Island #2 in our 3-week trip to Hawai’i found us on Kauai with our second rented car, the 2001 Chevrolet Metro LSi We picked this car up at Alamo and thought we got a great deal through priceline.com at $145 for 6 days saving $25.

The car’s features inside and outside:

The Metro is considered a sub-compact and one of the smallest cars available in the United States. It is similar in size to the Hyundai Accent.

I admit the Subaru Impreza we rented in Maui spoiled me. Remembering the narrow winding roads and knowing that Kauai would be similar made getting into this Metro even worse than if it had been the first car we rented.

~Our car had 23,000 miles on it.
~an automatic transmission
~a 79 horsepower, 4 cylinder, 1.3-liter engine.

It had air conditioning, power steering, power door locks and an am/fm stereo radio. The inside was cloth and it was gray. Gray is the only option for interior cloth colors. Our car was Silver Metallic.

This Metro comes in other colors:
Black Licorice
Dark Green Metallic
Scuba Blue Metallic
Sunset Red Metallic
White

The seats moved easily forward and backward which was nice but the seats did not lie as flat back as other cars in which I have been. In addition, the handle that moves the seat back was hard to get to. It was close to the door so I had to squeeze my hand down to get it.

There is really nothing that is power(ful) in this car.

~The side mirrors have to be adjusted from an inside handle.

~However the lights did come on when it gets dark automatically.

Space:

~The space in the front was fine. I had legroom and my husband’s head didn’t hit the ceiling. The back, which has 3 seat belts but is large enough for only 2 people. It is also tight in leg space but I am finding few cars which are not considered full-sized or luxury cars that are really roomy in the back.

~It had good storage space inside including a center console with room for items, 2 small cup holders, map holders on the doors and a change holder.

~The trunk was spacious also. I will give specifications below from a website for those interested in measurements and numbers.

The negatives:

~I will start by sharing with you that I don’t consider myself a princess. We were on a budget and I am usually fine with budget cars. By the time we drove from Alamo to our villa I was literally in tears. My back hurt me because the seat was totally straight. There was little if any contour.

~I was nauseous from being jostled around. I felt every single bump in the road. Every time my husband turned the car I went with it getting more and more carsick.

~It did stop when it was supposed to so that is a positive.

When we got inside our villa he was going to call Alamo to see if there was another car available for more money – that’s how horrible I felt. After seeing all he was doing to appease me, I told him that if we changed our cars on the next two islands to more expensive ones, I would live with the Metro for the 5 days and 6 nights we were on Kauai. And that is what happened.

~This car had no pick up. It just barely got to 50 miles per hour.

~It was so noisy that although I think the radio sounded fine, it was really hard to hear it!

~The automatic door locks, which are an option, didn’t work either. My husband actually agreed with me that he had made a mistake in going with the least expensive car.

Warranty

Basic: 3 yr. / 36,000 mi.
Drivetrain: 3 yr. / 36,000 mi.
Roadside: 3 yr. / 36,000 mi.
Rust: 6 yr. / 100,000 mi.

My thoughts:

When I went to the website I couldn't find the 2001 Metro there although I did find it on other websites as a resale. I wondered about that but asked one of the auto Category Leads to add it. He did and replied, "I'm a bit uneasy about this one because GM doesn't list the Metro as a Chevrolet model -- and Geo doesn't exist any more AFAIK. I'm guessing you either drove this in Hawaii (Asian distribution area) or Canada." He, of course, was correct - I did drive it in Hawai'i. I know we have readers from all over the world so I thought the car deserved to be reviewed. Luckily most of you may not have to encounter it or be confronted with wondering whether to buy it.

Avoid this car at all costs. It is the worst car in which I have been. Chevy considers the Hyundai Accent and the Kia Sephia its competitors in other years. My daughter has the Accent and I would urge you to buy the Accent over the Metro if that is the price range you are looking at.

It does get good gas mileage at 30 mpg / 34 mpg but that is what my daughter’s car gets also.

The average retail price of this used car is $7,425.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment.

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Specifications: from http://www.edmunds.com/used/1999/chevrolet/metro/4drlsisedan/specs.html?id=lin0066

Exterior:
· Length: 164 in.
· Width: 62.6 in.
· Height: 55.4 in.
· Weight: 1984 lbs.
· Wheel Base: 93.1 in.
Interior:
· Front Head Room: 39.3 in.
· Front Hip Room: 46.9 in.
· Front Shoulder Room: 49 in.
· Rear Head Room: 37.3 in.
· Rear Shoulder Room: 48.3 in.
· Rear Hip Room: 42.9 in.
· Front Leg Room: 42.5 in.
· Rear Leg Room: 32.2 in.
· Luggage Capacity: 10.3 cu. ft.
· Maximum Seating: 4
Performance Data
Performance:
· Acceleration (0-60 mph): 12.6 sec.
· Braking Distance: 153 ft.
· Road Holding Index: 0.72 g
· Base Number of Cylinders: 4
· Base Engine Size: 1.3 liters
· Base Engine Type: Inline 4
· Horsepower: 79 hp
· Max Horsepower: 6000 rpm
· Torque: 75 ft-lbs.
· Max Torque: 3000 rpm
· Drive Type: FWD
· Turning Circle: 34.1 ft.
Fuel Data
Fuel Tank Capacity: 10.3 gal.
EPA Mileage Estimates: (City/Highway)
Manual: 39 mpg / 43 mpg
Automatic: 30 mpg / 34 mpg

If you are interested in other car reviews, here are my links:

2000 Nissan Altima
2001 Chevy Malibu
2002 Chevy Prizm
1998 Dodge Ram Van
1996 Nissan Sentra
2001 Pontiac Sunfire
1999 Toyota Camry
2001 Hyunda Accent
1998 Chevy S-10 Pick
1999 BMW 323is
2002 Subaru Impreza
2000 Suzuki Swift
2001 Chevy Metro
Amount Paid (US$): 7425
Model Year: 2001
Model and Options: LS1 Automatic