They need to bring back the Geo Metro!

iI have a 1994 XFI and love it! One advantage to the new hybrids is AC availability, my Metro does get hot in the North Carolina summer. But other than that, I love my Metro!

My fathers '94 metro was just totaled when somebody ran into his garage. I've spent the last week looking for something to replace it. He won't settle for anythink less than 40mpg. No luck so far, people that still have one in safe driving condition don't want to give them up.

I love the Metro's. I have a green Car dealership in northern California where we refurbish Metro's and other small cars. http://www.cagreencars.com

Affodable, high gas mileage for the masses.

I totally agree. I got a Chevy Metro '01 as my very first car, and I am absolutely in love with it. I love the look of them, and you cannot beat the gas mileage. It's the PERFECT car. I want to drive it all my life. (-:

I have a 94 two door for $500 that gets 45+ when I'm driving fast, fifty otherwise. Before the Geo I drove a compact mazda truck, switching due to the gas prices (and that rusted old truck had massive cracks in either side of the frame.) I find that the hatchback geo body style is so versatile I have not noticed any loss in hauling capabilities. If I take the back and passenger side seats out I can haul lumber and iron of 10+ feet, as well as being able to sleep in it on long trips. I put a custom rack on top and can haul standard 8X4 sheets of whatever, up to a half ton. Who needs a truck!

I bought my geo-metro new in 1990, I've never had
a problem with it.
I recently just replaced the timing belt on it, I get-
about 35mil in town and 52 on highway.
Its been a great little car with 127,000 miles.

I recently purchased a Metro XFI. I plan on putting in a 30k engine and transmission in it, they are only 550 here for both. Can the regular engine go directly into the Metro?

The bottom line is that the american auto makers should build more small cars. the metro was a good small car, but not the only one.

Don't kid yourself Don. The Metro was built by Suzuki and badged by Chevy. The US manufacturers avoid small and convertible vehicles completely and always have.

I think that is also the fundamental issue with the US makers and the quality stigma - most new drivers due to budget have to drive small economy cars.

Deliver a great car in that segment, and you get repeat business. Deliver a crappy or no car in that segment, and you miss a piece of the market for the initial sale, and a possible customer for life.

I believe the real consumer impression of quality comes from the entry level small car segment, and it is by working this segment hard that Honda/Toyota has done so well.

I thinkyou will see Hyundai/Kia gaining benefits from the same strategy (actually, they already have)

Profit per vehicle from these cars are low, but having a strong showing in that market segment is IMO critical for being a healthy competitior in the auto business. That's my car industry rant :)

I totally agree. With the biggest joke being the Smart car for $25,000 and up and a mediocre gas mileage for a 3 cylinder, the Geo was a much better car. I owned 2 new ones, a 1988 and a 1996. Both got 50 MPG and the price, close to $8000.00.
Bring it back, bring it back bring it back!!!

I agree. Bring back the metros. Especially the xfi's. I hear they get 53-63 mpg. Why can't someone start building them again. They quit because of low demand, but surely with the price of gas, the demand would be back up??????????

Yeah, high priced hybrids. Its sad but your metro doesn't have any of the safety equipment available now (mostly because its required:rolleyes: ) 12 years later. Maybe you could get some sort of retrofit. But even with its great mileage it probably has worse pollution than the hybrids.

It maybe better that you keep your old car, becaues its so thrifty, than buying a new car, even a hybrid, with all it's new stuff that had to be made.

Hi John,

Are you still in business at cagreencars.com? because I'm trying to get in but the apparently the site does not exist anymore. Do you have a new address you can provide? Apreciated.

Raul

Your ONLY chance is to restore an old one. Modern emission & crash safety standards make a new 2009 50mpg Metro impossible to bring back. If it was possible the Toyota Yaris would be the new Metro, but it's not. They get maybe into the low 40's highway. BTW saying the old Geo pollutes more is only true if you think CO2 pollution is irrelevant.

we have 2 geos. a 95 and a 97. love them both. we like to go for drives and these little cars make it possible without spending a lot of money. only one problem. the 97 had a new timing belt on it when we bought it. but it kept slipping off the pulley on top and got tore up, so replaced it. but the new one is doing the same thing. any ideas what could be causing this problem?

