It has been a long time since I got rid of the 1999 Geo Prizm, and I still have PTSD from the experience of owning it. I almost went to "fist city" at Knapp Chevrolet in Brownsville, TX with the Chevy rep from Houston. I had tried for months to tell the service manager Pancho?? that something was wrong. The right front tire would get so hot that you could not keep your hand on it for more than a couple of seconds. "They" said nothing was wrong! Eventually I bought a candy thermometer (long prong) and tested the heat on the left side interior of the wheel assembly and then the right side where the hot tire was located.
Eventually I took it to another Chevy dealer but in San Benito, TX and the service manager felt the tire, believed me, and said he did not know what was wrong but would find out. I almost cried to have someone finally believe that something was wrong. Many parts were replaced and still the problem. I wrote letters and called and talked to all sorts of people at Chevy and no one helped me. I could have taken it to a Lemon Board but the president of the board in Brownsville was a very important person with Knapp Chevrolet! I could not trade it in with a record of about 30 trips for repairs. :( Eventually I had about 10,000 miles on my car in 'flat country' with the right tire getting "boiling hot"!. I don't know why the tire did not blow! I only took one or two trips over 200 miles. Most trips were about 15 miles so I guess the tire had time to cool down each short trip.
Finally I called the test facility in California where the "brother Toyota" was tested at times on their big track. An engineer eventually said that they adjusted the brake peddle to an out of spec height and got the same results that I found on my car -- hot front tire. They then talked with mechanics with the agency in San Benito where they adjusted the brake peddle to the proper height. All was fixed, except that I had driven over 10,000 miles with the brakes engaged! I doubt the engine liked that! Almost 20 years later and I'm still angry! I can't have been the only person to buy a Prizm with the brake peddle adjusted to the wrong height! I never got an apology from Chevy headquarters or Knapp Chevrolet! I will never forgive them!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
It has been a long time since I got rid of the 1999 Geo Prizm, and I still have PTSD from the experience of owning it. I almost went to "fist city" at Knapp Chevrolet in Brownsville, TX with the Chevy rep from Houston. I had tried for months to tell the service manager Pancho?? that something was wrong. The right front tire would get so hot that you could not keep your hand on it for more than a couple of seconds. "They" said nothing was wrong! Eventually I bought a candy thermometer (long prong) and tested the heat on the left side interior of the wheel assembly and then the right side where the hot tire was located.
Eventually I took it to another Chevy dealer but in San Benito, TX and the service manager felt the tire, believed me, and said he did not know what was wrong but would find out. I almost cried to have someone finally believe that something was wrong. Many parts were replaced and still the problem. I wrote letters and called and talked to all sorts of people at Chevy and no one helped me. I could have taken it to a Lemon Board but the president of the board in Brownsville was a very important person with Knapp Chevrolet! I could not trade it in with a record of about 30 trips for repairs. :( Eventually I had about 10,000 miles on my car in 'flat country' with the right tire getting "boiling hot"!. I don't know why the tire did not blow! I only took one or two trips over 200 miles. Most trips were about 15 miles so I guess the tire had time to cool down each short trip.
Finally I called the test facility in California where the "brother Toyota" was tested at times on their big track. An engineer eventually said that they adjusted the brake peddle to an out of spec height and got the same results that I found on my car -- hot front tire. They then talked with mechanics with the agency in San Benito where they adjusted the brake peddle to the proper height. All was fixed, except that I had driven over 10,000 miles with the brakes engaged! I doubt the engine liked that! Almost 20 years later and I'm still angry! I can't have been the only person to buy a Prizm with the brake peddle adjusted to the wrong height! I never got an apology from Chevy headquarters or Knapp Chevrolet! I will never forgive them!
- Da B., Canyon Lake, TX, US