Geo Metro vs 96 Civic

[TheFamilySign]

96 Civic Coupe has 160k miles, auto transmission
96 Metro hatch has 163k miles and a 5 speed,
now which one is better for city driving? i deliver pizza averaging 50-70 miles a day.
hoping to trade one of them for my 99 expedition

[Weather Spotter]

go with the manual any day of the week. the metro also has many fans and mods done to it with documented results so most of any design work you might want to do for mods is already figured out the manual can also rig up a kill switch for coasting but the auto trans do not like that.

[GRU]

go with the Geo 5 speed if you're looking to save every penny. i gave up about 5-7mpg when i switched from 5 speed civic to auto civic

[orangustang]

I agree with the guys above. Everything about getting good MPG points to the Metro. It's a smaller, more efficient platform to start with, then you've got the more efficient transmission, and it allows you to do EOC if you're comfortable with that.

Trading down from an Expedition, you will see a tremendous improvement either way, but the potential is there to reduce your fuel consumption probably 30-40% again in the Metro vs. the Civic. I see delivery guys in my city getting 30 MPG city in auto Civics frequently, but the Metro should be able to see at least 40 MPG pretty consistently if you keep it in good shape and drive it efficiently.

[drmiller100]

honda is a 300,000 mile car.

metro is a 190,000 mile car.

[Brad9660]

In this situation I would go with the Geo, because it has a manual transmission. I think a manual transmission is a must if you are serious about gas mileage. Plus it is a lighter car, which is always good. But if the Civic were a manual, I would probably go with that, based on the reliability and satisfaction I have got out of my Honda.