16th Nov 2006, 20:53

To the commenter of 15th Nov 2006, 17:53--

Let's talk specifics. I have spent $2,800 in maintenance (excluding oil/filter changes and tires) over 33,000 miles. This is acceptable, but not exceptional. Are your same maintenance costs over the life of your Geo less than $.09/mile? For someone to say that they love their car or that it has been true to them doesn’t tell me much. I wish everyone who posts here show their maintenance costs (excluding oi/filter changes and tires) per mile so that we can develop some statistics for real comparison.

16th Nov 2006, 20:57

Another comment to the commenter of 15th Nov 2006, 17:53--

Again, let's talk specifics. Do you have the 1.6L engine with the 3-speed automatic transmission? If you don't have this configuration, then your comments about your comfort at cruising at 75-80 mph are not meaningful to my experience and to what I reported.

13th Aug 2007, 09:05

Update: Transmission has failed at 115,000 miles. Getting estimates to repair. Installing a rebuilt transmission with a warranty of 1 - 3 years is likely to cost over $2000. Looks like the end of the line for this Prism. I will henceforth avoid Toyota (manufacturer of the power train on this Prism).

8th Nov 2007, 09:18

Another update -- At 118,000 miles the differential exploded on the Interstate. We debated keeping the car or donating it to a charity. We decided to repair it: New differential, rebuilt torque converter, rebuilt transmission bands, gaskets, etc. totaled $2400 with a 12K/12 month warranty (AAMCO).

400 miles later inner CV boot comes off splattering axle grease all over. Taking it back to AAMCO again.

How do I changed the yellow smiley face on my original post to a blue frowning one?

23rd Jun 2009, 21:41

AAMCO, (shakes head). Yeah, I've seen a couple cars go into AAMCO, but they never seem to come out the same...

The 3 spd transmission on these cars are great if you take care of them. I'm on 207K miles on the original tranny, and all I've had to do was replaced the fluid and filter.