Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  148,000 and still rolling - 1998 Chevrolet Prizm
  By JRB - January 30 - 8:30 am

  Bought my 1998 Chevy Prism in fall 99 and it is still rolling after all these miles and 10 plus years. I have taken care of it and it still runs great. I have done regular work on it, and every vehicle needs this. Battery, starter, alternator, tires, brakes, oil changes, etc. I have heard these things will push 200k and still roll on. We will see and I will run this until it dies.

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  Love my Prizm - 1998 Chevrolet Prizm
  By deb - December 18 - 7:27 pm

  Updating the review I wrote 2 years ago. We now have about 238,000 miles on her. She is still going strong. Had the a/c fixed for about $1200 and the only other thing we have had done is the radiator replaced since last review. We love this car! Excellent quality as far as engine performance goes.

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  This is my 3rd one! Keep on buying them - 1998 Chevrolet Prizm
  By This is my 3rd one.. - September 23 - 1:39 pm

  This is the 3rd Prism Ive bought new. I used to buy a new one every 2 -3 yrs with an 84/day commute. Since I done have the drive anymore, I am driving this one til it dies. I have 130k and have never had anything serious to repair. A new battery, tires and just today a new starter. I had to repair 2 of the doors and one of the electric locks doesnt work. I would definitely buy another Prism!

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  Whats with the driver side window? - 1998 Chevrolet Prizm
  By Hecktor - September 17 - 5:50 pm

  I bought a 94 Prizm new and love it. So when my brother in law died, I bought his 98 Prizm. The 98 had power windows. The drivers side window broke, so my wife had it repaired, and it broke again. My paralegal has a 2000 Prizm with power windows, and her drivers side window broke as well. My 94 had manual windows, so no problem there. I love the car, but its hell at the drive through windows at the bank and McDonalds.

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  Supe Reliable Car! - 1998 Chevrolet Prizm
  By SUPER RELIABLE CAR - October 14 - 9:24 pm

  Bought this car new. This car has given me over 265,000 miles of nearly trouble free service—what more can you ask of a car? The only things Ive replaced other than regular maintenance are the a/c condenser at 175,000 and an exhaust part connected to catalytic converter and radio. As well as 3 out of 4 door handles. This car has a 5-speed manual with the original clutch and still gets 37 mpg on the highway at average speed of 80 mph!

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  Reliable Car - 1998 Chevrolet Prizm
  By Andy - September 8 - 1:19 pm

  I enjoy driving my Prizm. Have only performed routine maintenance like tires and brakes in the two years since purchasing. Paid $3,500 for the car and still books around same price over two years later.

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  113,000 Miles and Going - 1998 Chevrolet Prizm
  By DMR - September 1 - 9:19 pm

  Prizm was a Corrola made at the GM/Toyota NUMMI j/v in Long Beach, CA. It depreciates faster because it doesnt have the Toyota nameplate. Still quality: thats why I got it - and the decision paid off. I bought my 1998 Prizm LSI from Hertz for $9k in May 2001 with 28,000 miles on it. Biggest repair was A/C for ~$1500. The inside driver door handle breaks reliably every two years - thats the GM contribution. Passenger window motor needed replacing. Replaced the hose for power steering today. But, really, these repairs are not out of line for 90k of driving. With all that, it runs fine, is in good shape, gives me 28 mpg. 200k? Ill write a another review if we get there.

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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.

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  Love my Prizm - 1998 Chevrolet Prizm
  By deb - October 28 - 10:49 am

  We bought this car new. Pushing 190K miles and still going strong. Only work weve had done is and alternator/battery and routine service. All other existing problems are just irritating small things that dont involve engine reliability. A/C no longer works ($2K to fix). This is the best and most reliable car Ive ever had. Take care of it and it will take care of you. Looking to replace it only because of A/C but keeping it as a "winter car" to reduce miles on new one.

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  Decent car, but lacking in some areas - 1998 Chevrolet Prizm
  By Joe Broge - May 3 - 1:33 pm

  I bought this car used with 73k miles on it after my old Hyundai got totalled. Since the Prizm/Corolla has a reputation for reliability I thought it was a safe bet. Overall the car has always gotten me where I needed to go and it has never stranded me anywhere. Unfortunately a few aspects of the car bring the whole thing down. Shortly after I bought the car the A/C stopped working. The A/C compressor had gone bad and the whole system needed replacing to the tune of $1800.