Good morning! We’re continuing our Dead Brands Week with a pair of cheap little captive imports that can hold a ton of stuff and don’t use much gas. They’re both manuals, they’re both in good mechanical shape, and you could buy both of them for half the price of yesterday’s cheaper option. How does that sound?
We took a look at two rear-wheel-drive sports cars yesterday, one from Pontiac and one from Scion. It sounds like the visual modifications on both cars turned a lot of you off, but the consensus seemed to be that the Pontiac Solstice was easier to return to its original form, and less likely to have led a hard life. It took an easy win over the FR-S.
I’d take the Solstice as well, because the boy-racer aspect of the Scion turns me off. All those sharp angles and bits sticking out just don’t do it for me. I like the Solstice’s rounded shape, the fairings on the trunk lid behind the headrests, and the fact that its hood opens like a Triumph Spitfire’s. I’d be much happier seeing it in the garage every morning than I would the Scion.
Every once in a while, I come across two ads for cars that have a lot of weird parallels. Today’s choices not only both fit in my theme for the week, but they’re both the same price, roughly the same size, in similar condition, and even have similar photos in the ads – uncannily similar, like both have photos of service manuals in the trunk, and both include a shot of the spare tire. It’s the most even matchup we’ve had in a while, actually. Let’s check them out.
1990 Geo Prizm Hatchback – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Converse, TX
Odometer reading: 149,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
It seems strange that Geo, a marque that practically defined cheap small cars in the 1990s, only existed for eight years. Created by Chevrolet to distinguish its captive imports from its home-grown products, Geo was new on the scene, then ubiquitous, and then it vanished. And these days, most of the cars themselves have vanished as well. They were all pretty good little cars, but inexpensive cars tend to get treated as disposable. These first-generation Prizms were everywhere for fifteen or twenty years, but this is the first one I’ve seen for sale in quite a while.
All of Geo’s cars were designed by Japanese companies: Isuzu, Suzuki, and Toyota. The Prizm was a Toyota Sprinter, a Corolla variant we never got with a Toyota badge. It’s powered by the same 4A-FE four-cylinder engine as the Corolla, and in this case a five-speed manual transmission. It’s a rock-solid reliable drivetrain, even if it’s not the most exciting thing to drive. This one has had a whole list of repairs and maintenance done in the past year, and with only 149,000 miles on its odometer, it’s probably only halfway through its useful life.
It has held up well inside, it looks like. The Chevy-badged floor mats and steering wheel cover are ironic, since GM created Geo to distance this car from Chevy. Its seatbelts are weird; in 1990, passive restraints were required in passenger cars, but instead of a driver’s side airbag or motorized shoulder belts, Geo (and Toyota, for the Corolla) chose to make shoulder belts that attached to the door, and were meant to stay buckled all the time. You open the door, and the belt extends to let you in. No one did that, of course, so in practice it just meant you had to fasten a lap belt and a shoulder belt separately.
This is the rarely-seen hatchback version of the Prizm. It’s a bit of an awkward design, but it’s massively more practical than the sedan. The paint is dull and faded, but it’s straight, and I don’t see any rust. The cheap window tint is unfortunate, but I suppose in the Texas sun it was necessary. It also has one of those aftermarket pop-up sunroofs, which is another relic from the past.
1995 Eagle Summit DL Wagon – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Hyattsville, MD
Odometer reading: 222,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The Eagle nameplate came along after Chrysler’s purchase of American Motors in 1987, as a way to integrate AMC’s products into Chrysler. Jeep was the real prize of this acquisition, of course, but dealerships couldn’t just sell Jeeps, and Chrysler had some obligations to fulfill with Renault out of the deal, so Eagle was born. To fill in the gaps in the model range, Chrysler turned to its old partner Mitsubishi. The Eagle Summit Wagon was a rebadged Mitsubishi RVR, also sold by Mitsubishi as the Expo LRV.
The Summit Wagon is powered by a 1.8 liter Mitsubishi 4G93 four-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual. It has a lot of miles on it, but it’s a one-owner car, and the seller has maintenance records going all the way back. It has passed a Maryland safety inspection, which I can tell you is no mean feat. I had to do several hundred dollars in repairs on one of our cars to get it to pass, and I thought it was in fine shape. If this one has received a clean bill of health from an inspection station, I’m sure it’s ready to rock.
The interior is in good condition, especially for the mileage. I see a little wear and tear, but nothing that would put me off. In fact, it looks like only the driver’s seat has seen any use; the passenger’s seat and the rear bench seat both look practically new. It has manual crank windows, but according to the window sticker, which the seller has thoughtfully provided, it has a “Preferred Equipment Package” that includes power locks and air conditioning. However, the seller says the A/C “runs rough,” whatever that means, and two new power lock actuators are included, which leads me to believe that they don’t work.
Eagle called this a wagon, but it’s really more of a tiny minivan. It has a sliding door on the passenger’s side like a van, and a taller roof than most station wagons. With the rear seat folded down, it looks like there’s a ton of room in back. It does have a little rust on it, but obviously not enough to make it fail inspection. The paint isn’t great, but the color is fantastic. Why can’t we have purple cars anymore?
These both look like good little beaters to me, and the sort of car that’s sorely missed in the market today. When did frugality stop being a virtue? We need a brand like Geo these days, selling honest, inexpensive cars that aren’t pretending to be upscale. Oh well, at least if you look hard enough, you can find them used. Which one of these appeals to you?
