It needed a transmission when I bought it. I got a used one for $325. The headliner is starting to come down in some places.
Truth is I am poor and needed a car that was reliable, easy to work on and got awesome gas mileage. I drove 4 hours to buy this car knowing it had a bad transmission; fifth gear was gone, but I managed to drive it home using 4th.
I talked the price down to $600 (which included a Sony CD player, an amp, and a sub box already hooked up). I picked up a used 5-speed at a local salvage yard for $325, and had it installed for $100.
I am a big guy, 6'5 and 240 lbs and I fit in it great; I was surprised at how much leg and headroom it has. With the back seats folded down, there is more room than you would think in such a small car. I just put new tires on it (for $200) and my gas mileage went up 6 mpg to a honest 48 to 50 mpg consistently. Most people flip when I tell them my mpg!
These things are rare where I live; imagine this... I went shopping at Wal-Mart and it was busy. I came out to a mostly full parking lot. It was cool to look around and KNOW I get better gas mileage than every other car in the parking lot. For about $1000, I got a great car!
Yah, there are quite a few optimists out there who think their old Metros, Festivas and Swifts are now worth big bucks because the price of gas has gone up. I have recently seen high-mileage Metros priced at $4000-$5000 LOL.
What they fail to realize is that the only thing the above cars have going for them is their cheap purchase price. Why would somebody buy one if it is priced the same as an equivalent Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla, which gets about the same mpg with more power, better construction quality and a more comfortable ride?
I love Geo Metro's and Ford Aspire's / Festiva's but I think it's pure stupid that people are trying to charge so much for these old cars that were cheap as dirt to start with. As much as I love them, I would NOT pay that kind of money for a cheap economy car when you could go out and get something a lot newer for just a little more money.
People need to realize that Metro's stopped production in 2001, and that was for the 4 cylinder engine that didn't get that great gas mileage. The 3 cylinder hatchback stopped production in 2000 and I don't think there were that many made. The Ford Aspire has been out of production since 1997.
No one should get conned into paying an outrageous price for one of these used cars.
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