1997 Geo Tracker two=doro soft top review from North America

15,000 miles: WATER LEAKING INTO PASSENGER COMPARTMENT

I noticed water collecting on the passenger side floor when I would drive the vehicle in heavy rain. Dealership looked at it, could not find problem - asked if I was partially submerging vehicle. Got the problem fixed (lose gasket in firewall) after writing to Chevy and telling them that I no longer cared to own this vehicle if that is the way that I was going to be treated. No charge, just a lot of time and harassment.

50,000 miles: ZIPPER ON REAR WINDOW WORN OUT

I do not remove the top or the rear window very often, but the zipper no longer works. Brought the window and entire soft-top to an upholstery shop. Worker told me that the factory zipper is the cheapest type in the industry. He replaced it with a heavy-duty plastic zipper. $200.

65,000 miles: driver-side falling off

I noticed that the driver-side door started sagging. I had to lift the door slightly to close it. Problem kept getting worse. I finally noticed that the door pillar was rotted and the door was almost falling off. A body shop had to do a bit of cutting to replace the pillar - they informed me that there was no rust anywhere else. Pretty odd problem! $1000.

75,000: major maintenance

After 75,000 miles my little tracker needed tires, breaks, exhaust, and a clutch. I replaced them all - not cheap, but these are expected expenses. Still getting the 30 miles/gallon that I got when this thing was brand-new. I figured that shocks and struts should probably be replaced also - after market parts would have cost me $700 - afraid to know what the factory would have charged me. So, I decided to get the 2.5" lift kit from calmini. com - it cost me $750 - complete bolt-on kit.

Cost: $1800.

90,000 miles: CRANK SHAFT RUINED

For some reason I could not maintain highway speeds. After about a week, the vehicle would hardly move and gas mileage was down to about 10 miles/gallon. Brought it to a garage: timing pulley had come loose. The timing was way off, the pulley was ruined, and the key-way in the crack shaft was destroyed. The crank does not spin true any more. A major tune-up with high-end parts, replacing the timing belt, timing pulley, egr valve, and filling the crack-shaft key-way with steel-epoxy cost me $1300!! My only other option is to replace the engine (replacing the crank-shaft would cost about the same, so might as well replace it all).

91,000 miles:

Time problem has showed up again. The pulley has come lose and the timing is off. Mechanic and I decide that he should weld the pulley right onto the crankshaft - no other option other than replacing the engine.

92,000 miles: ON ITS LAST LEG : (

My Geo is my baby, but the problem with the crankshaft/timing pulley has taken its toll on the Geo and on my wallet. I don't think it is worth putting more money into it. The Timing is off again and I don't believe there is a reasonable solution to the problem - time to get rid of it.

I am obsessive with maintaining my vehicles. When my Geo hit 1500 miles I did an oil change. After another 1500 miles I did another oil change, but this time with Castro Syntec. My Geo has seen nothing other than Castro Syntec since then.

SEATS

The seats are very uncomfortable. Any drive longer than about 30 minutes requires periodic shifting in the seat because there is not much padding - ass gets sore. If I was fat, I might understand it, but I am lean. Lower back get sore due to lack of lumbar support.

GAS MILEAGE:

I was getting 30 miles/gallon from my Geo until I put larger tires on it when I put the lift kit on. I then started getting 27 miles/gallon - still pretty good and now had about 9 inches of ground clearance!

SMALL IN SIZE AND PRICE

The two-door Geo Tracker is a small vehicle, but it cost me $12,000 brand-new. It has a rough ride, and lots of road/wind noise, and some rattles - but for $12,000 it is a pretty good vehicle. It was very reliable - never left me stranded.

I would not buy another one because it is so uncomfortable on long trips (1.5 hour+ is a real problem) and because it is just too small for me to carry off of my gear for all of my hobbies.

I am sorry to see it die from some fluke problem I had always planned on keeping it until it died - sorry to say that time has come.