Metros: Take a licken and keep on ticken! I bought my first Metro new in 93. It was a five door (including hatch back). It had over 250,000 miles on it when it died. My son totaled it out twice. The five door could hall an amazing amount of stuff and it didn't effect the mileage that much. I carried 6- 2x10's 16 ft long in it once by folding down the front passenger seat and sticking them through the hatch. Tires even today are under $20. I had a small junk yard of Metros for a while to keep a couple of daily drivers running, but they all finally rusted to crap here in NW Wisconsin. One of these days I'm going to fly to California, Arizona, or where ever, to buy one rust free and drive it back home. So 15 years later our tecknowledgy hasn't progressed enough to get an American car even close to the same economy? (except for a 4 times the price hybred) There is something wrong. Suzuki: Bring back the Metro! Someone may say they were more poluting. Do you believe they are really more poluting than some big gas sucking SUV? And believe me, a few more pounds of safety stuff wouldn't reduce the mileage that much. Maybe if people quit driving around 5,000 lb POS SUV's, with one person in them, Metro drivers would be safer.

Have a 1999 Chevy Metro I bought used a few years ago in Daytona with about 30-40K miles on itfor $3000.00. It has over 90K miles on it at the moment, has been all avoer the state of Florida on the interstates mixing it up with the monsters of the freeway. Love the car. I replaced it when I sold off my 2000 Honda Civic hatchback, and found this hatchback as a smaller downsized replacement.

Both cars had 5 speeds transmissions, the honda had a 1.6 liter 4, the Metro a 1.0 liter 3 engine.
Difference in gas mileage is remarkable. Gas tank sizes were different though, the Honda held more than 10 gals. Other difference between the Civic and the Metro is the RPM range of peak torque.
The Honda RPM band was 3000 and up, anything under resulted in nothing happening when the gas pedal was floored. Had to downshift to bring up the rpms to get the car to move. The opposite is true for the Metro. Its built, and cammed (camshaft) for low RPM driving and shifting - which is perfect for gas economy. I even have that little green arrow Upshift light which I no longer need - I can tell when it's time for shifting by engine sound alone, I'm so used to the car.

While the Honda had all the electrical mirrors, power steering, etc, etc,; the Metro is a BASE model, which means it has no power anything but brakes. Manual rollup windows, no clock or radio or speakers. Just 3 gauges on the dash. Max RPM for this little motor I think is around 5000rpm, but I wouldn't take it up there - for long, as it's not meant for it. Get a little valve float, break a valve spring, and drop a valve down into a piston and you need a new engine.

The Speedo on my car max's out at 85mpg. I'm sure the little car could pull that speed in top gear with just a single driver inside. Adding 4 extra people and their weight to this car makes a BIG difference in performance.

I've had a shed fly on top of it during the 2004 hurricane season; a granny smack me in the back bumper while at my sons school (no less, in the pickup lane), and just been adding gas and changing oil and filters to date. The car has made much more for me in terms of income that it has cost over the years. With 90K miles on it, I can tell the CV joints and halfshafts need changing, the rubber hoses and belts as well, and it has used up most of the tires. My main concern is the clutch plate.

I ran my Civic up to 150K miles on the original clutch plate and rubber enginer timing belt. Stretched my luck to the limit. I sold the car rather than pay a dealer to change the plate. Had a distribitor go back on me in that Honda while pumping gas. Pulled up to the station. Shut it off, filled the tank.
Cranked it up, and it fired on one cylinder then died. After that it just wouldn't fire a sprark no matter how much cranking I did. That was the SECOND Honda product that did this to me at around the 150K mark.

