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Pretty much every engine would sound weird when run cold. It's not quite lubricated properly until the oil warms up to the required temperature, and that, in most cases, explains the knocking sounds. I know there is nothing about this in the manual and a lot of people don't let the engine to warm up for couple of minutes, but I'd highly recommend that.
I was always warming up the engine on my Prizm and sold it with almost 70K mi on it running like new. My brother who is drives Acura Integra (supposebly one of the most reliable cars around) pretty much killed the engine at 35K mi. It still runs pretty nice, but the noise comming from the engine is terrible. His problem is that he starts driving pretty much at the same time as he turns the key. It looks like the car starts moving even before it fully started.
anyone with a 93 94 95 with thoughts on reliability, please? thanks.
I'd take it to a good mechaninc first anyways though.
I had a 95 Geo Prism LSI with 1.6L engine and 5 speed. Loved the car. The only two complaints; Lack of front seat leg room. I am only 5 10, but I felt very confined after an hour drive. The second complaint was the heater that NEVER got hot, just barely warm. The GM dealer was clueless after checking the heater twice.
GM is dropping Prism, because the market is getting crowded and competitive. Prism is stealing sales from GM's own Cavilier and Saturn S series.
I paid $8,600 for mine in 11/97 when it had 26K miles, and sold it for $7,700 in 5/99 with 63K.
I have about five grand in GM points and am wondering if Toyota is going to build any more cars for GM. If not, I may have to buy a 2002 Prizm just to use up the credit.
I would appreciate any info anybody might have or if somebody can point me to a site where I can find out.
Thanks.
Does it have decent acceleration with the auto trans?
How many miles is a normal lifespan for this car?
Thanks
So if you are interested in buying a prizm, you need to get it soon, since you can't order it with the options you want.
Some info that you might find interesting:
>How well does it do in the snow?
With stock tires it performs pretty much like a professional skier :-) With snow tires it's very good... I went through 3 winters on my Prizm and it was superb. I had a little bit wider tires: 185/60-14 if I'm not mistaken, and for snow tires my choice was WinterKing - they are relatively in-expensive and are GREAT on snow.
>Does it have decent acceleration with the auto trans?
Can't tell you anything - mine was 5sp. Based on my mom's Corola it's nothing special - a little sluggish but adequate. I've heard that 4sp auto is a little bit better on Prizm than 3sp.
>How many miles is a normal lifespan for this car?
I sold it with almost 70K mi. and it was going very strong.
Problems that i encountered:
1. Poor original tires - had to change them at around 20K due to vibration.
2. Front brakes needed to be replaced by the time I sold it - never did so :-)
3. CE light went off at around 45K - some sensor went bad - fixed under ext. warranty.
4. Light knocking sound from the rear periodacally during cold days - never located, never really bothered me too much, goes away when it gets warm
5. Vibration at high speeds due to the front rotors (see. #2)
That's it! I was getting an average of 35-37 mpg. The best one was around 50 mpg (was driving 30mph for about 5 hours) and the worst one was about 28 - VERY cold winter :=)
If you want a little pep, choose the 5 speed. There is plenty of power for real world use. This is no sports car, though. If you must get an auto, do yourself a favor, and get the 4 speed.
I've been dissatisfied with the brightness of my headlights lately, so I bought some replacements. Getting to the bulbs is proving to be a bit of a problem, though. I can't find any way to get the front cover off, and I certainly can't get my hand behind it to pull the bulb out. Can someone post a process or a link to a process for replacing the headlights? Thanks!
Bill (CT)
The process of changing the bulbs is kind of painful on a Prizm (unless I was doing it wrong)
You need to take off the battery to replace one and a cover for the air intake (if I'm not mistaken) to get the second one replaced.
That's the most awkward design I've ever seen, but not much you can do...
Good luck !
