1996 Geo Prizm Base from North America - Comments

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!

Thank you for your review. It gives me much more of a confirmation to keep the car a little bit longer. I have a 1997 that had 56k miles on it and now have 86K. I have thinking of purchasing a new vehicle, but I think I will hang on to it just a little bit longer.

Thank you again.

I have had my 1996 Geo Prizm LSi since brand new. I now have 181,000 miles on it. My clutch is the only major repair that I have had with this vehicle; which was repaired at 120k miles. I still get approx. 31 mpg with mixed driving (city/hwy.). I recently took my very trusty Geo on a nine hour (one way) trip with out any problems. My cousin (in the back seat) even remarked how incredibly smooth the ride was.

FYI, I've checked the RPMs with an OBD Tool - It is slightly short of 4000RPM at 80Mph. Quite noisy, but still unbelievably reliable. The 1.8L engine (option in the LSI) comes with a 4-speed transmission that has the same overdrive ratio as Camry so it will run at about 3000RPM at 80Mph. If you find one of those it is certainly a better deal. The unfortunate thing is that only 13% of all prisms made have that option.

I have a 96 LSI with the base 1.6 engine and three-speed automatic and I DO have a tach...60 mph is dead even on 3,000 at 60 mph.. so 20 mph per 1,000 rpm equals 4,000 rpm at 80, 3500 at 70...quite roary at that speed! I like you keep it around 60 on the highway and make people MAD!!! But, mixed driving with this combo still gives 40 mpg... go figure! That is NOT just highway driving... but includes rush hour commutes and stop and go driving.

The Corolla base model has this combo and the DX of that vintage have the 1.8 and four speed automatic, which gives 2500 rpm 60 mph cruise speed. The 1.8 four speed auto is better in not being so busy, but even with the overdrive I am not sure it would be any better on gas!

They may be loud on the highway and also slow, but I bought my 1996 1.6 Prizm with 103k miles in November 2003. I now have 334,567 miles on it. Still on the original alternator/fistributor, engine and transmission.