Between the 1.6 of the Honda, and the 1.0 of the Metro/Suzuki, There is a large gap in performance, and thus gas mileage for only .6 of a liter. More RPMS in a higher useable band mean more combustion events per second which directly relates to fuel economy. Lower weight combined with smaller enginer which is build and designed to pull a car at a lower RPM is the fuel miser champ.

The trade offs are numerous - safety, survivability in a collision, to much heat coming in from all that window glass and a tiny tiny TINY small AC system which pulls the little motor down and barely makes it a drivable car full of people when its turned on are just a few things one has to put up with.

The flip side is the big grin I get passing all those gas stations reading $3.50-$4.00/gallon prices.

This is coming from a guy who has a CDL-A tractor trailer license, and used to own and drive a 1972 Plymouth Road Runner with a 1969 440 engine I put in it; with a 4 speed and a Posi rear axle - no power anything, no AC, massive torque to burn tires of the car, and got about 6-8 mpg; probably a little less when I spun that big mountain motor to 6000rpm. Premium gas only.

Metro Mike - always looking around for a second one as a backup and parts car.
1999 Hatchback - maybe an auto transmission.

I too believe Chevy needs to bring Metro Back. But lets face the facts. Big Oil has Big Money. They invest their money in all kinds of things, including car companies. If Chey is one of them the metro is gone for ever. Them Greedy oil companies are the blame. They dont want these cars out there.

Consider the Civic hybrid or Prius
Next year, VW will release Jetta and Rabiit TDi models that should do very well

What's wrong with Foreign cars?
Also, the Metro was actually a Suzuki and made in Canada

I own a 1998 Chevy Metro 3 cyl. with 55,000 miles on it. Before I would sell it I would unload my 1994 F250 turbo Diesel, my 2005 Chey Malibu 4 cyl. In the 9+ years I have owned it all I have done is tune it up, replace rubber hoses and belts, replaced exhaust systems, front brakes, and charged air conditioner. It is by far the best car I have ever owned! I have been driving 41 years! I like to shut it off when coasting into a red light, and when about to stop, pop clutch and restart like a hybrid. Sometimes I coast for three blocks or more. Try that with your SUV! 55 mpg!

I ran a used-car dealership until 2000. I was buying 2-year-old Metros for dirt at the auctions. The 1998s were bringing about $1200 or less with 30,000 miles on them. Back then, you could fill the 8-gallon tank for under 10 bucks. The car was a Suzuki, made in Japan as a 4-seater comuter car. I think Chevy was importing them to get its CAFE average fuel standards up, so it could sell more 14 MPG trucks. The 3-cylinder base engine got incredible mileage. However, if you're looking at the 4-cylinders with the automatic, you're going to be frustrated with the fuel economy. The successor to the Metro is the Chevy Aveo, and while it's a cute little car, it's a fuel nightmare. My 2001 Turbo Beetle (which is a piece of crap that gets only about 19 mpg) was in the shop for 2 months after an accident (because parts are hard to find) and I rented an Aveo. It was an automatic 4 banger, and only got about 22 mpg. I seem to recall that the 4-door Metros with the automatic 4-cylinders were not much better. I was thrilled to find this thread because I have been wondering why GM didn't bring back the original Metro 3-cylinder. If you really want to have some find, find yourself an old Chevy Metro 3-cylinder Turbo! That was one amazing pocket rocket!

I recently purchased a 1998 Chevy Metro that was not taken care of by the previous owner and it was in need of a top end rebuild right off the bat. I don't know what it is about this car, but even after rebuilding the engine, the transmission went out, the exhaust went bad, the frame was rotting away, and other problems developed, but I was not giving up on her! I am a very good mechanic and did all the repairs myself to save this little car. With a few modifications, this car is getting almost 60 MPG right now!

At first, all my friends laughed at me and said I was crazy to dump all this work into a piece of crap, but with gasoline at $4.00 per gallon here in the USA now, I have the last laugh!

I have a complete documented thread on everything I have done to this car to save it from the crusher with lost of pictures of the restoration. You can see it here...........

