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Chevrolet (Geo) Prizm

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What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Prizm, Geo Prizm, Sedan

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#1 of 1317 . by tbrooks74 Aug 01, 1999 (6:57 am)
Last October I purchased a 1999 Chevy Prizm... the 3-speed automatic (what was i thinking?). Within one month I had to take the car back to the dealer to have the windshield wipers fixed since the wiper motor died on my way home from work... i live in seattle, this was a BIG problem. Tires... the tires the car came with may work just fine if you live in a flat desert and never have to stop quickly. During the rainy season, the tires will start spinning mid-way up a hill! Let alone all the squealing and sitting in one spot if you try to start going up a hill when the roads are wet. I've slid through many an intersection because the tires simply won't hold the road... it's not like i was going 60 and slammed on them either. Paint... you can actually chip it with your fingernail. Several spots on my trunk have discolored for no known reason. Handling... forget about taking any sharp turns at more than 10mph or you're gonna be in a ditch. Power... this car has about as much oomph as a slug. I can make it up the mountain passes at a whopping 15mph... i realize this is partially my fault for getting the 3-speed automatic. Lights... for one thing, one of them seems to be aimed to hunt for birds... taking it into the shop for that next week... the lights illuminate about 5 feet in front of you, which is fine in the city but very frightening out in the mountains with lots of animals to jump out in the road. Overall, I would not buy this car again if I could turn back time. It's not a bad car, just not the quality of car I feel I should get for the price. If anyone else has had similar problems with their prizm, I'd be interested to hear... feel free to e-mail me at deadficusaol.com
#2 of 1317 . by regfootball Aug 01, 1999 (8:11 pm)
bought a new Prizm in March. Zero problems. To address some of your comments.... tires- Yes, cheap tires, but you could get a set of four good ones from the tire rack and then have them installed for total cost of about 200-250 bucks. Cheap car, cheap tires. paint- good paint job, but they probably did not put too many coats on. We'll see how it holds up. Does not have any flaws or orange peel. power- these days, virtually none of the cars in the 15 grand price range will have more than 120 horsepower. Any car in this range will feel undermotivated, especially with a 3speed automatic. My Prizm has a stick and actually feels quite lively and quick for a small car. The prizm motor is smoother and easier to drive (nice DOHC motor, yes it matters) than many cars in this price range, and should hold up a lot longer. Handling- could be quicker and more assured but i think part of it is the cheap tires. Lights- are your daytime running lights switching to full power at night? The full power lights are to come on automatically when you release the parking brake. Overall though, the car is quiet, rides nice, has nice dashboard and switchgear, and is better screwed together than a Cavalier or Neon, IMHO. You don't get much more than that for 15 grand these days, I'm afraid. Even most bigger cars like Grand Am's are over 20,000 now.
#3 of 1317 Toyota corolla by wenyue Aug 02, 1999 (6:38 pm)
Maybe you should have gotten the Japanese brother of the Prizm. My 99 Corolla LE with security/keyless system(corolla top trim) has flawless paint job, 4-spd automatic is quiet and got tons of power if you are willing to rev the engine a bit (I rev the gears up to 4500 rpms some times for that kick in the back, most of the time, 3000 is my limit). My corolla LE comes with better tires too. Handling is ok, not great, I take my turns at about 20 mph with enough confidence thanks to the front and rear stablizer bars (but I can see how faster than 20 would be scary). My lights are first rate! Perfect set up with lots of illuminating power. All this and for $14317. Sorry, don't mean to rub it in. But I read reviews that said prizms's options are more expensive than the corollas, so in the end, a corolla could be cheaper than the prizm. Besides, on the Prizm, while the major components like the engine and power train may be Japanese parts, the small things like wind-shield wiper and door handles are GM parts. Quite frankly, I wouldn't trust GM stuff. Better pay the little extra money for genuine toyota finish and get that higher resale value. GM has that magical touch that ruins a car, even when 95% of it is already put together for them.
#4 of 1317 prizm by hfeng1 Aug 04, 1999 (1:47 am)
