1996 Geo Prizm Base review from North America

Replaced rear brakes when bought this car used - this is a normal wear and tear item at 56000 miles.

Dome light occasionally does not come on when driver's side door is opened.

Though many readers know this, I will still remind that a Geo Prizm is mechanically a Toyota Corolla, built at the same NUMMI plant at Fremont, CA. Geo has somewhat different sheetmetal. So all the comments below should apply to a 96 Corolla, too.

In my observation, this is a great car for a person or a small family on a budget, or just somebody frugal. Its depreciation is considerably higher than for a Corolla, so a used (2-5 years old) Prizm can be bought relatively inexpensively.

This car just goes on forever. With heavy (50+ miles mixed city and freeway) driving, it did not need any repairs in 3 years. Replace oil at least every 5k miles, have mechanics check fluids and brakes, and odds are that a Prizm will go well past 150k.

Some caveats. Apparently, the base model that we have can only be equipped with a 3-speed automatic transmission without an overdrive. This is not a great idea if you have to drive on a freeway a lot in excess of 70 miles per hour. I don't have a tachometer in my car, but can say that the engine revs quite high at speeds above 65 mph. With the speed limit of 70 outside the city, I either have to push the car beyond its limits, or be tailgated a lot. The conclusion: if getting a base model, get it with a manual if you are comfortable shifting. Get a 3-speed automatic only if you don't expect to drive above 70 mph a lot. Otherwise, get an LSI, in which the automatic transmission is 4-speed with overdrive. Somewhat bigger engine, too (1.8 liter in LSI vs. 1.6 in the base model).

Apparently, post-1997 Geo Prizms have been "decontented" - cheapened in terms of interior and suspension. I cannot verify the suspension part, but a friend's 1998 Corolla definitely looks cheaper and chintzier on the inside. So, get a pre-1998 model if it has decent mileage.

Finally, 2002 is the last year of the Prizm. I believe the NUMMI plant is building Matrices and Pontiac Vibes from now on. Goodbye, Prizm!