked technology. The best of Kias still feel cheap and have a multitude of problems.

I cringed when I heard that Ford would be producing the new engines in the 2001 and above Mazda Proteges. I guess that I am a purist and feel lucky to have a near 100% pure Japanese 2000 Protege with the 1.6 engine. The Mazda truck (Ford Ranger) has been a disappointment from the start--they did so much better when they where built in Japan before 1993.

#101 of 125 i agree by caesarslegion

Apr 06, 2002 (7:34 pm)

ford has to put its dirty hands into everything.i own 2 fords and i have to say they stink.nothing but heater core and transmission problems.they look funny, run funny, and start funny.the new 2002 models have the same problems.ford seems to think this is perfectly normal.maybe for fords!give kia,daewoo,hyundai a break,at least they try and dont continue to make cars with the same defects like ford does.

#102 of 125 More ford bashing.....loved my festiva :) by joffficer

Apr 07, 2002 (6:08 am)

I do miss that car (would buy another for fun if I could find one(5sp)). My neighbor is a gluten for punishment. He sunk thousands into a windstar, and replaces it with a 2001 focus.
I'm not crazy about the style, and from my own experience they are crap! The newspaper I worked for used Festiva's and Aspires for 10 years. Those cars were beat on bad, and ran well into 100k miles! The three focus's they bought have been in the shop for more recalls/repairs to count!!

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