Automotive Forums

I’m a Mom needing to find a car for my 19yr old girl. Both of us know nothing, but have been reading reviews. Please I need a kind, patient person to answer my questions. We want to get one of these between 1994 – 1999 and we need to stay under $2700---Corolla vs. prizm vs. protégé vs. civic.  

a. are the 1st 3 all Toyota engine/motors under different labels or just all made in Japan? Do they all hold up the same?
b. Do they all basically cost the same to fix things like radiators, clutches, alternators, etc?
c. Why does a transmission need replacing or a clutch die at 96,000 and another is still working at 124k miles?
d. Are 94-98 protégé’s having continual problems with brakes, alternators, ECU, and the ‘check-engine’ light? [I read that].
e. What makes AC go out early?  When do they need recharging? Does that fix AC that doesn’t work?
f. Can you get any of these cars to last to 275k without spending thousands in repairs?  HOW?
g. Should cars repaired after an accident ,with new parts, be avoided?  [axles, rods, etc] Why if they are repaired?
h. How often should one get a tune up?
i. Why do used Geos cost less than same year corolla and civics cost more than both?

I know you can’t predict life expectancy of parts, but on the average, how many miles can one expect the following things to last before needing replacement? [*** driven 50% freeway miles, no hot-rodding and not cautious granny driving- just middle of the road driving].
a. radiator,  b. brakes,  c. muffler/exhaust,  d. clutch,  e. transmission,   f. water pump,  g. automatic transmission, g. AC,
h. shocks/struts,  i. alternator,  j. timing belt.  

I’ve been looking at ads for automatics and 5 speed Geos, corollas, protégés with 118 -139K miles still having original everything except brakes, tires and timing belt.  Are these car types going to start needing expensive repairs?
Thank you. Mrs. H.  

a. i'm not completely sure if the corolla, prizm, and protege have the same engine, since  automakers do sometime share engine desings and what not. but that geo is made by chevrolet, but 3 of the 4 are japanese cars

b.  repairs ususally vary from car to car, i wouldn't thinbk it would be too far apart however.  if you'd rather not worry about repairs as much i'd go with the more reliable cars like the Corolla or Civic

c.  Transmissions usually need replacing becaue of the way they are driven and either abused or taken care of.  

d. i'm not sure about the protege problem, could be though since the mazda quality back then isn't as strong as it is today.

e.  if you use the AC alot its more likely to go out early, it needs recharging to replace the freon so it blows cold again.  if the AC doesn;t work at all it may or may not be just the freon though there are someother components that make the AC work.

f. this is a pretty big question. the corolla and civic could probably make it up that high. the protege i don't know, i wouldn't trust the geo to get there though, but you never know.  As far as not having to spend alot on repairs it depends on the condition it was in when you get the car along with the way it is maintained while you have it.

g.  repaired cars usually have lower resale values too, or they could possibly have a salvaged title.  i think most people avoid them because they carry many more unknowns, like what kind of parts were used to replace the broken parts, quality of work, etc.

h.  tune ups usually come at different intervals i believe they are 30k, 60k, and 90k, don't quote me on that though

i.  not to be overly cynical, but it's a GEO!! and its the only non-japanese car in the bunch and the the Civic and Corolla pretty much have the highest reliability ratings.

I still don't know about the protege and geo, but if the the corolla and civic were properly maintained, and the neccessary replacements and what not were made on time, then i wouldn't imagine any expensive repairs cropping up except for the tune-ups.

most of what i said should be right but i'm sort of tired right now, if anything is really wrong someone else on the forum should correct me most everyone is else is pretty knowledgeable.  good luck on the car hunt.  

a. all 4 of these cars are manufactured by different companies and do not share the same engine.  

b. These are all fairly dime a dozen cars and repairs will generally not cost much more/less for either car (parts might be a little less for the geo prism)

c. the transmission and the clutch are two seperate pieces.  A clutch usually lasts about 85,000 miles and needs replaced for the same reason tires need replaced, the material wears down.  A transmission should not need replaced every 96,000 miles.

d. Heres a list of the recalls for a 1995 Mazda protege, http://www.automotive.com/1995/12/mazda/protege/recalls/index.html
it looks like the engines valve springs might be a problem.

e. There are alot of things that can makes your a/c system not work. A/c systems should be serviced every 30,000 miles.

f. I have seen both a civic and a corolla last that long.  LIke anything you just have to properly maintain it, service it on its regular service intervals and dont drive it hard.

g. Its always safer to buy a car that hasent been in an accident.  Accidents can cause stress on parts that (might seem fine when being looked at) but can prematurley wear out.  A car that has been in aseriouls accident never feels the same as it did before the accident.

h. Your car will have a regualry shceduled maintenance program you should follow.  It will vary by manufacturer

i. You get what you pay for.

j. radiator (fairly long time, no real mileage estimate) brakes (average 40,000 miles (less or more depending on how you brake) muffler (depends on weather conditions wear you live (fairly long time, again no real mileage estimate) clutch (60-100,000 miles depending on how well you drive and treat it ive seen them go as early as 3000 miles (under extreme conditions) transmission (depending on the car and maintenace I would say a good 200,000 miles water pump (recomonded to be replaced every 90,000 miles with your timing belt shcoks struts (usually good for 90,000 (again depending on road conditions


The car needing repairs will all depend on how they were maintained previously.  You should see if you can look at a service record of all the cars most recent services performed.  

actually late model corollas and prisms are the same car starting from '93 ending in '02
- http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1563924552.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

more info
- http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/ViewModelDetail/make=Chevrolet/model=Prizm