Ecomodding my winter beater: a unicorn no-rust (*) 2000 Chevrolet Metro 1.0 5-spd

[MetroMPG]

Just sold the Prius, and look at the unicorn that popped up in my email alerts!



Only 100k kms / 60k miles. 5-speed. [EDIT/CORRECTION: Ad was wrong! It's got 210k kms / 131k mi!)

No rust? Really?

Importantly: owned by a retiree in Montreal who spends winters in Florida, who says the car has therefore only been subjected to a few salty, slushy winters. Plus he says it has had multiple rust-proofing treatments.

Engine?

They don't say whether it's the 3 or 4-cylinder car though. I'm guessing it's the 4 because it's got "uplevel" stuff on it like a rear wiper, body side mouldings and cargo cover. But even with the giant, fuel-guzzling 1.3L instead of the 1.0L, I'd still consider it. [UPDATE: it's the triple.]

Asking $1500

But "a little bit negotiable".

I've been on the look-out for a doppelganger of the Firefly for a few years now. It'd be nice to have another working set of everything in the form of a functional winter beater, because parts are only going to get harder to find -- with 40k kms on it, I'll probably own the Firefly forever (or at least until interal combustion cars are outlawed).

I've left email and voice messages. If it hasn't sold already, I'll go see it today. A chance to utiliser mon francais.

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The last one of these low-miles unicorns that I saw had an asking price of $3500: 1999 Chevrolet Geo Metro, 1.0/5-spd, 80k km (50k mi), no rust survivor. Oshawa, ON

[Natalya]

Better hope my cousin doesn't see this and get it before you. He lives in Montréal and drives a purple Geo.

[Frank Lee]

Too nice to be a winter car. There are plenty of pre-winterized turds to be had.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Natalya

Better hope my cousin doesn't see this and get it before you. He lives in Montréal and drives a purple Geo.

NOOOO!! I call dibs!

Anyway, I still haven't heard back from the seller. The ad went up yesterday and already has ~80 views. For that price, I suspect it's already sold.

That's the problem with relying on email alerts -- always late to the party!

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I agree it's too nice to subject to the salt baths that are eastern Canada winters. But it also doesn't make sense for me to pick it up as a "spare" car just to have on hand. So if I got it, it would have to earn its keep on winter duty. But it would also get full rust-prevention treatment every year. I know these cars well enough that I could keep the body & floor in good condition for a long, long time even with salt exposure.

[Frank Lee]

Car hoarding doesn't have to make sense! As long as it's fun!

[MetroMPG]

How many in your fleet now, Frank?

IF I got that Metro today, I would be at a personal high: seven. (2 of which are junk/parts cars though.) Hopefully that's "peak-hoarding" for me.

But the Prius goes to its new home tomorrow, so in reality, currently five.

[me and my metro]

I hope hoarding is still allowed, I have 3 2002 Saturn L series cars in my driveway. Although all my Metros are gone.

[MetroMPG]

Legacy username, eh?

I should start a new thread with a poll. I bet there are more than a few hoarders around here.

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Update! New thread: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...not-34104.html

[MetroMPG]

Sadly, no reply to any my messages left about this Metro yesterday.

The ad is still up and it was edited yesterday afternoon. But no answer this morning, either.

[MetroMPG]

........