Saleofcar.com :Geo

Geo Metro (1993)
for sale

Price: US $900.00

Description:

This convertible has been well cared for which should be evident in the pictures I provided.  They have all been taken in the past month.  As you can see, this is an exceptionally pretty Geo Metro Convertible.  One of the prettiest I have seen.  Its one flaw, which is typical of Geo Metros, is rust on the floorboards.  I do not say this to trivialize it, but to alert to you to it as well as to other Metros listed on eBay and craigslist where they tell you there is little to no rust but then they do not provide pictures of the areas where Metros are most susceptible to rust to prove it, and the floorboards are just one of three areas that you, as the buyer, need to be aware of.  (I have owned 5 Geo Metros, so have some experience in this.)  So I caution you to be very, very careful when they are not provided the necessary pictures to substantiate their “no rust” claims. (More on this below.) The engine and transmission are in very good condition and please note the excellent condition of the spark plugs. They are well used plugs and I think they show a lot about the quality of the internal combustion that is taking place.  For another example, I had my wife follow me the other day, and starting from a dead stop I pressed the gas pedal to the floor and pegged it there until I hit 80 miles per hour and she did not seen one bit of smoke, so this car burns very, very little oil if any at all.  It does leak oil, probably the seal which can be replaced at the same time as the timing belt if you wanted to do that.  That seal costs about $10. The a-frames and brake lines are the 2 most critical areas on a Metro where rust can immediately end the life of the car (not to mention the driver and passengers). When one of the a-frames rusts through the top of the affected front wheel immediately caves in and the bottom of the wheel falls out.  And this is the typical reason that permanently ends the life of the car because when they rust through the car is immediately no longer able to be driven, at all.  This is not something that can be fixed.  Or, let me put it this way, no reputable body shop would ever attempt to repair this although I have seen one example of an exceptionally talented “do it yourselfer” pull it off although I have doubts how long it will last. *** In the pictures I provided of BOTH the driver and passenger side a-frames you can see they are in very good condition on the Metro I am selling. And, remember this fact, the body can look perfect on the outside but yet the a-frames can be nearly fully rusted through.  Also, one a-frame can be fine and the other nearly rusted through.  This is common. So if someone is trying to sell you a Geo Metro they need to provide pictures of BOTH a-frames, not just the good one… *** The brake lines are the other critical area on a Metro where rust can immediate end the life of the car (and, again, its inhabitants).  For whatever reason, the brakes lines seem vulnerable to rust and when they rust through you immediately lose your brakes.  For this reason, the brake lines (and brake master cylinder) were replaced on this car a couple of months ago.  *** Nearly $500 was spent on this repair. ***  So if the person offering to sell a Geo Metro for sale on eBay or craigslist is not providing any pictures of the brake lines be very, very careful.  And like with the both the a-frames and floorboards, the car can show no signs of rust on the body at all but have all kinds of rust issues in the three areas I mentioned. So be careful. And, again, this Geo Metro received excellent care as you can tell by the pictures.  However, it does have a serious floor pan rust issue on the driver’s side as can be seen by the above and below pictures I have taken. I made a special point to remove the seats and pull back the carpet so you can fairly assess the issue.  The passenger side has much less rust but I included pictures of that side anyway.  Floor pan rust is one of the 3 common rust issues with Geo Metros so I strongly recommend you never buy one unless the owner has provided pictures with the seats removed and carpet pulled back as well as pictures taken front underneath the floor board; and on both sides of the car.  As you can see by my Metro, they can be very, very pretty on the outside but have completely hidden rust issues.  -  I did get one estimate from an auto body shop to repair both sides and it was $350 - $400 in total but I am told you can probably do it yourself for less than $100 if you are a handy person.  (Are you looking for a winter project?)  If you do a google search you will find various means Metro owners have used to tackle this issue.  The one I like best is using fiberglass, but more often I have seen people putting down sheet metal and sealing it from above and below.  You should be able to find a number of ideas how this can be done on the Internet and like I mentioned, if you do it yourself you can keep the costs to a minimum. I am also going to mention the 89, 90 and 91 Metros (mine is a 93, the last year they were made) had those very annoying buttons on the outside/top of the instrument panel needed to turn on the lights, change from dim to bright, etc. as well as turn on the wipers and adjust the wiper speed.  They are annoying because they are very fragile and break easily.  And good luck finding a quality replacement when one does breaks, and they will!  The 92 and 93 model years replaced those buttons with normal switches which was a significant improvement.  I know this may sound like a trivial thing, but having owned on 91 I can tell you I will never own a second one. Two last details are the A/C on this one does not keep the Freon for very long so there must be a leak somewhere.  And the plastic window in the soft top as about a 6” line of caulk used to seal a crack.  I got a quote of $150 to replace the clear plastic window. Each of the tires has a uniform amount of tread, measured at 5/32
_{update: 2015-12-01}