• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Is this a decent deal? 2000 Geo Metro 4D w/38K miles for $5800

A

anonmouseuser

Senior member
My 16 yr. old sis is trying to purchase a car and she was offered this car. It is Maroon in color and looks fairly good. Since I am no car expert, I would like to hear what the experts here think.

TIA.
 
My gosh, I wasn't even aware they still made those POS cars.

For $5800, get your sister a 1996 or 1997 Geo Prizm LSi. With a manual if you can. If she has to have an auto, make sure you get a 4 speed. Heck, you can probably get it for less than that. Go to Edmunds.com and read up in their used car section. They have a price calculator and everything that works quite well.

The Prizm is the same car as the Toyota Corolla, just rebadged. Try to find the last model year before the styling change, from what I heard the quality went downhill somewhat then. 🙁 I have a 1995 Prizm, I like it.
 
Sounds a little high, a dealer would probably only give you 3000-3500 if you were trading it in on something.
 
i think a used japanese car ... like a mid 1990's honda or toyota would be a better car to get. looks nicer and prob runs better, but would be higher milage
 
If you can, buy a Geo/Chevy Prizm (which is a rebadged Toyota Corolla).

I would compare the Metro against prices on your local newspaper's classifieds ads section and also check KBB.com.
 
those are high miles IMO. I would want to know if they were highway or city. But it sounds high to me. You can check at bluebook.com to find out what retail and trade value would be in your area.
 
Is this a Geo Metro 1.0 Liter engine or the 1.3 Liter engine.

The Metro is essentially a Suzuki Swift. Its built by suzuki and I know guys who have over 100K on a car like it (it was a 94 geo metro - my friend got it cheap after he totalled his RX7) and he liked his car as long as he was on a flat plane.. it did run out of steam at 85mph and did have a bit of trouble pulling on a very steep slope at 55mph (not bad for a 1 liter engine that he had).

Its a reliable car and for a 16 yr old I would say its perfect. Reason - you dont want to give a 16 yr old a too powerful car, they should learn how to handle a lower powered car. While the prizm isnt exactly a corvette its still way more powerful than needed.

I would say go for the Geo Metro, she can drive it for a few years and get rid of it. It will serve her well while she in High School.

Just try and haggle it a bit down, 5800 is a bit too expensive especially if its a 1 liter with no aircon or anything.

Now being a used car and with 38K miles (not even high for this kind of car it was designed for over 90K).

Even if its a dealer car, do teh following:

Check for rust, under the wheel wells, underside, around the doors, under the door seal, around the headlights and tail lights..
Check the tyres to see if they got tread, check to see if there is any unusual bulges on teh side wall's of the tyre.
Open engine compartment hood, start up engine.. Listen to the engine. See if it sounds good. Normal bit of valve clatter will be there (a slight ticking sound), but see it starts good. See if there is any blue or white smoke on start up.. . Let teh car warm up.. close hood and go for a test drive.. see how it drives both on streets and freeway's. See if there are any vibration on teh steering wheel (unusual ones - they normally show up at higher speeds so insist on a freeway test too). Make sure engine warms up and stays warm, so atleast a few miles drive (2 miles or so).

Come back from the test drive, shut down engine.. turn on stereo, see if it sounds good enough (16 yr olds like good quality sound - chances are this area will require an upgrade). After about 3-5 minutes of cooling down .. open hook. Take out the oil filler cap and look underneath on the inside of the cap. If it has a white condition to it .. its got water in the oil system - broken water pump or head gasket or cracked cylinder. If its too oily on the inside you got a "overheating problem" that shows up at times... sniff the oil, if it smells burnt it had overheated too.

Go underneath the car, since this is a front wheel car, check the boots (black rubber mounts near each wheel) make sure its in one peice and attached, make sure the rubber is not cracked.. you can try pressing it if you can reach it.

These are the basic maintainance to look for. If the car has an exprired tag, you can counter it for a lower price based on the fact that you got to register it for a new tag.

TGG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top