Overview & Reviews

As the market for import automotive brands became dramatically larger in the late 1980s, the Detroit automobile companies created their own import-style sales divisions. In 1989 General Motors introduced its Geo division, which became the most successful of these attempts before the division was discontinued in 1998.

Geo re-badged various GM cars made for world markets. Its most notable success came with the Geo Prizm, a version of the Toyota Corolla then being built cooperatively in a California assembly plant by Toyota and GM. The Geo Metro compact car began life as the Suzuki Swift, while the Geo Tracker sport-utility vehicle was derived from the Suzuki Sidekick. The Geo Spectrum sedan was an Isuzu I-Mark and the Geo Storm coupe was an Isuzu Impulse.

The experiment ended because the Geo division was unable to establish a stronger identity than the brands from which its products were taken. Moreover, GM quickly realized that Geo was simply funneling its brand loyalists into the import brands of other companies.

User Reviews:

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  Lasts Long - 1990 Geo Metro
  By Bill - February 13 - 10:39 pm

  It has been 16 years since I had bought my Metro when it was new and it had nearly 600,000 miles. I have gone through 4 clutches, 2 front subframes, and 1 floorboard, which I replaced because it caved in last month on I-10. I had it dynoed 3 months ago and it made 21 hp, pretty good for such a high mileage car. Unfortunately, last week I parked it too close to the dump trucks at the quarry and I ran over it. That was when I discovered it was saturated with rust. Overall, it was a great car.

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  A Car that does the Job - 1996 Geo Prizm
  By Dude - February 12 - 9:15 pm

  This car is meant for a person who doesnt want to spend much money, and get more than what paid for. This car is great for a beginning driver, with plenty of room for the driver, and with Toyota quality.

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  Ill buy yours!! - 1994 Geo Prizm
  By Okus - February 8 - 3:33 pm

  Just bought the Prizm @ 177,000 miles. Using it as a winter beater. I couldnt have picked a better car. Perfect running condition. Strong 1.6L (didnt expect that). Handles in the snow like a champ!!. Starts right up, even in the negative degrees, and trust me, in Mn, it gets well under. The 5-spd. gets great MPG. Auto windows, locks all work. Resale value is strong. People really love these cars. Looked up parts before I bought it. They are all cheap. Perfect car.

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  97 Tracker - 1997 Geo Tracker
  By Brian - January 19 - 2:14 am

  I have put 200,000 miles on this 5 spd 4WD Tracker and consider it to be trouble free and cheap to drive. The worst that I have gotten was 27 MPG and that was in 4WD on snow. I get between 30 and 35 MPG with every tank. Maint: replaced the front brakes 3 times, rear brakes 2 times starter and alternator once tires every 45, just replaced the speedometer cluster because the speedometer quit working some light bulbs have never been replaced. If a vehicle lasts this long in WV its a good design. Ill be looking for a newer Tracker in another 50K or so.

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  Good enough, but not great. - 1991 Geo Prizm
  By raybo - January 11 - 3:06 pm

  I had this car for over 3 years until I decided that I had enough of taking it to the garage. I bought my Prism when it was 7 years old with 79,000 miles. When I got rid of it, it had 133,000 miles on it. Right away, the exhaust needed to be replaced. Then I had a stream of minor to moderate repairs to be made during the 3 year period including replacing the ignition, starter, and radiator. Also, from day one the rear view deforosters never worked. Towards the end I had a few too many minor problems. The car made far too many creaks & squeaks while on the road. I also felt too much like I was in a tin can. I guess I expected more from a Toyota twin.

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  225,000 miles and still going! - 1996 Geo Prizm
  By Joe - January 8 - 4:22 pm

  Hands down, this is the most inexpensive cost-to-own vehicle EVER. Its a Toyota Corolla with a Geo badge on the back. Ive owned this one for 8 years and it was a rental car in its former life. Despite that abuse, Ive done nothing aside from routine maintenance and replace the occasional worn-down part. It has never broken down one time and regularly gets 28-32 mpg. The downsides: it is a rattle machine - EVERYTHING vibrates in the car like mad! Dont buy this car if you want engine power or handling - it has neither of those. What it does have is insane reliability, cheap parts, good gas mileage and its easy to work on yourself. 300,000 miles, here I come!

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  Great starter/college car - 1995 Geo Tracker
  By leroy2812 - January 6 - 7:01 am

  I am soon to be getting rid of mine, but it has had a darn good run. 153k and still strong. The steering feel as accurate and good as it is with the power steering. It handles great in turns... once you get used to it, it wont tip over, the tires lose traction way before that happens (been there done that). I wouldnt call this car quick, but with the five speed, it aint bad... runs over zx2s and neons in third gear. It does sit up high, so it gets blown around A LOT on the highway. No major things have gone wrong with mine, just had to replace the water pump, but it was a slow death, so not bad. Edmunds has terrible prices for these. In the MidWst they are about $4K dealer w/good mileage.

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  Amazingly fun go anywhere anytime car. - 1995 Geo Tracker
  By SuperRamos - November 14 - 1:21 pm

  Ive owned 4 trackers 94 to 96 autos and manuals. My 4x4 is my all time favorite. I can do anything with this car. Its cargo ability with the top off is endless. Strong engine, Off road it is amazing. It scampers up hills and around sharp turns like no other. Summer driving is like heaven with the top down, sun warming your body and good music taking you down the road to the beach. Ground clearance and noise (good radio fixes the noise issue) are its only draw backs.

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  97 GEO LSI our Best Buy! - 1997 Geo Tracker
  By Barry Cantrell - November 12 - 6:33 pm

  We bought our LSI 4X4 4 Door. I wanted black but we ended up with the dull red one, my wife loves it, I accepted it, it is her car! We had them add remote locks, but it came loaded, CD prim, pwr everything except seats. It has 130k and we changed: brakes, front autohub to manual (auto were too expensive, though it came with auto) O2 sensors-2x, complete exhaust-converter, tires so over all that is great! We did have to redo the AC. The gate lift handle cover fell off, put back. Wife loves it, I am crippeled with bad back, more than 30 miles I have to have a pain hypo! Not good on windy days! Rust on bottom-rockers/quarters.

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  Ive loved this car! - 1997 Geo Metro
  By Amy B - October 23 - 2:54 pm

  This is the 2nd Geo Metro (Chevy Sprint) Ive driven to over 200,000 miles. Ive only had to do routine maintenance and this car is still running on many of the original parts, including engine and clutch. Still gets over 44 mpg. It might be the fastest or most stylish car on the road but Id buy another in a heartbeat if they were still making them. Its ridiculous to have pay over $20,000 to get a new car that equals the fuel efficiency of this old one. Whats wrong with this picture?