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/mullets-metro-project-2936.htm...

Stumbled into a 1994 Geo 5-door with 96K. No rust. Runs and drives great. She has as much pick-up as any 4-cyclinder I've driven. I'm tempted to get a bumper sticker that says, "Laugh if you want to, but I get get better gas mileage than a hybrid."

I doubt they could bring it back as is though. Modern emissions and safety standards mean higher curb weights. But I do think that some car-maker should take another look at that 3-cylinder design. Add a turbo or supercharger and you could likely make a dandy commuter to go head-to-head with expensive hybrids.
- Metro Mama

Bought a Suzuki Swift (same car,sold in Canada) late last spring when gas in Canada was close to $7 a gallon.Have a couple other vehicles too,most notably for this topic,a Chevy Silverado.The truck gets at best 20 mpg(that's Canuk gallons,so like 16 mpg US.)Got way tired of $130 fill-ups,and don't need the truck most days.I work as property management in rural cottage community,so the miles pile up pretty easy,and once my tools are at a job,who needs the dang truck!I am old enough now that I don't have to be worried about what "the boys" think....hence the little p*sser.
Payed $1110 for it,with 90k miles,fairly rust free.
This thing paid for it's self in 9 weeks!!
It's got enough guts for anyone other than Mario,in fact is kinda surprising.It is a bit exciting on winter roads,especially that slush ridge down the middle of the road...watch out for it...grabs ya!
So after having it for a couple of weeks,my youngest boy decided the hell with the buddies,he wanted one too.
Everywhere we looked,they were rusted out,mainly rockers and doors.Noted that every lot we went to had bunches ov lovely HUGE SUVs,and very few little cars.
Wasn't easy to find a decent one,but we did,for $1400.He just turned 16,grade 11,and does take alot of ribbing from the guys...but hey,he's 16,gots his own wheels,completely with his own cash.He can afford to gas it up,go anywhere,and now with gas prices dropping,can afford the odd burger and movie.
Meanwhile,his older brother,with an Avalanche,is struggling to put $50 in for the week-end.Little brother laughs as he peels out the driveway...and older brother begs mine most days.
Anyone considering one of these shouldn't think twice.Look at rocker pannels and doors,hatches,for rust.Front ends can be weak too,but parts are really cheap and easy to find.The motor seems to be bullet (teenager) proof.
This car is Japanese designed,built in Ontario Canada and the US.Sold under 3 names,Suzuki Swift,Geo(and later Chevy) Metro,and Pontiac Firefly.Fisrt models rolled out in '89.
The Firefly was available as a convertible,but is pretty wobbly without a solid lid.Was available with a 3 banger 1000cc till '98,and had a 1.3 4 banger available since '95 I think.Ours are both 1.3,automatics...we couldn't find sticks in decent shape.All models pass our nearly as strict as California emmisions tests.The weenie tank gets you about 400 miles for $20...about 55 mpg.We pulled the air conditioning belt off ours,pump the tires up to 45 psi,and it does even better.
Terrific car!

Just bought a 98 3cyl. metro hatch with 25K on it. Absolutely show room. Am getting 35-39 mpg. Tell me about this hho. I want one for mine. any other info would be great. Thanks a bunch.

Hi I have 3 Geo Metros I have 1992,1994 and a 2000 they all have the 3 cylender moter I love the all three of them I am a single guy and I do not need to have 3 Geo's I just want to be set for life with a Geo I will not drive any other car they are so easy to work on I never have any problems with them at all. I want to thank Suzuki for making such a good car that never lets you down Suzuki makes such a good small moter... Thank god GM never put ther moter in the Geo or it would have endless problems...

I just want to say to anyone that reads this and they are thinking about buying a Geo metro if you want a small car thats very good on gas this on is for you trust me my little Geo saves me so much in Gas..

