A barn find and a time capsule. That’s how this 1992 Geo Metro two-door hatchback is billed in its ad here on craigslist. If you think that’s even possible for a car as seemingly unexciting as this one, maybe you need to find a way to get to Incline Village, Nevada and make it yours. The asking price is $5250, in case you’re curious.
Remember when General Motors was losing market share by the day and, instead of making better cars, particularly the small cars people needed and wanted, they invented a new nameplate that kinda reminded customers of the world, specifically “Geo”? And if you remember that, maybe you also recall that they then sold cars made elsewhere under this name plate? You don’t? The late 1980s and on into the 1990s just a blur of grunge for you? Well, here’s your chance to own a piece of this history for yourself. The car is a Suzuki, in fact, marketed as the Geo Metro from 1989-97 and with a Chevy name plate until the car’s demise in 2001.
The model in question has about 54,000 miles on the clock, not horribly high, but not in the low-mileage collector realm, either. The engine that makes this little car go, a 3-cylinder, 1.0-liter unit, is backed up by a five-speed manual transmission. It apparently is reliable and could be used as cheap transportation if you aren’t into the collectible idea. After all, just because a car has been little driven, that doesn’t make it a collector car. However, the language of the ad tries to convince you subtly otherwise. The writer doesn’t ever come out and say it, but he uses lines like, “super clean time capsule,” and “this is a difficult one to duplicate.” (Yeah, because who wants to?) I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with preserving this car, or that it doesn’t have a place in automotive history. Just that that place is more footnote than headline, and so what we have here is simply a small car with blandness in place of charm but the good luck of living in a dry climate in a land devoid of salty roads. How many of these do you think are left in Canada, or Michigan?
The images show decent white paint with black, mostly plastic, exterior accent bits. Underneath looks very clean. The engine seems detailed, though it’s a tangle of (factory installed) wires and hoses. The interior has relatively handsome blue cloth seat coverings and blue dash and carpets. This is a departure from the days when the cheapest car with the cheapest equipment had rubber floor mats instead of carpet. But aside from that and the appearance of a radio of some description, there’s not a lot here in the way of accessories. You’re going to have to crank those windows up and down yourself, in other words—no power windows to be found here. Maybe that’s something to regale the younger people in your life with, though.
As Incline Village is to Lake Tahoe of what Veil is to Colorado and Sun Valley is to Utah, this was probably the car designated for the seasonal housekeepers use in one of the “summer homes” there.
When you look up the definition for “bland ‘90’s transport” in the Websters Dictionary there’s a sales brochure for these..
Last I checked Sun Valley is in Idaho
Maybe Sundance would be a better reference
Absolutely correct-thank you for that catch, Bill.I was thinking about Park City.
Last I check the bland car of the year went to the Yugo?
It was a hung jury
No, a Yugo is actually a very exciting car. Not necessarily in a good way, but it is exciting.
This is one car where “Poverty Spec” is a good thing!
Turning on the a/c makes that little three-pot work noticeably harder. Not that he was overpowered to begin with.
If this were a Suzuki Swift it’s pique my interest. Or even a Geo Metro Turbo, which wasn’t all that much faster, but made entertaining noises and had a “turbo” decal on the intake air inlet.
I had a New White with Red stripes 87 CHEVY SPRINT Turbo back then, 5 speed.
1.0 liter Suzuki motor, thing would scoot and got about 50 mpg on thr highway.
$5k is a little steep for this thing but if you’re currently driving one of those diesel trucks in traffic this might be a better option until or if gas prices ever come back down
I thought Isuzu made these. The 3
cylinder engine was a dead giveaway.
My uncle bought a new Chevy Spectrum in ’87 and piled up a lot of miles driving to work in Kissimmee as a chef in a restaurant there. The Spectrum could be had as a 3-door
hatchback or a 4-door sedan that was
based on the Isuzu I-msrk sedan. If
you could stand the bone jarring ride
and a bare bones interior with seats
as hard as bricks, then these cars were for you. I like the MPGs that
these cars give, but I developed back
problems riding in them over the course of several years. Finally, my
Doctor told me to cut it out and get a
larger car or else I’d be using a walker
to get around. That’s why I have a very comfortable Mercury Mariner as
transport these days. Nice to see one
that isn’t all best to crap.
Ah, the Metro. Suzuki design, built by CAMI Automotive of Canada (joint GM-Suzuki operation) and then marketed as a Geo, later as a Chevrolet.
It will surprise no one by now, I had, in succession, three of them. Just as in rich resort communities, they were the resident cars, parked there for holiday use…in my case it was that I worked on the railroad, spending as much time at the other-end terminal as at home.
