"Aged" Geo Metro a "Better Buy" than Prius? So poses CNN

That makes no sense. Why the heck would you buy a Geo Metro for 7k, 5 times the blue book value as stated in the article only to have a car, which is older than 10 years and more than ready for all kind of break downs and headaches.
For such an old car I'd think you need to at least stash 2-3k away every year for repairs, unless you have mechanic abilities and know how to fix a car. Problem is, 96 and newer have OBDII and may god help you if you have to fix one of the emission related problems like EGR or Evap. What a pain! I just had to deal with a 0401 EGR circulation flow insufficient from my bro-in-laws car as I tried to fix it, I checked all the major components which worked flawlessly and still, the code would always come back after about 20-30 miles of driving.

Anyway... enough ranting... a used car is like a gamble and I don't like to gamble.

 

All I have to say is the Geo was a piece of junk then and is the same now.. If you want some luxury along with cost savings, then the Prius by far is the way to go.... Why hasn't GM brought it back if it is so wonderful?

 

Great Story!
My father had one of these for years and loved the car!!

Why did automakers,, stop selling these,, probably because of a few reasons....

Gluttony, Greed, Vanity,
Most people would not be caught dead in these cars back when they came out,, I remember well,, people called them little "put put" cars, people were embarrassed to drive those little Geo's... I thought they were cool

 

A Geo Metro??? Reliable? I didn't know these words could be combined in a single sentence without the word "not" in there. Of all the cars, they have to do an article on a car that was a pile 10 years ago?

I certainly agree, that older cars can be a very good value. There's always a risk of getting a lemon and a money pit of an older car, but I've been doing it for years and I intend to do it again with my 2002 Prius. I do my own repairs, so I save a lot of money. When I've been driving cars that normally only cost a few thousand dollars, I'm not saving myself anything by buying a $25,000 car (and paying interest on a loan) no matter what kind of mpg it gets. I'd love to have a new car, but I can't afford it. Instead, I have a few older vehicles, and if any one of them breaks down, I have a spare.

As far as I'm concerned, Toyota and Honda had it right in the 1980's through the mid 1990's. Most of their cars (and even trucks/SUV's) got very good mileage, much better than or at least rivaling most new cars. High 20's and mid 30's were not uncommon on those older Corolla's, Camry's, Celica's, Civic's, etc.... The CNN article should have at least been on a reliable older car. $7300 for a Geo Metro????? What were they thinking!

 

+1

I owned one of the subject Geo Metros and I while you could get close to the mileage I'm currently getting with the Prius, I could never beat it. And man-o-man what a POJ that Metro was. Sold it for $500 when I cracked a windshield and discovered that a new one was $700.

Life on the freeway was no fun, either.

I'm finding the hardest point of conversation when speaking with folks about the Prius, is getting them to understand exactly how remarkable 50+ mpg is in a car with the interior space and comfort level of this car.

 

OMG! If you haven't searched Ebay recently, go ahead and check for Geo Metro's! These things are pulling in thousands of dollars. I bookmarked several auctions just to see how much these things end up going for. Some of the current bid amounts are VERY scary! A few of the "buy it now" prices seem to reflect sellers jumping on the bandwagon to make a profit off this phenomenon.

 

I don't think the one my father had was a piece of crap, He bought one in 1990 and had that car till 2001. He got great gas mileage on it, and had very little if any repairs. Basic maintenance on it, and that was it.. It was a great little car back then.

Now, though, I would not buy a 1996 Geo Metro for over 7 grand, as the car ages, if it is not taken care of it will be a money pit.

 

I had one, a 94 I think. Remember they were everywhere at the time, primary red, or primary blue. They all just disappeared real fast. Sold mine for 600 dollars, it was starting to have problems. The door handles would constantly break off in my hands.

Hard to believe, they are selling for more than the sticker price. Mine was 6500. I really wanted the Ford Festiva, but could not afford it.

 

Interesting business opportunity. I may have to pack of the truck and trailer and drive around buying these things up. Several years ago I went around buying up some Nissan and Toyota pickups for around $500 each, cleaning 'em up a bit, replacing a head gasket here and there, then reselling them to landscapers for around $2,500 - $3,000.

 

They MUST be joking. I used to own 1 of those 3 cylinder Metro's. It was a complete dog and rode much, much worse than any Prius could. We had a daily drive on the hwy. of 110 miles andit did get 40 MPG @ 70 MPH.

On the (-) side it took me about 5 minutes to go from 0-70 MPH. I wouldn't own another Metro. They can't stay out of their own way. Buy a Prius.

 

I think a lot of people just got this idea as well! I've seen Metro's locally selling for a matter of a few hundred dollars. Apparently, that's about to change. I saved a bunch of these auctions to My Ebay to see what happens. A 1990 Metro with 145,000 miles just sold for $3900. That probably means a mint Metro (oxymoron) with 50-60k on the odometer will fetch that $7,000....

 

No one has pointed out the safety concerns of driving an older car...no anti-lock brakes, no side, head or passenger air bags, no stability control, no emergency braking aids, no locking seat belt retractors... and only a three star NHTSA crash rating. You'd probably be safer on a bicycle (at least you'd have head protection!)

 

Awesome!


ZC1

 

No...No...No... you're missing the whole point.

The car is MEANT to double as a quick and easy casket.
Simply pick it up, toss it in, and cover it with dirt.
(Gee, they think of EVERYTHING!)


ZC1

 

im tired of trying to defend the prius. the car works for me, and all they nay-sayers need take their complaints elsewhere. IS ANYONE ELSE AS FED UP AS I AM!?!

 

Sit in a Geo Metro and then sit in a Prius....which would you rather commute to work in? It's ridiculous to even compare the 2 cars. The Prius is a mid-size car that comfortably seats 4, the Metro...well, enough said.

 

Not to say the old Geo Metro is gold, but compare to buying a new/used Prius which typically costing over 20K....just shell out couple of grands for a clunky Geo for big gas saving doesn't seem a bad deal, but 7K....?

But realized that some auctions on eBay are pretty absurb though....

 

Geo Metro reminds me of Crazy Frog...:crazy:
Ring.. ding..ding...ding..da..pow.. pow..

ZC1