I am thinking to buy a Suzuki Swift / Chevrolet Sprint / Geo Metro / Pontiac Firefly from 1989 - 2001.
It should be automatic, is there are anything I should be carefully? are they durable? I would like you to share your experience.
Given that these cars have very few redeeming qualities outside of stellar MPG, why would you opt for the AT? That’s like pulling your punch at the last moment.
Go full-out and get the MT.
The drivetrains are reasonably robust, but the rest of the cars are very flimsy.
I’d tend to agree with meanjoe’s sentiment that good mileage was really all they had going for them (well, and being cheap. Some of them sold for under 5 grand new). The later model years started to get heavier and more powerful, which improved their overall drivability and safety, but reduced their fuel milage to being comparable with most other small cars.
So to find a real fuel-sipper, you’re looking at buying a car that’s around two decades old that was never really made to last. What’s worse, until the prices rebounded due to the fuel price spikes of the last few years, these cars were basically worthless. You couldn’t give one away. As a result, people really tended to treat them poorly and so it is extremely rare to find one in really good shape, and plus since gas is still pretty high they’re still insanely overvalued.
I would personally love to have a time machine and go back to when gas was 1.50 a gallon and you could buy a nice used 3-cylinder Geo for $300, but those days are long gone. If you’re looking for a cheap used car, the newer Metros are okay options, but they’re definitely not something to specifically seek out.
We have a 1995 Geo Metro manual trans. and it has been VERY RELIABLE. Just change the oil, don’t drive in the blind spot of big rigs and you’ll have a great commute car that drives well and cheaply.
agreed,the automatics offered in these cars were all 3 speeds without overdrive. That costs the car about 7 or 8 MPG vs. the stick shift model. Which puts the mileage of slushbox Metro/Firefly as not significantly better than other more substancial cars.