1985 Chevrolet Sprint 3 cylinder 1.0 liter

Summary:

Gas Mileage and Reliability Bargain

Faults:

A/C was not functional when I bought the car (bad compressor).

Water pump wore out and leaked from the shaft seal (past 100,000 miles), needed replacement.

Mechanical fuel pump started to leak at 112,000 miles. Cam lobe driving the pump is now out of tolerance, so I converted it to electric fuel pump.

Interior has some wear.

General Comments:

Except for wear and tear parts, this car is extremely reliable. Car still averages 42-44 mpg. Parts still available, easy to work on and fix. Poor performance unless you have the Turbo model. Great money saver!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th February, 2001

1985 Chevrolet Sprint 1.0 liter 3 cylinder 5-speed

Faults:

Well, if I had put oil in the thing before I decided to go 90 MPH, it would have been fine, but it spun a bearing.

BTW: I found out later it went about a month without ANY oil, LOL!

General Comments:

The most reliable car I have ever owned. If only I had put oil into it...

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd January, 2001

1985 Chevrolet Sprint 3 Cyl./61 Cu. In./1.0 L.

Faults:

Besides the lawnmower engine (Suzuki) under the hood, everything went wrong. Timing belt, oil burning, gas fumes, rust, electrical, automatic transmission (won't shift right), & recalled several times.

General Comments:

Looking in all my Chilton manuals, this car by far has the smallest engine compared to all cars ever made. No power, transmission will downshift on the tinyest hill. Bought brand new & kept up with oil changes & such - but only lasted 58,000+ miles (warranty ended at 50,000 miles), the cheap aluminum block warped (which lost compression & would not run). Junk yard gave me $75.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 29th August, 1999

23rd Jan 2002, 21:17

Just bought a 1985 in 2002. It's been beaten senseless by a previous teen owner.

It won't pass the test smog due to valve and carb. related issues, which I will fix.

The aluminium block requires special treatment this owner must not have known about. Frequent adjustments are a MUST.

I will rebuild this Sprint and my son will drive it, because it's simple; the engine only weighs 185 lbs. There are but 3 cylinders. Runs rough? SURE. So what?

My first car was a Honda 600. I loved it. This is another one of those cars-to-fall-in-love-with IF you can do your own repairs and maintenance.

And baby it. Mine has 114,000 miles. Still runs, no smoke, after teen-abuse. What ELSE can I say?

14th Feb 2023, 09:25

This is only really small by North American standards. And the engine's got 400cc on most ride-on mowers.