This 1995 Geo Metro is a vehicle that perfectly encapsulates the concept of economy commuter transport as envisaged by vehicle manufacturers in the 1990s. While it is capable of holding its own on the highway, it was a vehicle that was more at home in the cut and thrust of urban environments where its small size and good fuel economy saw it come into its own. This 1995 model may represent a pretty good buy for someone, as not only does it still possess all of these traits, but it also appears to be in nice condition. Bidding on the Metro is sitting at a mere $1,600 in a No Reserve auction. Located in Joppa, Maryland, you will find this little car listed for sale here on eBay.
The appearance of the Metro is really rather good. If you have a look around on a daily basis for cars of this type and age on our roads today, the vast majority are looking tired and quite dilapidated. By their very nature they were usually only bought for a single purpose, and the typical owner viewed them as a tool to use, not a vehicle with potential classic status. The panels and paint on this one are in excellent condition, as is all the glass. There’s really nothing much to fault there.
Under the hood is the 1.3-liter 4-cylinder engine, which produces 70hp. The owner says that the car has been well cared for and that the engine is strong and healthy, with no smoke issues. The car has also covered a genuine and confirmed 32,000 miles so that robust little engine should still have plenty to give for many years to come. Probably the only bit of potentially bad news here is the fact that the car is fitted with the 3-speed automatic transmission. This is a transmission that is going to blunt performance but having said that, it is the perfect transmission to have on board if you are going to be dealing with heavy traffic situation. So really, there are no issues to concern yourself with here.
To me, the interior is a bit of a surprise. It can be very easy to give the outside of a car a bit of spit and polish, fix a few dings, and that can disguise a life of hard work. The interior is a bit different because, with the materials used on modern cars, it is much harder to disguise such abuse. The interior of the little Metro looks really quite good. There are no obvious rips, tears, crack, or staining, and every surface seems to be really good. The owner says that it has always been driven by a non-smoker, and this is always a help in the staining area. The Metro is not filled to the brim with luxury appointments, but you do get a working radio/cassette player, and rather reassuringly, you also get both driver and passenger airbags.
The Geo Metro doesn’t really have the hallmarks of a car that is destined to become a true classic, but that doesn’t make it a bad car. Rather, this is a 24-year-old commuter car that has been retained in surprisingly good order for its age. As a commuter, or as a 1st car for someone, it would be a truly good choice. It is economical, easy to drive, and probably most importantly for either of those purposes, it’s cheap. That is enough to make it worth a look if you are after a car for one of those purposes.
The fact that the engine bay is silver raises some questions……
If it had been a manual, I could have been tempted to bid upon it! Small engined cars don’t need their meager power sapped by an auto transmission (IMO). :-)
Had one just like this, but green. Loved it, just a cheap honest car. Rust is the only thing that killed it.
The silver-gray engine bay is correct. I have a 1996, also red, which I’ve owned since it was almost new, and it looks the same under the hood.
These are terrific cars. They are simple, reliable, lightweight, and fun to drive in a whatever-you-do-don’t-lose-momentum sort of way. The only thing which surprises me about the interior condition is the dash. Everything else is really durable, but dashes go crusty and flaky with age. No cracks, they just turn to powder. This one looks really nice.
The red overspray on the passenger side of the dash is correct too?
That’s a “reflection” of the red door frame against the cheap (hard) interior plastic.
I’m not seeing anything to suspect anything is amiss with this one. As That Guy notes above, CAMI only painted the exterior surfaces in body color; underhood metal was kept in primer.
Great delivery driver
I always wanted to pop a Chevy 4.3 with a Transaxle into one of these…Tempting….
Laugh all you want, but when gas was over $4 Metros and diesel Rabbits were getting mad money.
The best thing my brother in law gave me, is the keys to one of my cars back. To get them back, I loaned him some money to buy one of these, almost as nice. He has had it two years and done nothing to it, nothing.
Spent its life in New Hampshire according to Carfax….and no undercarraige pictures…..buyer beware..
I’ve had some fun times with Metros. I can tell you the saying is true: It’s more fun to drive a slow car fast, than to drive a fast car slow.
A friend and I managed to get one up to 110 MPH one night, downhill of course. It was the very first time my stupid teenage brain considered its own mortality. That little car felt like a tiny rocket made of cardboard. I knew that if anything at all happened, that’d be it. I was very relieved when we slowed down.
Also drove one for a parts store, the chain with delivery vehicles that wear hats. Slow as a snail off the line, but you could really wind it out in first and hammer it into second. I learned to plan my moves to get to all the turn lanes, otherwise I’d be overtaken by literally everything else. Good times, and not my transmission to worry about, right?
I worked part time at a boneyard a couple summers ago, we had a waiting list for tires for these.
Aren’t a lot of them 12″ rims? No wonder they’re hard to come by. Not many cars in North America running such little rubber bands.
Pretty sure you are correct azd, maybe the later ones went to 13. Whenever I worked constrution around the Milwaukee area the port-a-johns were always called metros. Not sure if there was a connection, LOL. Take care, Mike.
had a 96 with the new for 96 16 valve motor and the same power sapping auto, it would do a consistent 30 MPG, five speeds were much better, This one has the 8 valve 1.3 motor and probably does worse, hell our 12 honda ex can get 35 with the AC running!
Got a 99 bought new with over 216,000 miles, change oil, belts, battery, tires the last set of tires I bought were $26 each & 2 sets of plugs. Gas mileage runs from 47 to a little over 50 depending on what speed you drive on the highway. Mine is a 3 cylinder 5 speed. Forgot I put cam shaft seals in a couple months back.
I had one of these. Caught on fire and burned to the ground. Great gas mileage. On a long trip got over 50 miles to the gallon. Mine was manual. Don’t think you can pull out quick in traffic though. It’s small size and lack of power made you wait. Other than that great car no issues.
Your car became a pile of ashes and you say “no issues?”
Whoa, it lived it’s life right here in my backyard, but now in Maryland.
Too bad, it has an automatic. It would have been great to show this to my father in law. Back then, he took his truck to his Chevy dealer and told him he wanted to trade it for 2 of the cheapest cars they had. They had 2 stripped Metros on the lot with manual shifter. One was for him and one was for his daughter going off to college. He’s told me that those cars, although slow going up hills, were very reliable and performed the task of transportation very well.
I need a manual !!!!!!
Leiniedude, I read your post & cracked up. I had one of these & I used to comment on how I own an outhouse for a car. People in Milwaukee get it. I was surprised to see that here. Thank you.
Mine rusted badly underneath. The body was just as clean as this one but the lower control arms rusted away from the chassis, which was common in the rust belt. Even with the cheap price, worth a “down -n- dirty inspection first.
That undercarriage is probably questionable, considering this car lived it’s whole life up here in NH. Can’t be too much different than WI.
Thanks for the back up Stevie, long live the Beer City! Take care, Mike.
Yada yada yada – I don’t like when people make no sense comments.
I have several metros and swifts Suzuki.
Most of them in Michigan last over 10 years – no problems. But lower control arms attached to the “unit body ” rust out and car is gone. But …. if this vehicle never used in winter will last long time.
I have one 1991 Geo convertibles purchased from Florida back in 2000.
This car looks perfect w/out rust / no winters. No rust underbody or body.
This red looks perfect like new- if this vehicle will have 5 speed manual – I will buy even with price over $ 5000
Worth every $$$$$
I witnessed a relatively minor accident years ago on the 57 Freeway in Diamond Bar CA in which the driver of a GEO Metro was killed The other car a mid 70s Chevy Nova was able to drive away. Didn’t seem like a safe car to me.
they still seek the 3 cyl here