3rd Oct 2007, 22:09
I bought my 94 hatchback in 98. It had 54000 miles on it and I paid $2400 for it.
It now has 201,000 on it, and has never had anything to go wrong except for tires, brakes, and the door handles that people yank on before you can warn them not to. Even the water pump and alternator were original.
I say "were" because the clutch was getting bad (after 201k I would normally have at least one clutch in other cars) and I pulled the motor to change the clutch. So I decided to just rebuild the motor while I was at it. When I tore it down, the cylinders didn't even have wear rings in them... honest to God! I took the head to the machine shop for checking and the only thing it needed was valve stem seals and re-seating the valves. The people at the machine shop said they had put a few valves in them, but had never seen the bottom end. So I took mine in for basic measuring, polishing, etc. If anyone had told me I wouldn't have believed them, so you don't have to believe me, but they told me to put all standard sized stuff back in it... nothing over sized.
While I was at the job, I had the alternator checked and new bearings put in it at the re-builders, and put a new water pump on it. I drive it normally, I don't hotrod it; I keep the oil changed and do basic servicing regularly. I do most repairs myself and I have driven the wheels off the thing. It is without a doubt the best car I have ever owned, and I plan to put another 201k on!
17th May 2010, 17:05
I have a 1994 Geo Metro, and it is the best car I have ever had also. I too have a driver side window off the track, the outside and inside door handle is broken on the driver's side, and the inside on the passenger side. Rebuilt the engine at 105.000 miles and it gets right at 45 mpg. Oh ya, and the hatch lifts are out also. But it is still a great car.
9th Jul 2010, 09:34
I've got a 93 hatchback XFI.
The window was coming off track all the time. Fixed by replacing the rubber lining in the window track and replacing the screw on the front vertical track with a locking bolt/nut combo.
The car is up to 260,000 miles and still has the original engine, well, minus a few parts. I had to replace the clutch and exhaust system, but other than that, it's been running great.
I get ~50 mpg on highway. Best gas mileage is at 70 mph. City is horrible at 37 mpg.
The owner lost a few parts, like the radio knob and a seat belt, so if anyone knows where I could find these parts cheap, let me know. Thanks.
10th Jul 2010, 18:18
"37 MPG city is terrible?"
For a car like the 3-cylinder Geo Metro? I'd say that it's definitely not the best. My Toyota Corolla gets about 34 MPG city and that's with a 4-cylinder, automatic transmission and a larger, heavier vehicle. A 3 MPG difference isn't much when you consider the actual difference in size between a Corolla and a Metro. I'm not saying a Corolla is big, but have you ever seen a Metro?
12th Jul 2010, 09:29
37 city MPG is very good compared to most other vehicles on the road. What current small car aside from Hybrids get 37 or better city MPG?
I have a 1995 GEO Metro 3 cylinder 5 speed manual transmission and average around 40 MPG mostly city driving.
24th Jan 2011, 18:07
I bought my 93 Geo Metro base model used from a friend for $350.00. I took it home, replaced the front brake pads for $21.00. Passed im/ inspection with flying colors. When I purchased it, the passenger door would not open from the outside. Just recently the driver door developed the same problem. I found exact new OEM parts to fix this on ebay. I did have to replace the hydraulic lifts for the rear hatch. I bought them used from a salvage yard at $8.00 each; it sure beats using a piece of re-bar and risking it slamming down on you.
The car did have a previous front end collision, and the bumper was still attached on the sides, but was bungeed up the front as it was hanging. With a little reverse engineering, was able to build supports and rehang, with the only cost was an hour or so of fabricating.
It is possible to disable the auto door lock feature, but I like it. I let people know before they ride in my car, as in order to exit, they must unlock it first.
All in all, six months later, I have spend about $150.00 on repairs. I found an old stereo CD player that cost me nothing to buy, and salvage yard speakers. I did put in a Geo Storm trim piece that I fits under the stereo to hold sunglasses, but had to cut down the plastic to fit.
It did need a new radiator as the old one died. (Salvage yard $47.00 plus taxes) I replaced the timing belt just a few weeks ago as it skipped time. I also replaced the valve cover gasket.
I average 42 mpg. Not as great as my previous metro, (48-52), but not bad either.
Unfortunately, it does leak oil, not use oil.
I add a quart of oil with every fill up. When this motor dies, I can't wait to put in some performance upgrades.
My window doesn't fall off the track, but it is kind of hard to roll up and down, so I would love to hear suggestions for fixing this. One thing I don't like, it that the seat belts don't seem to retract that well. I am opening up the door panels this weekend to put in my replacement outside door handles. If there is something I can do while it is opened up to make the windows roll up and down better, I would love to hear about it.
4th Apr 2011, 18:15
I have a 1994 Geo Metro 2 door hatchback. I bought it new in 94. I rebuilt the engine at 105K.
I now have 257K on it and the car is the best car I have ever had. Yes I have had to change the driver side door handle 3 times and the window is off track, but I am getting 43 MPG in the city.
I LOVE my car.
2nd Dec 2017, 17:12
Metro sedans (which weren't in my country in '93), look kind of like a baby Prizm (the Prizm was the American Toyota Sprinter, a Corolla twin). When I was a kid, my family spotted Geo cars all the time, once we got our Prizm. So I have seen Metros and once saw something I thought was a Metro until I saw it was a Suzuki Swift. Maybe the Swift and Metro were the Corolla and Prizm? My dad said the '93 Metros in our country looked like a skateboard with doors, subcompact station wagon or big toy car. When I was in high school, I saw a '93 style Metro while with Dad. It sounded like it had a buzzy muffler. It was a teeny little car.
29th Apr 2007, 13:32
In 2002 I bought a 1993 Geo Metro 5-speed 2 door hatchback for a $1000. I had approx. 115,000 mile on it, now it has approx. 170,000 mile and still works like a charm. I can reach speed of 100-110 mph with ease. The body is now starting to rust, but the motor works so well I have decided to turn it into a dune buggy for my kids. Best machine I have every bought for the value.