7th Jun 2006, 00:34

The (inside) door handles are easy to find on ebay. There should be a good selection on that site.

7th Jun 2006, 09:55

I have to laugh when a teenager posts a comment on this site begging for help with his/her dad.

As well as posts a requirement that the car must be teal in color. This is just too funny.

As for Prizm's, they're about as good a small car as you can get. You can't really go wrong with a well maintained Prizm or Corolla.

18th Jun 2006, 15:47

I too have a 93 Geo Prism that just dies. you are tooling down the road, when out of the blue it starts to run rough and then is it out cold... I have also discovered that when it is "dead", if I wait for the check engine light to come on it will start. this is very frustrating as I don't want my daughter driving it and have it leave her stranded in BFE. Does anyone have a similar happening, and resulting repair? I have had the O2 sensors replaced, the distributor, the fuel cut off relay, the thermostat, (for fear it was over heating, a ground wire to the computer was burnt and repaired and fuel pump which did improve the performance of the car, but none of these "repairs" has taken car of the dead stops.

HELP! Any ideas?

7th Jul 2006, 05:22

My granddaughter has a 1993 and it has the same problem. We cleaned the contact on the white wire that is on the positive part of the battery and it is doing all right now. Not sure that this is what you have, but another person told me about it. And it had taken care of the same problem for her. Make sure that you have the key turned off when connecting, cleaning and reconnecting the wire.

Hope this helps. If it does please post that it did.

7th Jul 2006, 15:57

Sounds like you may have a bad coil or something related to spark seeing that it dies when it gets hot and starts when it cools down. I'd also check the distributor. Could be anything with that mileage though. Also, those lights all are supposed to come on when the car stalls cause the engine stops, but the key is still in the on position. Just like if you were to turn the key on without starting the engine.

18th Jul 2006, 04:28

Maybe its the alternator?

18th Jul 2006, 10:49

I am the original poster of this review. Well now I have to junk the car because a rod is about to blow. And no, I do change my oil and do all preventative maintenance. Everyone looks at me when I drive by with the engine now knocking in which I can't even hear my own radio it is so loud. The junk yard or car dealership will now have a car with burning paint, blown motor, hole in the gas tank, no air conditioning, leaking tires, brakes that sound terrible even when replaced, etc. They can have it. That is funny because they will be getting a car with an interior that is in mint condition, the outside which was well kept with no rust, no engine leaks, no holes in the exhaust, new alternator, battery, tune up, brake job, no dings or dents, and an engine that looks brand new and only has 76,000 miles on it. What a shame.

30th Jul 2006, 20:10

I just purchased a '94 PRISM with 120K miles that had the issue with dying intermittently. The previous owner had this issue and parked it 10 months ago. I got it running, it would run fine, then act like it was loading up and eventually die. Sometimes it would restart, others it would not. Almost always it was better once it had cooled down. I thought it was a fuel issue as the plugs were dry, and always seemed to have spark. I replace the cap, rotor, plug wires, plugs, air filter, and fuel filter. The car seemed to run better, but still had the issue. I decided it was the fuel pump as the plugs were dry, and when I cracked the supply bolt on the fuel rail I didn't get the amount of pressure I expected. I went to the local auto parts store, the counter guy had a PRISM and had experienced similar problems. He said in his case it was the coil. I was certain it was the fuel pump so I bought the $140 fuel pump and went home to install it, certain that it would fix the problem. It did not...

So I went back and got the coil, the car runs great now with no issues.

18th Aug 2006, 17:44

I have a '93 Prism LSi.

My "mechanic" smashed the ABS sensor on the left front wheel. I never replaced it. (Which results in the ABS light being on and not having ABS -- it passes inspection)

The door handles break, the paint rots. I say that's because GM made the body... you can expect it to fall apart.

The good thing is that Toyota made the drive train and the car runs and runs. I paid $500 for it with 89,000 miles. I've had it over two years and only have about 110,000 on it, but I've been very pleased.

I've replaced wheel bearings, an alternator (I think!), the timing belt, tires, changed the tranny fluid and pretty much just changed the oil. Not bad for $500!?

It does give a pretty good "clunk" at certain speeds when I accelerate. I assume it's a broken motor mount but I've not been too concerned, it's done it ever since I bought it!

Anyways, I said all of that to say this: This cars is 1. old. 2. cheap. What do you EXPECT?

At least we don't have problems with stuff blowing up and costing fortunes!! We are talking about $15 door handles and paint jobs which for most Geo's would be under $500!!!

Good car, sorry about your luck on this one...

19th Jul 2007, 14:54

I bought a 1993 Prism LSI a number of years ago, and had around 80K miles. Never had problems; just replaced alternator, battery... to be expected though. Hit around 150K at this point. Best dependable car we have ever had. Came fully loaded with sunroof, power everything; highly recommended. Only thing I noticed about it is that my VIN number says in owners manual this is a 1.8 liter with a high compression ratio, and requires premium fuel. Does anyone know if this is really the case, or a misprint in the owners manual??

18th Aug 2007, 14:56

I have a 1992 geo prism and I can't get the rear brake lights to shut off. I can't find a fuse to cut them off. I assume there is a short somewhere causing the problem. Any suggestions?

26th Sep 2007, 20:17

I had a 1993 Geo Prizm LSI with little mechanical problems the whole time. Let me say too, I didn't take care of this car for years when I was young and stupid. Never checked the oil, brakes, etc. Anyway, I replaced the timing belt around 130K. I replaced the alternator around 160K and the plugs, wires, cap shortly after. Around 190K I replaced the radiator. Shortly after that, the AC went out, but I don't know how serious it was because the AC would have to be converted and I didn't have the cash, so I toughed it out. Finally, at 213K a "computer" went bad and it was going to be $2K or more to fix, so I sold it to a junkyard.

The brake lights stayed on, but it was just a sensor so I never worried about it.

It was an awesome dependable car that I'd love to have again. Considering the miles, the early abuse, and little money I put into it, it was a great car and I'd highly recommend it.