Back then a Geo Metro with 50k miles was an $800 car. And worth it, too…neither more nor less.
The good: Believe it or not, a good/great driver, depending on the condition of the struts. It’s featherweight, which makes it quick on its feet. Mileage, as you would expect, approaches 50 – unless you’re ramming the Interstate. Floorboarding the Go Pedal drops it.
The first generation, which this one is, was ergonomically perfect. The second/last generation, not so good, because of positioning of airbag deployment.
Okay, the bad. These are Japanese, but they DO NOT hold up. 100,000 miles is all you’ll get out of that aluminum three-pot mill. I had burned out an engine, not even abusing it, to my knowledge. A four-hour Interstate trip, reasonable speeds, and the EGR valve failed somehow and burned the valves.
Rust is a problem. Not body-panel rust; but chassis rust. I lost one of mine in an on-the-road collapse – it didn’t fall to the pavement, but things shifted and suddenly it was pigeon-toe’d. I took it to my mechanic, and he pronounced it dead – don’t even try to drive it, he said. Structural frame failure. I did leave with it, but only home and later to a wrecking yard.
This tempts me, but the price is just too much. I understand inflation, but there has to be some value here. This is of LIMITED collector interest, and given its age and high miles (vis-a-vis expected lifetime miles) it’s not adding up.
Part of the problem is, gas-sippers are suddenly in high demand, and the Metro was THE thriftiest non-hybrid car made in the last 40 years.
As you point out: 100k is about the shelf life of the 3pot. This leaves 40k miles. Which is about 3 years of normal driving. A car getting 40mph+. That’s $1900.00 a year in ‘car rental’. A YEAR. Here in Texas, the car rental A MONTH. The economic decision is simple. The question is: Are you ok with patience and doing a little maintenance? Economically, there’s no better option if someone is just wanting to get around. I suspect that in mountains and hills, terrible option. But places like Texas, no issues. Even if this motor is ‘getting tired’, and it needs rebuild or replacement, there’s a bargain here. Try buying anything new. House mortgage payment equivalence. It’s worth it to buy this and a complete JDM engine and trans unit on standby.
You’re kidding right? Spend all that cash to buy the car, and the extra engine and trans, have it installed, etc. Or, buy a used Chevy or Ford econobox, and just drive it.
JustPassinThru-
Everything I’ve read about these little 3-cylinder engines indicated they can last a looooooong time if maintained. Usually rust kills the car before the engine dies.
I personally owned one that had well over 100K miles and still ran when I sold it.
I’m sorry you had trouble w/ yours though (and I do agree about the well-documented rust issues with the frames).
I have to disagree about the durability. My brother had two of them. The first lasted about 340k and the engine was still working fine when it was junked for needing new tires, struts and brakes at the same time. His second had over 220k when it was hit by an F150. No-one hurt, but not much of a hit is required for an insurance company to write off an 8 year old Metro.
I went to school in Incline Village. I would be scared out of my wits to drive this thing over Mount Rose on a dry summer day. These old Geo’s were like an old mule. They took a brutal daily beating and just kept going.
Agreed. Really would be thinking about not carrying anything extra in mountainous or hilly areas, probably why this is being sold and wasn’t driven much. You’d need to even make sure you didn’t have an extra jelly donut onboard over the big hills. But flatlander and gently rolling landscapes, this is a fantastic option to get around ‘green’ saving the green.
I owned a ’93 with the midcycle facelift and new dash (which I think only came in light gray, no more blue interiors). It was my first car that wasn’t an old beater, being only about 5 years old when I bought it. In the late ’90s when gas was around a buck a gallon I could fill the tank, buy a 20 oz Coke and get change back from a $10. These days I can’t even bear to think of drinking that much Coke in one sitting *(burp)*
I had a 91 I bought near new in 92 from a Chevrolet dealer. I changed the oil religiously so never had to replace the engine (but about 3 timing belts) and it was clocking in at around 255k. I did however replaced a transmission, two clutches and numerous rear drum brakes,wheel bearings and a few front disc brakes.
The last time I drove it a tooth broke on the timing belt throwing the timing off. It did not break completely and I made it 45 miles to home, albeit topping out at around 40.
I parked it for 6 months and sold as non running. It would not start again. I saw the car a few months later zipping around a neighboring town. Amazing car that got 50 plus mpg that I originally bought for my wife. I ended up owning the car longer than I was married to her.