I LOVE MY GEO

I have had 3 all convertibles. They are the best little cars you could ever own. I was in an accident in my 92 Geo convertible, I survived and I was hit on the drivers side. My 15 inch custom mags saved me, it took the brunt. I dont care what anybody says, they are the most reliable vehicles I have ever owned. I now have a 90 Firefly convertible. It has 240,000 kilometers on it and the engine is as strong as ever. Ive only replaced the clutch, radiator and just recently the blower for the heat. Considering I drive 80 miles a day thats not bad for a 20 year old car..Just to let everyone know on here this same car is being built in Pakistan to this day. If you look under the bade Suzuki Cultus, you will see a 2004 hatchback which is identical to the 1992 model here in North America. I had the last laugh last year when gas went up to 1.52 a litre, everyone was complaining and I laughed at them this time...I fill my car now with 94 octane from Chevron, this is the dirty little secret noone knows about. When you use a higher octane these suzuki motors push out more pep and better gas mileage. I have had people ask me how did you get that motor so peppy. I tell them Chevron 94, it gives you the guts to go up hills better etc. I will never give my little convertible up. Im slowly restoring it. If you have one or get one. fix it up and dont sell it!!!no auto maker can come close to the Metro ever. The Smart car is crap the trannies are aweful and they are still smaller than the metro and dont even get the mileage. that I do...so to all those people that laughed .....guess who has the last laugh now!!!!!

I have a 1994 Geo Metro 2 door hatchback. 3.0 I love this car. rebilt the engine. at 200,000 and it still runs like new. jst replaced the door handles (all 4) need to replace the lift thingies for the hatchback but that car has served me well.

I'm loving this thread. I remember the Geo-Metro back in the day and thinking it looked like a piece of junk when I was young and naive.

The OP is right, you don't need any high tech hybrids to have good fuel economy. The quickest/best/smartest way to increase fuel efficiency has always been to decrease weight. This has always been true and people have known this all along.

At a featherweight 620kg, it is about half the weight of a Toyota Prius. (And a fraction of the cost, even in today's money.) So considering that over 90% of the power used to move a car is expended on moving the vehicle rather than the occupant, this represents a huge reduction in the energy needed to power a vehicle.

That's why the Rocky Mountain Institute has focused on researching new weight-saving car body design & construction technologies--as each pound of weight you remove from the car body actually saves you over a pound of vehicle weight (since you need less engine to power it, less brakes to stop it, less suspension to hold it up, etc.). Their "hyper car" prototype employs some pretty cool construction techniques that may be standard in the future.

For now, even though the Geo Metro is no longer in production (and the Daewoo Kalos it's been replaced with has followed trends of increasing weight/size), you can get essentially the same benefits from the Smart Fortwo: 730kg and 60mpg, though a brand new one costs about $16k.

I bought a 1995 Geo metro when i was in college and needed a cheap little beatem up car... fell in love with it, and never wanted to get rid of it, but i moved out of state and the little red jellybean that got over 45mpg was sold to a Lawyer because he couldnt afford his Beamer... (must not of been a good Lawyer) bought the car for 500, sold it when gas was 4.30 a gallon, for $1500, i ended up buying another one in Michigan and the heater just wasnt cuttin the mustard, bought a dodge neon, and i regret it!

I bought a 1997 geo metro for $600. It had 200k on the original motor but was still going strong and was getting 43mpg. I decided to buy a $330 rebuild kit and rebuild the motor. It took me 3 days and now im getting 52.7mpg in a non xfi metro. The car is just a joy to drive too.

i am thinking rebuilting my 94 Geo.My engine had a bad blow by. I am no a mechanic. What headache I may run into rebuilding? any advice.

