...which is the 1997 Geo Metro she bought a few years back to replace her beloved Roller Skate (1988 Festiva). Verdict: two thumbs down. Quite simply, she hates the car. Basically, the Festiva did almost everything better. Both had hard rides, but the Festiva's handling was tight and predictable (even with 270,000 miles), while the Metro's is simply bad, occasionally bordering on scary.
Mileage is superb (about 51), but the car just doesn't do anything else well. The A/C is weak (not to mention bogging down the already-anemic 3-cylinder engine), the driving position is poor (no tilt column), the highway ride is buzzy, unsettled, and incredibly raucous, more even than the Festiva. Expansion joints make the entire car jump, and can be downright scary if on a curve.
The car's oddly curved body eats some head & shoulder space, not to mention way too much cargo room. Rear visibility is only fair. The inside mirror has an incredibly-annoying vibration above about 40MPH. The car has a ferocious appetite for front brakes, eating three sets of pads and one pair of rotors in about 40,000 miles. (Her Festiva easily managed 35,000 on its tiny brakes, her big Blazer has about half the pad left with 35,000 miles.)
Cliffs notes: to the Metro, Liz says "yuck."
Mileage is superb (about 51), but the car just doesn't do anything else well. The A/C is weak (not to mention bogging down the already-anemic 3-cylinder engine), the driving position is poor (no tilt column), the highway ride is buzzy, unsettled, and incredibly raucous, more even than the Festiva. Expansion joints make the entire car jump, and can be downright scary if on a curve.
The car's oddly curved body eats some head & shoulder space, not to mention way too much cargo room. Rear visibility is only fair. The inside mirror has an incredibly-annoying vibration above about 40MPH. The car has a ferocious appetite for front brakes, eating three sets of pads and one pair of rotors in about 40,000 miles. (Her Festiva easily managed 35,000 on its tiny brakes, her big Blazer has about half the pad left with 35,000 miles.)
Cliffs notes: to the Metro, Liz says "yuck."