Great post Nick. You painted the realistic picture. It’s a sound investment, for a person with some understanding of car care and reality, and that cars when cared for, are a little more adaptable than spouses too often. I love my gf, but been through enough that I have my old cars and motorcycles to give love to if she needs to move on. As Henny Youngman’s old joke went: “Take my wife, PLEASE!”, women have the same thoughts about us. Men or women should own their own space or home, be not at the mercy or trappings of others. Meanwhile cars give back directly what you put in. That Geo Metro is in great shape. They are cult cars sadly among people on budgets, because they stretch the dollar. This one would make any Geo fan drool with thoughts of rotating spares to eternity stripping out unused back seats, losing the dome light etc to save a few ounces, get nearer to 60mpg! Or the tuner who wants to drop in Honda drivetrain getting 40mpg while passing the 7 liter monster trucks puffing smoke clouds trying to catch you without a chance.
Had a ’97 rebadge, I also found it to be a great vehicle. Drove it 17 years, think I put 175k kilometres on it. Driven in a calm fashion, using at it is was intended to be used, and that vehicle would just go and go and go. Most people I knew revved the snot out of them, trying to make them go as fast as possible. No vehicle is going to last, driven at its upper limit persistently. The 1-2, and 2-3 synchros would be the first thing to fail.
It was a pretty awesome design, for a budget car. Four-wheel independent suspension, non-interference engine with SOHC, fuel injection, and electronic ignition, 5 speed transaxle. Utterly frugal. I would start it in winter, on very cold days, with the heater on “fresh air”, and the engine was unable to warm up, because the heater core move more heat than the engine was producing LOL. Cheap to buy up front, dependable over 17 years’ service to me. I regret not just keeping it, when I opted for a new set of wheels.
Not exactly what the Cartwright’s used to ride fence on the Ponderosa. And speaking of that, I’d rather ride a horse, than drive a Geo lol
Don’t let my old “landlo” see this, it will be on its way to N. Wis. I know some may think I make this stuff up, for attention, but let me assure you, @ 68, I don’t need your attention, but the guy I rented a room from on the dairy farm in N.Wis. “collected” these, among other things in true farmer fashion. He had 4. None near this nice, but 1 “good” one ( with 225K), and 3 parts cars, all sidelined with severe rust issues. The car itself, I liked. It was comfy, handled okay, and never needed gas. Fact is, you really couldn’t tell it was a 3 cylinder, and even won a bet, when a buddy said “no way”, until I opened the hood. Eventually, the “good” one rear axle broke free, so 4 parts cars. If he’s still alive, I’m sure they are still in the weeds.
As jobs vanished in extremely rural areas, people were forced to drive much longer distances, and the Geo Metro was a hit. An hour( or more) each way was common, and with gas prices, a Metro made the most cents[sic]. Some claim 50mpg, but more realistically, 40 easy, and that made a difference. They were good enough for Ned Flanders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5EFS6WmxQQ
Nice looking in the pictures. Like that blue interior. Would be a good chaser/commuter. I recall driving a Swift from the used lot back in the day but it was the 4-cyl. Lived up to the name.
Reading the story and the comments puts a smile on my face. I now have a 90 convertible in the garage. It’s a fun little car but I don’t ask too much of it. Twenty two years ago, ownership started with a 91 convertible for my wife’s birthday (that’s another story, lol) and then had a black 2 door sedan. My son blew 2nd gear and I wound up giving to my niece. Those were times. Thanks for the rambling. I’ll pass on this, I’m a East coaster.
From what I can see, the only thing it needs is about a 2-pound brick of C-4 :P
As the owner of a ’93 convertible with 150K miles on it, I will testify to the durability of these cars if you maintain them. In the 22 years I’ve had mine, I have replaced nearly everything except the block and the transmission at some point, but I keep her in cross-country shape all the time. I’ve driven her from Joplin, Missouri to Minnesota for meets numerous times and once to Florida and New Orleans. There is a huge following for these cars. The price does seem a little steep, but the right person exists for most every car.
the P/U owners still look for these round here every time the gas/diesel $ goes up (esp the 3 cyl). Even 30 yrs later ?!? Durable lill suckers too.
We just turboed a Metro Tracker (not Isuzu, a Sukie). ’89/’95? as it’s 2dor.
Personally? wouldnt mind 1 ina hatch, wagon’s even beddah~
I would call this a sound investment, too. Easy-to-maintain engine! I had an ’89 Metro that got a miserly 45 MPG that I used to deliver pizzas in college (it had a bumper sticker from its previous owner that said “0 to 60 in 15 minutes,” which was pretty accurate). For those who are curious, you can fit seven adults in one of these before it starts bottoming out. Would pick this up in a heartbeat if rust is not an issue.
I bought a used 91 XFi (sub-base) around 1994 and drove it for 6 years with a 26 mile commute. It was comfortable for a little car and reliable. I always prefer large cars but I always got around 55 MPG.