1993 Geo Prizm LSi from North America - Comments

I have a 95 Prizm that for the most part was an excellent car, great gas mileage and very dependable. But then it began to develop a problem. I would make a short or long trip and shut it off. If I let it sit for more than a few a few minutes, it wouldn't start. If I let it sit long enough, a few hours, it would start fine. Eventually it wouldn't start at all. It would turn over, fire occasionally but not run.

I took it to a mechanic and he told me that he was fairly certain, process of elimination, that it was the distributor, but that no matter how much he looked, he couldn't find the right one, new or used, for that particular car, something about maybe being a mid-year model? He says I should just junk it. Since he neither wants to buy it as junk or charge me for his time, I don't think he's trying to rip me off. Don't really want to throw it away since it was such a fine car. Any ideas?

I have a 93 Geo prism Lsi that I recently got from my dad's wife. It was her "let's drive as if we have no sense car".

I had to replace the passenger side boot and the muffler (cause she put a huge hole in it) and all was fine. I don't think she ever had the oil changed and it has 186k miles on it, so I changed it when I found out that she had never done it.

Now a few months pass by and now I have a huge oil leak. Not just any oil leak, I start my car for like 1 minute, then turn it off and let it sit there for 1 more minute, and I already have puddle of oil under my car. Why?

And also (only in cold weather) my car has this screaming sound when I turn the wheel, it's so loud it wakes my neighbors up, and I don't know what it is or what's causing it.

I'm wondering if I should get a new car because of how poorly it was kept, or if I should fix it?

She ripped out the headliner cause it was starting to fall out.

Her stupid children thought it was funny to cut both the back seat belts in half, so now I can't take more than one person with me.

The drivers side headlight is falling out.

The plastic on the roof inside my car, like around the windows and such, are coming off.

Its cruise control lever is not even operable.

The back passenger inside door handle has been ripped out.

The same side original seat covers are coming off.

There is an entire bottle of honey crusted to the seat, from when she was moving into our new house, that she never bothered to clean up.

It has a low knocking sound then I drive it. The car also jumps.

I have never ever seen the oil light come on (if it even has one).

The gas light doesn't work.

The gas meter floats around a lot, so I never know how much gas I have.

It takes two people to pop the hood; one to hold the release hood lever and one to go lift the hood. It also takes two people to open the gas tank door thing. It has no gas cap.

It looks like someone tried to escape from the inside of it, cause there are dents protruding from the back drivers side door.

The front and back bumpers are slowly falling off. but somehow I still manage to get to point A to point B. What do you think?

I bought a 1996 Geo Prism for #1000 drove it for one year, this car was very reliable and I drove it with no problems but parked the car for three weeks, I came back from vacation started the car for ten minutes and drove it home. (ten minutes), the next day it would not start, I jump start it, it started then when I drove one block it stopped again. I jump start it again and let it run for over an hour, cut off the car then it would not start again, could you tell me if it is the battery or alternator.

Have a 93 Geo Prizm that has started making a grinding noise when I brake. It almost sounds like a bearing noise. Could it be wheel bearing or CV joint?

I own a '96 Geo Prism, original owner, about 80K miles.

Runs great! Need the heater/ac control knobs. Both broke after parking car in AZ sun for eight years. Does anyone have some, cheap?

Thanks,

cfandsf@juno.com.

I've owned a 93 LSI for the past 10 years with 203,000 miles on it so far and no major issues. In that time all work that has been done on the car is just regular maintenance. Timing belt, alternator, brakes, CV joints, belts, etc.

My A/C compressor did just go out which is a bummer since the A/C was so cold. I still get 42 mpg on the highway and it's by far the most reliable car I ever owned in my 24 years of driving.

I have to say I'm sold on Toyota, seeing how that is who made the engine and tranny. The thing just keeps running. This isn't a fancy car, but it does it job and gets you from point A to point B w/out worry. The door handles inside and out are cheaply made and I have had to replace those, but they are easily found on eBay and easy to replace.

As with any car it's all about whether or not you do regular maintenance. It's surprises me how many people don't ever change their coolant, check their oil or change the transmission fluid, etc and then say the car was poorly built when something goes wrong, whatever brand they may own. Sure some cars do really have some flaws, but a lot of problems you see people having is related to lack of maintenance.

I own a 1997 Geo Prizm and the A/C turning knob broke (1 out of the 3). I need one and am having trouble finding one. Does anyone know where I can get one and/or do they have one for a good price?

For all of you looking for knobs, all I have to say is junkyard.

Try rockautoDOTcom for knobs. Brand new in box, 6 dollars each.

I bought a 93 Geo Prizm and I just started having trouble with the tranny. It has over 200k, drives great and gets great gas mileage. At first I thought the half shafts were going out, but when I put it on the rack, found that it is something in the lower half of the tranny. Looking for another, and none of the salvage yards in my area have a 3 speed auto for the 1.6 engine. Over 700 to rebuild and the body; not worth the money. So if I could find one for a couple of hundred, then I would put it back on the road.

I have a 1994 Geo Prizm LSI 1.8 engine automatic... rusting out, looks cheaply made (compared to a 1990 Audi double galvanized metal with only tiny rust spots).

Anyway, so I was taking off the left front steering knuckle to get the wheel bearing pressed out and a new bearing pressed in... and busted the ABS speed sensor wire.. part costs like $300!!! So BIG qt.. anyone know what fuse is for the ABS to disable it? Actually how do you disable the ABS??? I've driven plenty of cars without ABS and don't feel like spending the $300 bucks for something that; yeah, it's good to have, but not a necessity. Thanks!

Great if you post answer direct to haawill at yahoo dot com... 8-)

I have a 1993 Geo Prism with about 240,000 miles and haven't had any problems until recently. It was running well and took it for the emissions test, but it failed and I had to get a tune-up. The shop did a complete tune-up. I drove it about 28 miles after picking it up, and it suddenly dropped into low gear and could not accelerate. Pressing on the gas pedal would race the engine, but it would not go faster. I pulled to the side of the road and continued to travel, hoping that I could get the next 3 miles home. After a short time, the engine returned to normal like nothing had happened. I later went to the grocery store and it suddenly died... but started right up with no problem and ran fine. I took it to the shop and they kept it to test drive it for a couple weeks to see if they could get it to perform the same. It did not, so I retrieved the car the next week, drove 2 miles when it shifted in neutral. I was able to pull off the road, turn it off and call the shop. When I started the car, it ran fine, but I was freaked out that it would fail me unexpectedly. The shop decided to replace all the parts for the tune-up again, but could not guarantee that they had fixed the problem.

I love my Geo, it stills gets 32 miles per gallon and is quite zippy. I haven't had a chance to take it to a transmission shop to have them check for that. Somehow it seems to me strange that it would begin right after a tune-up... it had been running fine before. The problem has not occurred since they changed all the tune-up parts, but I am apprehensive about driving it any distance especially on the beltway. Any thoughts from anyone as to what the problem could be?