Hi, do to current gas prices some guys at work talked me into looking for a cheaper car to drive rather than what I was driving wich is a 2005 Chevrolet Colorado at Hwy mpg is around 22 mpg not bad but not good enough. These guys drive Ford Festivias that get 40 mpg so I thought I would try and find something like that. One Saturday I decided to go looking for such a car after about ten minutes I found a 1995 Geo Metro Sedan. I was looking for a cheap fixer upper you know the kind that someone thought was no good anymore and might want to sell cheap. I found what I was looking for, I pulled up behind it you could tell it had not been driven for a while, so I whent to knock on the door and asked if they would sell it. The person said her Daughter owned the the car and might sell it, so I gave them my number they said they would let me know. After two days goes by they did call and said she would sell but whould need $300.00 for it I said I'll be right over. This car was driven by a 21 year old girl that was imbarresed to drive it because it had a squeaky belt! thats all that was wrong with it! Of course I bought it. I put $200 bucks into it and it runs like a new one. That car had not moved in over a year and all it need was a belt and some new brakes. I hope to get at least 40 mpg and I don't care what I look like when driving but I will laugh when filling the tank as my chevy cost $50.00 per week and this might cost about half of that. Anyway I think I got a good deal and the car should last a long time.

I have 5 Geo Metros for sale. Some might need minor work but I have parts for most. My dad loved them and he recently passed. Anyone interested please reply.

im sorry i forgot to ask you if u know of info on a door for my geo its blue and email me at moodygrandma54@aol.com again thank you so much,

'97 Metro 1.0L, 189.000 miles. 42.8mpg - ALL city driving! 48-52mpg at 65-70mph. Best car I've ever owned. Remember, these cars have independent rear suspension! Roll-up windows, no power steering.... I love this Metro.

I LOVE THE GEO

Currently own a '93 Geo Metro Lsi 5-spd., which I've driven for 4 years with virtually zero problems. Then, a freeze plug blew and I had to decided, should I give up the car, or go for a $1200 rebuilt head? I decided on the head replacement. At todays current gas prices, it was a good choice. My next problem came when both of the interior door handles busted off (about $200 dollars in parts from Ferman Chevy, and I did the replacement work myself). So I still have the old bucket of bolts, even though things keep going awry with it. Another common problem with the GeoMetro, the windows fall off their tracks. I'm told if you spray silicon on the window guides and the rubber window seals, this problem may be prevented. And this got me thinking. The main problem with the Geos is that the owner's manual was VERY INADEQUATE. There are a lot of environmental controls on the motor that no one knows how to tinker with or maintain...and if you're getting poor gas mileage out of your motor, this may be the area to concentrate on. That's why I am suggesting, you mechanics who understand the Geo inside and out, ought to tell us how to get our little bees humming back to 52 mpg, like they were made to do. Tune ups are important, keeping a clean air filter, replacing the Crankcase Ventilation Valve regularly, etc., but there is a lot of gear under that hood whose function and maintenace just isn't covered in the owner's manual. And please, if you DO submit some help, do it in plain English. It seems mechanics feel the need to embroider their tongues with terms and abbreviations no one could guess at. There is a new GeoMetro Forum on the internet, but I found very little help there for problems with my own 93 Geo. The contributors seemed to be speaking a language known only to themselves, laced with occassional phrases of lucidity. Yes, bring this little car back. I truly love mine...and some day you will have to pry my dead fingers away from the steering wheel. Ha, ha! This is a nice car, but like most cars, its maintenace issues must be attended to carefully to get the greatest joy out of ownership.

hi, have a 1994 geo metro xfi for sale. it has 38,000 original miles, no rust (virginia car). thinking about putting on ebay. this car is a true xfi. how many left with this low miles? 5-spd, no right side mirror, can send pictures on my cell, it is white with gray interior,has xfi decal on back,also has the right vin number for a xfi, runs great. email if you have interest. thanks.

I have a 1997 Geo Metro xfi that has been in the family since new. It has been treated very well. I recently had the fuel pump replaced as well as the distributor. It runs wonderful, the paint is nearly immaculate, no dings, no nothing. Interior is totally fine. I plan on keeping it for a long time. It currently has 108,000 miles on it. These days I don't put a lot of miles on it, it's actually sorta semi retired. Sometime in the future I'd like to do a total restoration for fun. I get the last laugh at the gas station and I have no car payment. Works for me!

Marnie
Reno, NV