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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  Just WOW... - 1993 Geo Prizm
  By Ryan - November 12 - 10:45 pm

  This car has been beaten on for 13 years! It has 237,000 miles on it with hardly any problems other than the body starting to rust from salt! Best longest lasting car ive seen on the road for this price! No problems! Maybe I just got lucky?

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  True Love - 1994 Geo Prizm
  By prizmlove - November 10 - 4:21 am

  Love the pep, the ease of handling, the smooth shifting, the look of the body. Im sick over this car getting old enough that it might have to be replaced! Cant even feel the engine when its idling, and that at 187K. Needing a new clutch and one exhaust pipe after replacing part of one gas line last year due to rust. . . My dream is to find another out there, standard shift, of 94-97 vintage. What a fabulous car. Bought it at 24K, loved every day of driving it.

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  Best First car One Could Ask For! - 1992 Geo Storm
  By Brian - November 2 - 10:38 pm

  I just bought this car about a couple months ago for my first car and I couldnt have asked for a better vehicle! My 1992 Geo Storm might be 13 years old and have 92,000 miles on it but it runs like new and can really fly! The car is great on gas, and hasnt given me any problems yet! Bring back the Geo Storm!!! I want a 2006! lol

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  hard to find troubles - 1997 Geo Tracker
  By allen - October 26 - 10:22 pm

  zippy & fun- except for the impossible to fix idle stall issue. Dealer will gladly break your bank replacing everything and you will still have the problem, arghh! I think the culprit is carbon accumulating in the egr valve port.

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  Best Car Ever - 1993 Geo Prizm
  By Geo Fan - October 21 - 3:04 pm

  Ive had my Geo for 13 yrs and driven it 235K miles. It has been a terrific car!!! SO VERY RELIABLE! GREAT GAS MILEAGE! AFFORDABLE REPAIRS ON THE RARE OCCASIONS THEYRE NEEDED! Theres not enough space to tell you how much we love this car and how great it has been for our quality of life - leaving us with $$$ for graduate school, vacations, house payments, etc. Much of its life we drove it commuting in Chicago. Now we live in the Rocky Mtns and, while it gets around great on the winter roads with studded tires, it lacks the ground clearance needed for our super snowy rural driveway, so were replacing it with an SUV :( Thanks for the memories Prizm!

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  Still Going...... - 1992 Geo Storm
  By EP - October 21 - 11:17 am

  I hate to admit it but I love this little "bubbleback" car. 2nd one Ive owned in 15 years. This little thing can zip around with the best of them. Saw 125mph one time. Looks as good now as it did back in 92 and we all knew economy cars would make a come back eventually. Good mechanically. Timing belt bit the dust at 158,000. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CHANGE BELT AND WATER PUMP!! I can honestly tell you it is more of a pain than its worth. All that aside its a great car.

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  13 Year Love Affair - 1992 Geo Metro
  By Stan_Topdown - October 20 - 1:23 am

  OK, so it takes more than 20 seconds from 0 to 60. Big deal. Find me another top-down car that gets 33 - 35 mpg in town 40 mpg on the road (no wind 70mph). 13 years - 80,000 miles only actual repair - speed sensor in speedometer went out at 32K. Rest is maintenance. Out today 50 mile round trip - bright sun, mid 70s, 25 mph sw wind - sometimes headwind - sometimes tailwind. Great fun both ways. Handles fine on ice & snow - its just a shame none of the current < $20K fwd coupes dont come as convertibles. Like many other stick shifts Ive driven, when youre close enough to floor the clutch w left foot, your right foot is too far forward to use the throttle comfortably.

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  getting 50-MPG & then some - 1996 Geo Metro
  By dp - October 11 - 3:46 pm

  Owned for < 1mth, been highly reliable, incredible mileage ranging from 44.3- 50.2 combined driving. A little noisy around town, surprisingly quiet on hwys. The 5 spd trans is smooth, however the dash mounted shift-light is annoying. The built-in headrests are uncomfortable & theres no lumbar support. Could use armrests. Plenty headroom for big hair or tall hat. Lots of rear cargo storage with seat down, (I removed bottom part of seat for a flat-fold). This 4cyl LSI came w/o AC & radio - miss them both. In summary, a great commuter car, reliable, with current MPG & gas at $3/gal it should pay for itself in about 6 mths.

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  Go little Tracker, GO! - 1997 Geo Tracker
  By Alecia Mason - September 29 - 10:22 am

  Not bad for a such a tiny little truck. I recently bought a 1997 and I love it. Interior is comfortable, although for someone bigger than me (52" or taller) may find driver seat umcomfortable. Convertible top takes time to put up or down, but is very nice on those hot days. I drive an hour and a half to school or work everyday and highway driving is pleasant, however, high-speed passing power is only "acceptable" in my 5- speed. Gas mileage is a bonus, with the amount I save on gas from a V8 S10 pickup, my loan really does pay itself off! Its an awesome little truck, I must say. Unfortunately, all my friends with pickups have dubbed it "The little truck that thought it could....but couldnt"

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  Definitely "NOT" a Throw-Away-Car. - 1994 Geo Metro
  By Dave - September 6 - 7:27 pm

  I had owned a Geo Metro for almost ten years, and it was the most reliable and fuel efficient car that Ive ever own. Its definitely not a sports car, but thats not why you would buy one. In spite of their lack of acceleration, its their gas mileage which more than redeems them. With regards to freeway driving, the Geo Metro does more that just keep up with traffic. Ill put it to you like this,"A Geo Metro can do 95 miles per hour... it doesnt like to, but it can do it". Speeds between 65 mph and 90 mph are quite manageable for this car. Additionally, their little 1.0 liter engines are remarkably tough.