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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  A great car - 1996 Geo Prizm
  By paganpink - May 30 - 1:58 pm

  Although my car has only 91,600 miles which is very low for a 13 year old vehicle I can safely say that its reliability is really astounding. Everything still works fine- cold air, radio/cassette, etc. etc. It simply never needs anything other than routine maintenance to be done on it, year after year after year. What a great car. And its comfortable to boot, although its not a prestigious looking car, but nonetheless they are the automotive equivalent of the Energizer bunny.

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  wonderful - 1991 Geo Metro
  By pyewakat - May 28 - 5:08 pm

  Bought this car from a used car dealer in 1992, and still runs great to this day. Only Major repairs were the fuel filter, cat converter, and fuel jet. Ok the water pump too. Most of those repairs were 10 yrs after purchase. The water pump and fuel jet were within the last year. Still gets 30+ miles to the gallon and purrs like a kitten. Best $7000 investment ever!

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  WOW... all you need - 1991 Geo Metro
  By Andrew - May 22 - 3:14 pm

  I love this car. Second car I bought and only car I will need again. I get 50 mpg if Im gentle. I have beaten on the vehicle a lot and does not want to break. Only magor issue was the rear main seal and it was a ok fix. I have put 30,000 miles on it since I bought it with and done only oil change and main seal. If I could only car I would drive. Vehicle handles better then my Jeep in the winter. The car gets a lot of laughs but when the gas prices reached $4 a gallon I was laughing and people started buying metros for $4000. I will have to say it is not the greatest car by a long shot. But compared to what I put in and got out. Im very happy. Perfect college car

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  The ride that keeps on going - 1992 Geo Prizm
  By ronniezlove - May 15 - 8:29 pm

  The drivers door handle has broken off and is non functional as well as the inside handle. We open the inside with the handle of a crescent wrench . The passenger door opens from the outside only and we have to use the wrench to get out. So I will say they should have come up with a better door handle system. No problems with the drive train. It does use 5 or 6 qts. of oil a year. Overall, I LOVE this car and would recommend one just like it to anyone!

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  Loved it! - 1996 Geo Metro
  By pfrey71 - May 14 - 1:44 pm

  I had my Geo Metro 4 door (4 cyl) from 1996 through 1999. I loved that car! The only money I had to put into it other than regular maintenance items was a fuel pump relay ($5 part, $50 tow). I had 136,000 miles on it when it was involved in a multi-car pile up and was totalled due to its high mileage (two days after I mailed in my final payment- UGH!). I wish I could have kept it until it died. As for safety, it was impacted four times in that accident...once by a tractor trailer, twice by an Audi, and then it hit the wall and of all six cars involved in the accident mine was the only car that was able to be driven away from the scene and I suffered no injuries. Fabulous car!

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  Hurray for Geo - 1995 Geo Prizm
  By Hurray for Geo - May 14 - 12:19 pm

  Excellent little car that was always there as we went through other cars. The little geo was a work horse and we are passing it on to our nephew to use. Great fun little car that ran smooth. 210,000 miles replacing the engine so that we can keep it.

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  14 year old and still shining! - 1995 Geo Metro
  By darolings - May 12 - 10:11 pm

  I got this car in 2002 with 49,000 miles and am absolutely amazed at how well it has served me for 7 years. Ive never stalled, never broken down, never hesitated starting (even in single digit temps) never overheated (even in 90+ degree weather). I lived in a remote area of the Cascades where there were serious snow storms and I faired really well! I actually moved across country in this car and was astounded at the storage capacity. My complaints: #1 The air vent is a really poor design and the cheap plastic warps marking it hard to get a connection (ie air does not blow out of the vents consistantly). #2 No cup holders in the car is ridiculous. #3 Very very basic car design.

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  will never buy another one - 1995 Geo Tracker
  By kjfogge - May 7 - 11:50 am

  have owned about 4 years now...started having an ongoing problem 2 years/$800 dollars ago of hesitating/violent bucking while driving. It does not always happen, nor is there any one condition to make this happen. We have stumped even the Chevy garage on this one. The gas tank is quite small...only 11 gallons. And worse still is originally it got only 20 mpg, now since this problem started 2 years ago, it is down to 15 mpg. Really liked the look and feel of this vehicle when I bought it. But I will NEVER buy another one, NOR would I recommend it to anyone! Will be getting rid of this one SOON!

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  Shell never die - 1996 Geo Prizm
  By BubSkee - May 1 - 9:57 pm

  I bought this car from the display in the center of the dealership. It has 238,000 miles and she still runs perfect. Ive not had a single problem with it. The required Minor tune-ups is all ive ever done to it and it keeps going strong too. I bet that i can easily get another 100,000 miles out of it. This is the best out of the 3 cars ive owned. I would recommend this car any day of the week.

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  The BEST car ever !!!! - 1995 Geo Prizm
  By Fernando - April 12 - 2:48 pm

  Purchased a new Geo Prizm, LSI, 95, in March 1995. As of April 2009, it has 279,000 miles. I do love this car for its reliability, easy handling, fuel economy, and no nonsense style (does not have unnecessary things that most people do not use or do not need). I have seen the newer cars (Acura TSX) and, given the age of my Prizm, I was thinking that it was about time to give up my Geo. However, recently a lady hit my car and broke the back bumper, which gave me the opportunity to paint my Prizm back to its original color and shine. The love for this car came back. There is no way I am giving up a reliable and fun to drive car that has given me 279,000 miles and 14 years of solid driving.