Bought a 98 Prizm in Feb. 98. I read that the only difference between 98 and 99 are new paint colors so I figure it is OK here. My wife is the main driver of the car (it has a stick) and she likes it a lot. I like to drive it too primarily because the engine is so responsive (the automatic -- especially the 3 speed -- may not feel as responsive.) I live in the Silicon Valley and we don't have a lot of rain and slopes so it has been a pleasant, dependable commuter car for my wife. Recently I saw a local dealer ad about a new 99 base prizm selling at, after factory and dealer rebates, $9000!!! If I didn't already own one that is still pretty new and I know it will last me a long time, I would have certainly picked it up without hesitation.
#5 of 1317 Um... For the Corolla fan, I have some news for you... by mescherp Aug 05, 1999 (12:19 am)
1) The Corolla is not merely the Japanese brother of the car, instead almost all Corolla's (something like 90%) are made in the same US factory as the Prizm. (If the door frame sticker says "New United Motor Manufacturing Inc." or "NUMMI" it is a California made Corolla.) Neither has more or less Japanese or Domestic parts, (except for maybe the stero) as the factory is jointly owned. 2) In the '98 model, front and rear stabalizer bars were avail. in the ridiculously "LSi handling package", up until about July, when they became standard. The front stab. bar was not avail. in the base level Corolla either. 3) If you look under the hood of a Corolla, you will also see a mix of US and Japanese parts. (i.e. a Delco battery). The base level trim (CE in the case of the Corolla) of either model has chintzy interior componnents. The upper level trims are identical, except for color schemes, logos, and the center console. (To accmodate a GM-style stereo.) Once you pop open the hood, the cars are completely identical, with not a single GM part in sight, except for the battery. 4) For the 3 vs. 4 spd. tranny: the 0-60 times are virtually identical. What that overdrive gear does for you is save some RPM's at high speed. If you look at the gear ratios, you will find that the three speed is geared for more torque on all three of it's gears.
#6 of 1317 corolla and prizm by wenyue Aug 05, 1999 (4:24 pm)
I don't know excactly how many components are different in the corolla and prizm, but there are some. For an obvious example is the trunk. The trunk lid of the corolla and the prizm is styled and shaped differently. I think where most of the internal machinery is the same between the 2. Once the major machinary is put in, the corolla and the prism go their seperate ways to different side of the plant. Toyota uses their own body pannels and Chevy uses theirs. This is just a theory.
#7 of 1317 . by regfootball Aug 05, 1999 (10:50 pm)
Mescherp (response 4) is entirely right. It's amazing to see where people's bias falls, even when the car is the same, but one car has a Chevy badge on it and the other has a Toyota badge. All of a sudden the Chevy is "evil" and the Toyota is where its at. Just cause the Prizm has the Chevy badge does not automatically mean it is a second class product. I suppose the Isuzu Rodeo is a piece of crap to most folks and the Honda Passport is all fine.
#8 of 1317 nope by wenyue Aug 06, 1999 (12:59 pm)
Chevy Prizm is 95% the same as corolla. And is a good car as far as those 95% (important stuff) is concerned. So it's a good car, that will keep you on the road for a very very very long time. But of the 5% stuff that chevy puts on, it's not the same quality as that of the corolla. Even though those 5% are just some minor un-essential components, they are more likely to fail and made things little annoying once in a while. Example, the trunk of the prizm is not the same as the corolla, so I wouldn't be supprised if more prizm owners have problems with their trunks in the long term than corolla owners. But again, as I said, all major components are toyota quality. So if one would be willing to take those occational annoiance into perspective, then the Prizm is undoubtably an good car, and by no means a second rated product. A second rated product would be the cavalier, well, maybe that would be the 3rd rated.
#9 of 1317 We Just Love It by kpdaugherty Aug 06, 1999 (3:06 pm)
My wife and I bought a new 99 Prism last month after 6 months of research. I can't tell your just how happy we are with this car. It is not an LSI but has many nice features including a $1500 rebate, CD player, cruise, and A/C. We love the 5 speed. 30 MPG around town and 38 on the highway. The fit and finish is outstanding. So far so good. I'll keep you posted as time goes on. I'm off on a 500 mile interstate trip next week. Well see just how it does in the mountains of West Virginia. I'm open to all input..kpdaughertyiname.com
#10 of 1317 Will the Prizm be stopped soon? by cpzhang Aug 07, 1999 (2:23 am)
I read sth that prizm will be stopped by GM pretty soon. Has anyone heared of this?

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