Should I Buy This 1996 Geo Metro? - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

TDFbound · 07-25-2021, 06:19 PM

Found a 1996 Geo Metro for sale near me, $600 asking price. Says he had the car for 10-12 years, bought at 80k miles and is selling at 160k miles after buying a newer car. Says front brakes do not release once pressed but the caliper pistons can be manually pushed back. Also says first gear is hard to get into gear, but does go in and does not pop out. Only has one rust spot in drivers door jamb. I haven't seen the car in person yet but I think a caliper rebuild and 1st gear synchro might fix those issues. I've got a 1992.Civic VX that I want to do some work on, so I'd like this Geo to be something I can drive for a year or so while messing with the Civic. Any red flags so far or something else I should look out for?

nemo · 07-25-2021, 06:40 PM

Brakes failing to release can be caused by faulty flexible brake hoses. Other can give more specific information as to what to look as problem area on that specific model.

freebeard · 07-25-2021, 07:25 PM

How many doors, cylinders and gears forward?

redneck · 07-25-2021, 08:07 PM

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The transmission 1st. gear problem sounds more like a fly wheel pilot bearing or clutch throwout bearing problem to me. Normally it’s a 2nd gear synchronizer problem that Metros have.

However, whichever it may be, would require you to pull the engine or transmission.

But, before doing that. I would try changing the gear oil to Pennzoil Synchromesh transmission fluid before I did anything drastic.

It’s amazing how much it cures - helps.

Metros are getting harder to find, but parts are still readily available.

$600 sounds great if everything else is good.

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cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 07-25-2021, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TDFbound

I'd like this Geo to be something I can drive for a year or so while messing with the Civic

Even after you finish the work on the Civic, who says you won't eventually also decide to keep the Metro if it happens to be in an overall good shape?

TDFbound · 07-25-2021, 11:36 PM

Went to see it and couldn't resist. 1996 3-door 5-speed manual with 160k miles. Owner had it since 2006, just driving 40 mile round trip days to work and back. Definitely needs a synchro, shifts smooth into 2nd if you double clutch but won't go in otherwise, same with 1st. Only rust spot is under the passenger door rocker, not a large spot, maybe size of playing card, but could stand to be fixed within the next year or so. Exhaust has rusted where the pipe meets the muffler and is hanging free there- same on my Civic, so not too worried about it, will fix later. Rest of underneath looks fine to me.

Will replace front brake calipers (like $100 for a pair of re-man calipers including pads), and may see about getting a quote from the local shop about the transmission. Worse case scenario I take a weekend and do it myself, just a bit gimpy right now due to having a torn ACL/MCL from a motorcycle crash last weekend, waiting to have surgery on it soon.

Interior is pretty good, couple wear spots on driver's seat, one small burn hole in passenger seat, air vent direction knobs don't turn all the blades of the vent, have to manually move each one. Aftermarket stereo works but only plays from one speaker- also really not concerned with this, the stereo in my Civic hasn't worked since I bought it. Headliner fabric is drooping, need to glue it back up. A little TLC and some cleaning and it should be good to go for quite a while- the amount of dust in this thing is incredible, we live in farmland and the previous owner did have 6 miles per day of dirt/gravel road, I doubt he's ever vacuumed it out.

Pretty stoked, I don't feel it was a bad deal at all.