Isn’t $2000 for a 35 year old NUMMI a little too close to crack pipe though?
My take: in 2025, two grand for a minimal rust chassis with good powertrain potential to run another 100,000 miles is a pretty good value.
I still carry around regret that I didn’t buy a new Nova Twin-Cam when I had the chance … but even so, we’ll take the mini minivan, if for no other reason than my aging body would appreciate the more forgiving H-point. Also, there have been just enough bad decisions visited upon that Prizm to raise questions about what else it’s seen.
I know the Geo is better in every conceivable practical way. I know this. I want it. I crave the sense of security.
I voted for the Eagle. It has an undeniable…something. Purple, van, manual.
Toyota with half the miles of a Mits? Yeah Prizm is going to run away with this one! Sidenote, not sure if it was on this generation, but I know the next generation the Prizm is actually considered more reliable than the Corolla. The Prizm had a fully aluminum radiator, and the Corolla’s had a lot of plastic components that were known to degrade, so people would specifically seek out replacements made for the Prizm because they wouldn’t wear out.
I vaguely remember having a Prizm hatchback rental in college and rather enjoying it. I also think the styling on the Prizm has held up remarkably well. Going Geo today!
That single stage red colour on the Prizm will buff up nicely. I think the rear on the hatch looks great. These were sold in Australia as the Corolla Seca (although with the same nose as the 4wd Corolla alltrac wagon) at that stage we could get the Corolla as Australian made hatch, sedan, and Japanese made liftback (Seca) and 4wd Alltrac Wagon.
I’m getting major Saab 900 vibes from that 3/4 view of the Prizm. I can think of far worse ways to spend $2,000.
I replaced my Prism hatch with a 900 so I suppose I have a type.
Just recalling my feelings on the quality of these two items from when they were new, and no additional thinking, I’ll take the Geo.
Oh the Geo’s a hatchback? That one please.
When we got married, my wife had a dark blue prizm sedan. I had hinted she should get the hatch, but alas, no. Anyway, great little car that never gave us a bit of trouble. Was actually fun to drive with the 5 speed. Put a little wax on this one and have a great little beater that will probably outlast the cockroaches. Corolla in disguise for me.
As much as I have an unreasonable affection for AMC and the Eagle remnants, as well as Chrysler in the ’80s and ’90s, I just can’t bring myself to pick that Summit over the Prizm.
Both are weird-ish enough that they’re interesting. The Geo is cleaner, the Eagle looks like a cat gave birth on the driver’s seat. It’s also in MD, which means sea air, some winter, and the general funk of a Northeast climate. And who takes engine pics at night? Someone who’s trying to hide something. It’s just not as clean.
And the Geo is a Corolla. SOLD.
There is no sea air where this Eagle is. Otherwise OK.
Quick note before someone gets pedantic: Yes, I know the Prizm was built in California and is therefore not really a captive import in the strictest sense…
Yeah, at Fremont! When they made something worth buying.
The A-pillar on the Eagle is a design masterpiece, just strong enough to hold the glass in place, very elegant.
Modern a-pillars are so large they create a hazard to pedestrians on crosswalks that I cannot see, not a problem with the Eagle.
Voted Prizm, 222,000 miles on the other one is way too much!
Went for the Eagle as it would be a perfect little fire trail camping car.
But, the current voting (51% Eagle) is about how torn I was because I miss having a lightweight little hatch to throw about with abandon
The Eagle has the positive of being a weird minivan/hatchback mashup but the Geo has the much larger positive of being an actual reliable vehicle in better condition.
I’m impressed by both of these offerings! I was ready to pick the Prizm but I’m going with the Summit wagon because the owner splurged for factory manuals instead of Haynes.
I voted for the Eagle, it’s ready for a 4G63 swap.
That was my exact thought, too.
OMG, an Eclipse minivan! This Is The Way.
These are two cars I love! Normally, I’d choose the Summit, but given that it’s a northeast car showing some rust, I picked the Geo. The rust you don’t see is gonna be a thousand times worse than the rust you can.
That Prizm is well worth it at $2k. No obvious rust, relatively low miles, and legendary reliability. NUMMI cars always do it for me. I haven’t seen an AE92 chassis car in forever here in the Midwest. Rust got most of them so to see a solid one, and a hatchback at that, wins the day.
Assuming you can keep the rust at bay, that Prism will likely still be chugging along getting 35mpg when the Earth falls into the Sun. You could probably park that car at the bottom of the Atlantic for a month, drag it out and it would fire right up. That powertrain is basically indestructible. The car it’s attached to also looks to be in decent shape and and with the hatchback it’s also quite functional.
The Eagle isn’t as appealing with its higher mileage, failing paint and starting to rust.
Prism is an easy pick today.
This Summit is just a bit too worn-out to win this. Since Toyotas never wear out, I’ll take the “Geo” and put some big fat “T” badges on it.
The Geo is the better buy… but I had complete forgotten that the Eagle mini mini-van existed, so for no other reason, I’m picking that one.
The paint on that Eagle looks like the paint on my 89 grand caravan. No much rust but pealed paint everywhere.
The Eagle Summit is a fine example of a crossover before its time and they were everywhere. This one is a fine stuff hauler for little coin that you drive until it dies and there is little to go wrong.
The Geo looks better overall, and a patented Freiburger Comet Wash followed with a polish and wax should bring that paint back nicely. I looks weird in a good way, not in a tiny minivan way.