New spark plugs would run you about $2.5 each (Dealer price)... Antifreeze - $5, Oil change - $25 - dealer price... Visual Inspection - $20 max at any local shop... Brake inspection - Free at any brake store (and they do much better job than dealers, who try to find as much as possible wrong with your brakes). Don't get me wrong, I usually try to do maintance service at dealers to avoid any problems with warranty, but if you look at huge list of items the dealer would do for 60K service you'll see that they wold only look at different things and in addition to new spark plugs and oil change, you'll get a huge estimate for things they think you need to do urgently...
P.S. Oh, they might also do Fuel Injector cleaning - $20 for the can BK44, add it to the gas and you're all set to go.
So here we have a car that has completely drained 3 batteries in the span of 5 months!
I've taken it to another mechanic who tested the alternator (it's fine) and checked for short circuits (none, so far). He says that the car is registering something as "on" and whatever this device is, it's draining the battery when the car sits for many hours.
I'm wondering if any of you have experienced this problem with your cars (Geo or otherwise) and am hoping that you can suggest what device might be the gremlin causing this problem. All devices that I can access (radio, indoor and outdoor lights and vent fan) are completely off when I leave the car so I don't know what else could be the culprit.
Please advise.
EFI is electronic fuel injection.
You should get 3 more years out of it with no problem. When you are putting miles on as fast as you are, you can't help but have a lot of easy highway miles. Driving 80 shouldn't be too hard on it because the car is geared fairly tall. It would be about like driving a civic at 70 as far as rpms go.
Speed limit where I live is 75, so I go 80-85 all the time, and my car is running at 4,000 -4,300 rpm. ('90 Integra) I have 138,000 miles and running very strong.
Thanks,
Henry
BTW, Crutchfield provided the instructions when I purchased my speakers about 2 years ago. Sorry for the delayed response, hope it is not too late to be of use.
So here I am some 2.5 years later with two new electrical problems. The Evaporative Control (Canister) Module failed AND the SRS light has started blinking again. I was okay with replacing the ECM cost roughly 500$ at the dealer, but imagine my trusty local mechanic could nix at least 100$ off the cost in labor savings.
The airbag problem, not as easily solved. After having it diagnosed, the sensor and diagnostic module failed. Cost of repair ~ $1100. The part is in the middle of the dash, etc. etc.
The car is not under warranty as it was put into service 07/1998. So, I am looking at $1607 in repairs on a car that is not four years old and has 45,000 miles on it. GM does not want to admit a problem, yet there a few consumer complaints for both the Prizm and Corolla at the NHSTA. Am I wrong to expect airbags to be maintenance free for the first ten years of ownership and then inspections every 24 months after that as the manual states.
Currently, the dealership has disconnected the airbags a $337 procedure so that the car may be driven without them accidentally going off. The matter has been brought to the attention of GM Corporate, but basically, the line is it's out of warranty I don't think there is anything we can do for you. The representative with whom I spoke said she would speak with the dealership to gather more information and then call me back. It's been two full business days of NO contact.
Anyone else having these sort of problems (and remember to report complaints to NHTSA)?
I parked the car in a spot with no oil on the ground and checked it the next morning, and there weren't any drips. The engine is also very clean. I've never noticed smoke coming out of my tailpipe either, and neither have my friends when they've driven behind me a couple times.
I've heard that Honda engines tend to burn oil at high RPMs. Could this be true of my car as well? I normally shift around 3500 RPM, but I recently made a 120-mile round trip to a neighboring city where my average speed was 90 MPH (about 4000 RPM). There's also this straight, empty road near my house that I do fast runs on sometimes just for fun. I shift around 5000 RPM then.
YES! It was announced in all the car media sites. And cars sit on dealers lots a few months usually after being made, especially slow sellers.
Most cars in the U.S. have at least an 8 year/80,000 mile on components like the catalytic converter - check carefully before paying for repair, unless the unit has been obviously physically damaged (such as in an accident, or collision with a rock or other physical trauma).