At $7,995, Is This 1998 Chevrolet Metro A Small Surprise? – Jalopnik

Given its caste within the automotive hierarchy, it is fairly spectacular that somebody has gone to the difficulty of giving at present’s Nice Price or No Dice Chevy Metro a big refresh. It’s much more astounding that, 500 miles after the very fact, they now need to promote it. Let’s see what that is all about.

There’s an outdated exhortation that goes “There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.” While its origins are unclear, it seems to have first emerged within the Thirties, and the smackdown has since expanded past aviation to incorporate race automobile drivers, merchants, and even wild mushroom eaters. Yum.

An identical admonition could possibly be utilized to cars: outdated vehicles and vehicles that have not seen cautious upkeep and refreshing are nothing greater than unfashionably outdated. Such a sentiment might simply describe the 1995 Mercedes-Benz E 300D we thought-about yesterday. There was nothing inherently flawed with the automobile. Still, the physique dents and the shortage of main mechanical upkeep detailed within the advert (apart from brake rotors) did not instill a lot confidence in both the automobile or the $7,600 the vendor was asking for it. As a end result, you all voted it down in a 53% ‘No Dice’ loss.

Fortuitously, at present’s 1998 Chevrolet Metro sedan hasn’t been left fallow. Instead, it has reportedly been refreshed with new paint, inside elements, engine upkeep, and a model new windscreen. That may not appear to be an enormous deal until you ascribe to the vendor’s place that such work is rarely executed on a automobile of this caliber, making it a reasonably distinctive and quirkily fascinating proposition. It’s form of the manic pixie lady/boyfriend of the automobile world.

That makes some sense when one considers the bizarre historical past of GM’s smallest providing for the American market. This web page in GM’s portfolio was initially crammed by the Chevy Sprint, a badge-engineered model of a automobile known as the Cultus, constructed by Suzuki in Japan. The second technology of Sprint morphed into the Metro, and left Chevy for GM’s scorching new boy band, Geo. There it joined the Tracker we checked out on Monday, amongst others. Like the Tracker, the Metro wanted a brand new dwelling after Geo broke up, and equally, was welcomed again into the Chevy fold. Shortly after the flip of the Millennium, Chevy got rid of the Metro for the Aveo, a mannequin which additionally shifted from Suzuki to Daewoo, GM’s. Korean manufacturing associate. The newest technology of that mannequin continues to be accessible, however it’s offered solely in Mexico and South America, whereas it’s in-built China. That churn and burn historical past makes it a little bit of a scorching potato of a automobile.

Along the way in which, our Metro made it out of GM’s CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. Oddly, whereas that plant constructed Metros (and Trackers) for the United States market, it didn’t achieve this for its dwelling nation’s patrons. Canadian vehicles had been all sourced from Suzuki’s Japan crops.

While all the engineering for the small automobile was executed by Suzuki, together with improvement of its 1.3-liter SOHC 4 and FWD five-speed handbook gearbox, among the styling was dealt with by Chevy. That introduced it consistent with the bigger Cavalier. All instructed, the Metro makes 70 horsepower and 74 pound-feet of torque. As the vendor notes, this is not a sports activities automobile, however what it lacks in quickness, it greater than makes up for in unmitigated sloth. As a  facet profit, nevertheless, it ought to get nice mileage and can fortunately run on common fuel. According to the vendor, the automobile’s substantial 203,000 miles should not trigger potential patrons to dismiss the Metro out of hand. They declare the engine is bulletproof and, anecdotally, say they’ve come throughout junked Metros at Pick-A-Part with over 350K on the clock. Make of that what you’ll.

The vendor additional notes that the automobile was squirreled away for six years attributable to “health reasons.” Upon reawakening, it has efficiently accomplished a 500 shakedown and appears to be working with out points. Aesthetically, it seems stable, as effectively. The paint (which the vendor says is a non-original coloration taken from the Saab catalog) seems to be in nice situation and freed from post-paint points.

We do not get to see the inside—critically, for therefore small a automobile, the vendor could not even get the entire thing in one of many advert pics—however at the very least we all know that the headliner is new. Where does one get a headliner for an almost 30-year-old captive-import automobile? A advantage of that age is an absence of issues. Aside from a contemporary stereo head unit put in within the sprint, there are actually no electronics of word on a automobile like this, one thing the vendor touts within the advert’s closing. Another plus is the clear title. And not like yesterday’s considerably drained Mercedes, this, per the vendor, is “a restored car for someone who truly understands its merits.”

As a restored automobile, being offered on its deserves, there’s rather a lot to think about right here. More so, I’d think about than anybody may need anticipated out of just a little Chevy Metro from bygone days. Why would somebody go to the difficulty and expense of restoring such a throw-away automobile? Who is aware of? The sale appears a extra cheap state of affairs, because the advert signifies that well being points led to the automobile’s storage and should now be the rationale that it must discover a new dwelling.

The vendor kindly asks shysters to hawk their scams elsewhere, advising, “Please don’t bore me with some unrealistic NADA values, which probably don’t even exist. or low ball or insulting offers.”

Fair sufficient. We’ll nonetheless must gauge whether or not the vendor’s $7,995 price ticket is consistent with this odd duck of a restored Metro. What do you say? Does that really feel truthful? Or does that value make this a Metro-no ma’am?

You resolve!

Nice Price or No Dice:

Fort Collins, Colorado, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.

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