Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  Wouldnt Encourage Anyone to buy this car - 2001 Chevrolet Prizm
  By hockeyplr12 - April 8 - 6:19 pm

  I bought this car used about a year ago, and its been nothing but a headache. I got the car at 141k miles and the ac compressor was shot, fuel pump was shot, struts are bad already, 3 broken door handles already (even if your gentle theyre very weak. The worst part is this car burns oil like no tomorrow. The motor has a weak start, i can rely on it to start, but im not sure how far it just might go.. the only really positive thing i can say is that its decent on gas, but its a very tiny car. Im 6 foot and i hate getting in and out of it, it feels like your pressed against the steering wheel. I wouldnt get this car unless your 4 foot 2 and like to put more in oil then you do in gas.SeriouslY

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  Good Ol reliable! - 2000 Chevrolet Prizm
  By beanz3 - May 7 - 2:22 pm

  Ive had my prizm for 13 years now. I have no trouble with it eating oil, as others have stated. The inner handles do break, however they are very easily replaced (under 5 minutes each) and if ordered online, very inexpensive (look for toyota corolla). Outer door handles break as well, the front ones arent horribly difficult to replace. After 13 years, it is now starting to act up and trying to stall if it hasnt been driven in a few days, but after warming up runs just fine. No problem with AC or heater. My cd player did stop working however.

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  Great around-town car - 2000 Chevrolet Prizm
  By 4hudsons - July 17 - 6:43 am

  The Prism is a great around town car, but NOT for traveling. I have 260,000 miles on my manual shift and lost 4th gear last September and I am still getting over 34 miles to the gallon. The throwout bearing went bad at about 220,000 miles and we went ahead and rebuilt the motor since it was out and was losing compression. It runs like a new one except for the pesky 4th gear. The interior is very cheap and the door handles break easily. We bought this car new with only 11 miles on it, 8 we put on during the test drive. The car is great for around town and short trips less than 2 hours but uncomfortable on any further distance, especially in the back seat. The suspension is very cheap.

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  The fixes - 2002 Chevrolet Prizm
  By Dr. Futility - October 8 - 2:00 am

  The car is best suited for a couple or parents with small kids. The front seats must be at their back position which leaves no leg room behind.

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  mine seems to be a piece of junk - 1999 Chevrolet Prizm
  By stacyinjax - March 21 - 6:11 pm

  I bought this car for easy commuting for good fuel economy. It was essentially a Corolla. This means I thought I wouldnt have to put a bunch of cash into it for repairs. WRONG! I have only put 38,000 miles on it and have had to put brakes, a starter, new strut on it. Now the power steering is leaking and transmission are gone. And when I had it at the mechanic the door handle went. Im so disappointed because Ive maintained it. Not to mention that every time I put the air or heat on the noise from the blower is an annoying high pitched whistle! Get blown all over the highway,Im an old lady and old lady blow by me. Just a hazard. I should have bought the Corolla.

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  A car that LOVES to eat oil - 2000 Chevrolet Prizm
  By morningland - April 10 - 11:49 pm

  I was a little disappointed with this car. It is VERY reliable, had it 2 years, 20+k miles without a single mechanical problem but there are other things that annoy me. It relentlessly eats oil especially if you drive on the freeway. I drive 200 miles on a freeway and find that I am a quart and a half low, it doesnt burn up or leak it just disappears. The car stalls on when you start it up and try to drive right away no big deal since you should let any car warm up first but I had a couple times where the car almost stalled on my first turn onto a main road with oncoming traffic. It stinks on the snow and the interior design is cheap, the door handle has already feel ff and is hard to fix.

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  weak econobox - 2001 Chevrolet Prizm
  By Bob - March 28 - 12:15 pm

  Base model with a few options. Looking for Totota reliability, but used car dealer cant seem to fix horn/cruise control issue (they dont work, and need a new relay). Low seating. Checked oil after 1 month, 3.5 quarts low! Yikes, that doesnt leave much. After filling oil, a month later it needs 1.5 quarts. Another reviewer noted his mother ran her Prizm 3 times with no oil maybe because it burns. Someone else said it burns oil at highway speed. Could be. I dont see any drips in the garage. 3- speed auto stinks on the highway, car really doesnt like going over 60. Engine is making lifter noises. If engine holds up, this will be good around-town econobox for my HS kid.

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  Some unexpected problems - 2000 Chevrolet Prizm
  By Danielle - February 22 - 6:41 pm

  This car was purchased new, but always burned engine oil too rapidly, and became quicker over time so I must carry oil with me. The front end alignment pulls to the right and noone can seem to fix it. 3 years ago (summer of 2005) A/C broke. I had to buy a new A/C unit which works so much better than the one the car originally came with. In November 2006 with just over 100,000 miles on the car, the catalytic converter went out - Major Bucks to fix this, and required for DMV renewal. After passing smog, only months later the check engine light is on again meaning I cannot register it this year unless it gets repaired again! Needless to say - time to buy a new car.

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  Bad Luck - 2001 Chevrolet Prizm
  By aria49 - July 19 - 10:12 am

  I have had the worst luck with this car. Three months after I bought it, it began to stall out when I would start it after not driving it for awhile. (The mass airflow sensor was faulty.) On a road trip my timing belt snapped resulting in needing to totally replace the engine. The most recent thing to go wrong with this car is that the hood latch was faulty resulting in my hood being bent beyond a cheap repair. (Had to replace the hood, both quarter panels, paint them and finally replace the hood latch.) Everything that has gone wrong with this car was an expensive fix. The other issue I have with this car is it gets less than 30 mpg highway.

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  Wore out over the long haul - 1998 Chevrolet Prizm
  By Sam S. - February 19 - 10:17 pm

  This car had pretty good reliability, but the real flaw was the interior. It really did not wear well, and started to fall apart after about 5-6 years. his included problems such as the stripping around the doors peeling off, and all of the interior door handles breaking. The air conditioning went out at about 6 years too, which is a pain. Engine wise this car never gave me any trouble, which I assume has to do with it being a Toyota engine. Just beware that though the Chevy Prizms are made by Toyota, much of the body is made and assembled by Chevy.