1992 Geo Metro from North America - Comments

Timing belt went.

Head gasket went 3 days after I bought it.

Burned about a quart of oil every 3 days.

Distributor stopped working for no reason.

Rust appeared almost out of nowhere.

Brake lines blew out.

Emergency cable broke the day before safety inspection.

Transmission wouldn't shift on it's own.

Sub-frame and control arm broke, sending the wheel off into the woods.

This car is by far the worst thing I have ever owned in my entire life. It was in the shop at least half of the time I owned it.

It was gutless garbage.

It was amazing on fuel, but since it broke all the time I didn't really save any money there.

It gave me nothing, but trouble from the moment I bought it to the moment it went to the junk yard to get crushed.

Uh dude, it's a Geo Metro, of course it's the worst car ever. It seems like yours was even worse than most of them though. I had a friend with one and the transmission went every month or two. It was also noisy and would shudder if you took a corner remotely hard.

I'm not saying these cars are great, but mine has been not any different as far as mechanical problems from any other brand of used car I have owned. It is a manual trans, which I think helps. Yes it is underpowered and and seems like driving a riding lawn mower, but it gets over 40mpg has 160,000 plus miles and gets me to work everyday.

Shame you had a bad experience with yours. Mine is 5 speed manual transmission, with 126,400 km. Except for the usual wear associated with the mileage and age, it's been a good little car, especially the fuel consumption. On longer highway trips I've learned not to load the car down with excess stuff like camping gear, especially if going into the Rocky Mountains. The previous owner went to Mexico and back with it, as well as multiple camping trips (two adults; two kids)...the car survived.

I've owned seven Metros and never seen anyone with that kind of luck! I think you just hit a stroke of bad luck, or you are a very bad driver. Don't buy another one tho, save it for someone that will take care of it. We drive several metros everyday, and aside from the normal wear they do fine.

I bought my 92 geo convertible 16 years ago and I'm amazed how good this car has been for me. I park it for three or four winter months but I have 168000 miles on it. I just did the front brakes last year and rear brakes are still original. I average 50 miles per gallon but have hit 52 many times in hot weather. Cold weather is more like 46. I would buy another but they don't make that engine anymore. I don't know why?

We bought our 1992 Geo Metro in 2002. It has been a fantastic little car. I don't mind that doesn't have a lot of horsepower, because that's not what the car is about (and my previous cars were big V8s!). It now has over 295,000 kms on it and is starting to smoke a bit, but it is still reliable. The clutch wore out at about 260,000 kms (that may not have been the original) and the alternator some time after that, but those are things that normally wear out. Other than that nothing else has failed. It always got us home and always started, even when it was -37C and I had forgotten to plug it in (the electric block heater - I'm in Canada).

Unfortunately, up here the police/government don't allow us to drive rusty cars (they say it's a safety issue) so we've been given until the 15th of June to take the "Blue Bubble" off the road (and really, it has very little rust).

So, we bought a new 2009 Toyota Yaris yesterday, but if I had the time I'd fix the rust and rebuild the engine in the Metro and drive it another 295,000 klicks.

Maybe we were just lucky, but, for us, it was a very, very good car.

I'm the person who posted the 11th of June 2009 comment.

I had breakfast a couple of days ago with a friend who also drives a Geo Metro - a 1995 - and she has 367,000 kilometres on her car (that's over 229,000 miles) and the engine has never been apart! Her car is rustier than mine though, so she has to watch out for police roadside checks. They usually do those in spring though, so she may be safe for another year or so. Her car, like mine, has been quite trouble-free.

I have a 92 geo metro 1.3L auto/4dr black, with 114000km new winter tires. Pass side window rubber is gone and needs a new front windshield. Other than that it might need brakes soon. What could I sell it for in Calgary?