As a professional mechanic, I have found the Geo Metro hatchback, with the 3 cylinder, 5 speed manual transmission, to be the easiest, least expensive car to repair, that I have ever owned. It is extremely fun to drive and very comfortable. I recently made an 11 hour trip and never squirmed around in the seat. I rented a brand new Nissan Altima and 40 minutes into my trip, my … posterior felt like I was sitting on concrete. Gas mileage is fantastic. With a few simple and inexpensive modifications, I now get 65 MPG Hwy and 55 city. The first year I owned the car, I saved $2,200 (in gas), over driving my 1998 ford F150. Make sure you do not buy a rusty car. Look very carefully behind the front wheels, if you see any rust on the frame, walk away. Cars from the south are usually rust free. I truly cannot say enough nice things about this car. I buy most all my parts off of Ebay. The manual transmission is much pepier than the automatic and gets the best gas mileage. Like the original VW Beetle and the Austin Mini, the Metro hatchback is one of the greatest cars ever . At 194,000 miles (Sept. 2019) I finally had to rebuild the engine. It was running great but I dropped a valve. Cost around $600 (most of that was the machine work). I am now back on the road, the car has 208,000 miles on it, running fine, original transmission and shifts great. Metros are getting harder to fine (at least in my area) because people don't want to get rid of them. I will never be without one.
Aug. 2018: My friend finally bought a Metro. After driving it a week, he thought the gas gauge was broken because it was hardly moving. He filled up, just to
ease his mind and about fell over when he had only used a couple of gallons. He's getting 47 mpg.