1988 Yugo GV GVX 1.3 from North America

Summary:

Great on gas, fun to drive

Faults:

Alternator went out, a real pain to replace. It has a gas leak from the filler tube. Short in the radio.

General Comments:

My GVX is a great little car. It leaves me stranded sometimes, but will eventually start back up. I woudn't trust it to make long trips just yet, but it gets me back and forth to work just fine. I get laughed at on a daily basis, but then I ask them what kind of gas mileage they get and they shut up pretty quickly. For 40 miles to the gallon, I can take a few laughs.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 11th April, 2005

12th Apr 2005, 08:49

Hmm, a car that leaves you stranded and, when it IS running, causes people to laugh at you.

Thanks, but I will stick with my '94 Civic which gets 38 mpg. Don't think the extra 2 mpg is worth it...

12th Apr 2005, 08:55

Hope your exhaust system is not in the same area as your leaky gas filler tube, or you might end up with a "bar-b-q-go" ;)

21st Jul 2005, 23:30

My cars

Mercedes

1985 190D (diesel) -40MPG 2700Ibs 500,000~ miles on engine

1973 450se with a 1980's 5cly diesel-38MPG 5000Ibs.

And those cars could of gotten even better mileage with a K&N air filter, along with any other heavy car on the road.

There are other 2700Ib+ diesel cars that get that fuel mileage along with lasting over 500,000 miles.

29th Jan 2006, 22:42

How are you getting 40mpg from a Yugo? From the factory, a 1988 GV with a 4-speed manual was rated at 28 mpg city and 30 highway, and just 29 mpg combined. The optional 5-speed manual was even worse, 26 city/29 highway/27 combined. Yugos may have been fairly reliable, reasonably well-made cars at rock-bottom prices, but they really weren't all that efficient for such a tiny car with such a tiny engine. If you're getting 40mpg, either you have some sort of "magic" carburettor, or your house and workplace are both built on the median strip of a limited-access highway.

The largest car in America in 1988, the Cadillac Brougham, managed 24 highway and 20 combined with an engine 6 times the size of the Yugo's.

19th Dec 2006, 17:04

My Yugo also gets high 30 in mpg and sustain highway speed (70). Very reliable if you preform maintance when required!! Timing belt was the demise of many a Yugo! People didn't want to change at forty and trashed thier engine at 50!

8th Feb 2007, 21:54

I believe Fiat parts would fit your Yugo, just ask around to see if anyone knows where to get parts for an old Fiat 127 or a 128. You can also order parts quite easily online, but something big like a transmission would cost a huge amount of money.

10th Apr 2007, 15:06

Much of the mechanics and engine parts from FIAT are fully compatible with your YUGO.

1988 Yugo GV GVX 1.3 from North America

Summary:

Best $300 bucks I ever spent

Faults:

Couple flats of tires and needed a carburetor rebuild, but nothing major.

General Comments:

I paid 300$ for this little thing and I think it was some of the best money I've ever spent I've never had it on the highway, I've only ever driven it on my street back and forth between cul-de-sacs doing dough nuts and power-slides with my friends.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th December, 2003

21st Jan 2004, 08:46

Wow, man, you really make my day. You had to rebuild the carburetor, and NEVER took it out on the highway? My Pinto ran better than that!

13th Nov 2004, 11:23

I am from Yugoslavia, the land of Yugo`s, i am very glad to see that there is someone in USA who think that Yugo is a fancy car.

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1988 Yugo GV 1.1 from North America

Summary:

A lot of fun to drive

Faults:

I fried the starter because I hadn't figured out the trick to get it started in cold weather. The radiator was plugged up. The clutch slips sometimes. But for $200, I'm not complaining!

General Comments:

This car is very fun to drive and feels a lot faster than it actually is. Despite all the miles on it, I have no problem driving it long distances. I expect it last several thousand more miles before any major work is needed. If you like 4 wheelers or go karts, you will love driving a Yugo. Cruises along at 75-80 and feels very stable doing so.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th April, 2003

2nd May 2003, 10:48

1.1l engine and performance 8. You must be kidding :D.

20th Dec 2005, 19:31

The previous comment makes no sense. Of course it is an overall rating of all cars. Why would you compare one Yugo to another Yugo?

26th Dec 2005, 05:49

I understand what the reviewer means. He is saying that his car, with a relatively small capacity motor, gives lively performance. He is certainly not comparing his car to those with larger motors and/or greater H.P. (kw.) - that would be dumb. If a person owns, lets say a 650cc Fiat Bambino, and it is well tuned, and has lively performance, then they are entitled to rate their performance at say 7 or 8 out of 10. Makes sense to me. After all "performance", is a description of not just brute power and how fast a car can go. It is an overall description of how a car [obviously, within a certain category- which is usually based on engine capacity) behaves on the road- in terms of acceleration, handling, braking etc. The Yugo owner rates his car 8/10, and is certainly entitled to do so. Enjoy your car, and ignore the "critics"- most of them have never owned or driven a Yugo, and are just being 'smart'. They generally don`t contribute anything positive- they just delight in being as unpleasant as they can be.