Gas Prices Drive Metros From Clunkers to Chic
Who woulda thunk it? Due to their high gas mileage, old Geo Metros are sought-after cars. Laugh if you want, but "Marci Solomon is hoping she'll be the one laughing- all the way to the bank -when her Geo Metro saves her from skyrocketing gas prices," according to CNN. Solomon has a 100-mile commute to work and her Honda Element was getting 28MPG, causing her to fill up twice a week at a cost of almost $100. So she began searching for an alternative and initially "toyed with the idea of purchasing a Prius," until she "rediscovered" old Geo Metros for sale on eBay. She focused on a 1996 two-door, three-cylinder, which opened with a $200 bid, and eventually "won it" with her winning bid of $7,300! Her ‘96 Metro's "average of 40 miles per gallon approaches that of a new Toyota Prius," and "bests most current cars by a long shot." Solomon says "I used to be a car snob, and I used to be too vain to drive anything that doesn't shine; but now it's about, ‘do I want to eat, or do I want to make it to work?' I want to do both." Even though she paid "more than five times the Blue Book value of the car," Solomon figures it's "an investment in the future." "It was all about saving money," she says. Indeed: Solomon has acquired another Metro, is "considering flipping [it] on eBay for profit," and "has her eye on a third at a local car lot." You go girl!
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ttacgreg, how do you propose to deliver stuff without 18 wheelers rolling around. Your plan to get rid of monsters will have a few problems, don't you think?
Why the Metro and not the Aspire/Festiva? Just as the Pinto looked like almost a quality car vs. the Vega in the '70s, the Aspire/Festiva was a cut above the Metro--at least in the body rust area--and didn't have that nasty-sounding 3-cylinder engine. If I already had a Metro or a little Ford, I'd certainly take it out of the weeds and see if it ran well enough to commute in. But pay $5k+ for someone else's? Forget it! BTW, my local paper recently had an ad for a running Yugo AND a parts car for $600. I might for the same deal on a similar pair of Metros, but no higher.
I saw a Metro delivering pizzas. Faded paint but it ran good and the it looked like it was in good condition. I considered chasing down the delivery guy and really making his night... Hey dude, this $500 car? It's worth some big money on eBay.
What a freaking idiot - $7300 for a Metro ? You can get a mid 90s Civic hatch that will do 40 mpg all day long for $1500-$3000. Oh, and its one cylinder and 30 horsepower up on a Metro - and it has double wishbones on all four corners.