Metrosexual Scratch ‘n Dent special

Here we have a recently wrecked, but otherwise great condition, Geo Metro convertible with 5-speed transmission.  Those alive and aware in the 90s remember these little roller skates.  We think it could be an entertaining ride, and a great candidate for a Swift GTI/GT or other swap.

This car has probably the longest seller description we’ve featured, so we don’t have too much to add here.

Click for eBay ad
Laughlin, NV
$2,125 with 12 bids
08/01/2013 update: SOLD for $2,850 with 21 bids.

Here’s the damage…

This is a well accessorized Metro.  The floor mats must be worth 5 horsepower.

Three cylinders, baby!

Ad text:

RARE 5 SPEED 1993 METRO CONVERTIBLE
WAS IN PRISTINE CONDITION-NEEDS SOME REPAIR ON DRIVERS REAR SIDE, FIXABLE & ABSOLUTELY WORTH DOING SO! OTHERWISE ONE OF THE FINEST 5 SPEED GEO METRO CONVERTIBLES IN EXISTENCE-CLEAR TITLE-READ DESCRIPTION BELOW & SEE PICTURES–THEY WILL SHOW HOW IMMACULATE THIS CAR REALLY IS & ONCE THE REAR IS TAKEN CARE OF, WHY THIS WILL BE ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY SOUGHT METRO CONVERTIBLES & WILL APPRECIATE IN VALUE FOR ITS OWNER!! PAINT & TOP IS IN AMAZING CONDITION & NOT NORMALLY FOUND ON THESE CARS. A RARE FIND!
***************************************************************************************************************
ABOUT THIS METRO CONVERTIBLE
For sale is a rare 5 speed 1993 Geo Metro Convertible. Until a few months ago, this would have been considered one of the absolute cleanest, best showing 5 speed Metro Convertibles still in existence in the USA. Paint is in absolutely fantastic shape, no rust, top is near perfect. I normally kept the car garaged 95% of the time, as I did with my other more collectible cars. On rare occasion I would park it outside in my private townhome community in resident parking. Well, as my bad luck would have it, one of the rare times I didn’t have it in the garage, apparently a drunk or distracted driver decided to clip the car on the driver’s side rear. When I came out to the car, I found the damage. Of course this lowlife could not have the courtesy to at least leave a note on the car saying what happened & their phone number. It’s really sad that we live in a society where there are people that don’t believe in karma, or doing the right thing/treating someone as they would want to be treated. I did not have full coverage because it mainly stayed garaged & was rarely driven. So thus this rare & immaculate Metro Convertible suffered damage which was not able to be replaced by insurance. 

I have kept the car garaged/stored 100% of the time since then, as I planned on replacing the affected parts, as this car’s exterior/paint is otherwise so immaculate. But, I unfortunately have an ill parent & I will be relocating shortly as a result of this, & so I have to take action now due to my situation. Due to my having to move & the financial burden of doing so, I am forced to sell some vehicles I never planned to, such as this and another collectible car I just sold here on eBay. Fact is, right now, I still do have too many cars to transport (6), so I must continue to downsize, but I truly hate parting with this car as it is a rare find–especially as these 5 speed convertibles become harder to locate. 

I have gotten a couple of opinions & this car is definitely repairable & it is worth doing so because it is a rare 1993 5 speed with a low mileage motor, and otherwise amazing exterior condition & top. And from what I was told & from my own research, it can be done for a relatively low cost (several hundred). Look at the pictures, the affected areas are: the drivers side rear quarter panel, the left taillight section, and the rear bumper. I have seen these parts listed on eBay from parts sellers, & this means that they can also be found locally in salvage yards as well. I am in a small area here with a very limited salvage inventory, but in a larger metropolitan area especially, the parts needed will be easy to locate. For example, I see the left taillight section is available on ebay for $40/best offer. 

This car still has a clear clean title, as well as fairly low mileage, not typically seen with these cars. I mention this because for future value of this car which has very high potential as a collectible or resale down the line, the carfax/autocheck reports also remain clean (since no accident was reported). If you can do these repairs yourself (or with a local shop) you can keep the report clean. I recently sold my other Metro Convertible, a 1991 5 speed, it went for over $4200, as these cars already are in high demand & have a semi-collectible status. So someone who can get these replacement pieces will have this car back to its amazing condition & will have a rare Metro which will not depreciate, but rather be worth much more moving forward.

Before this happened, I would constantly get compliments & questions about this car from passers-by! Often people saying they hadn’t seen one this nice in years, or asking what it was, or just saying how they really liked it. I’ve even had people take pics with the car–just as with some of my other collectible cars! This car’s exterior can be returned to perfection with low expense & is absolutely worth doing so!
*****************************************************************************
SPECIFICS ON THIS 1993 5 SPEED GEO METRO CONVERTIBLE:
*Motor replaced by prior owner-has approx 87K miles on motor-sounds great, runs great, idles perfectly, runs smooth! No leaking fluids! No issues! Should be great & trouble free for years to come!
*5 Speed Transmission-Clutch feels great, shifts smoothly. Much harder to find a 5 Speed Metro as they have much more power, control, & MUCH better MPG than an automatic trans metro!
*This Metro is equipped with Air Conditioning-As crazy as it seems, a majority of Metro Convertibles are not even equipped with A/C! This was an option that is missing from many. This one does have A/C, but it does need the compressor replaced. I will not give you a lame b.s. story about it needing a recharge, I don’t do that. I did buy the compressor but never got to install it in light of what happened. But I will provide & include it for the buyer. If you live in a northern/cooler climate area, you may choose to not use the A/C as using it does affect the MPG these 3 cyl cars get. There is easy access under the hood of these cars & it would be a relatively simple install. Last year I had to replace the A/C compressor on a Mercedes & a local guy did it for $160 labor incl. freon. This is definitely much more basic than that car.
*Has upgraded Eagle Racing wheels- Almost all Metro’s have plastic, generic, cheap wheel covers. This Metro has actual Eagle rims. This really enhances & upgrades the look of this car! 
*Controls & switches work properly-Most Metro’s have all kinds of issues with knobs, switches, controls etc. This one does not. The only minor exception I have found is that the driver side door needs to be locked from the outside (the inside lever is sticking but should be a minor fix if desired).
*DVD/Navigation In Dash System & HD Radio Included-I had purchased an in dash DVD/Navigation system here on eBay a few months ago with AM/FM/CD/SD/USB, and an HD Radio module as part of my plans to really sweeten up this car on the inside, but again, because of the circumstances, had not installed them as of yet. I will include it as well as the hard to find metra install kit new in pkg for the 93 Metro which makes for a clean install when replacing the factory radio. I have upgraded stereo’s in my other cars & am downsizing anyway, so I will leave these included with this auction for the new owner. Right now the factory radio is still in dash & fully functional.
*XM Satellite Radio included-I had installed an add-on XM Radio for this car. It connects to the aux-in on the in-dash unit. I will leave this in as well, as I already have XM in my other cars.
*Brand new & hard to find LEBRA Custom Fit Front End Cover included-
I also purchased a LeBra special order front end cover, only used once. Rather than sell in a seperate auction, I will include this as well for the buyer. 
*****************************************************************************************************************
CONDITION OF VEHICLE
*EXTERIOR
(Excluding damage area from incident)
The exterior of this Metro is in such excellent condition, exclusive of the damage area. The paint is exceptional, shines and has rich color! No imperfections. It is beyond rare to see one in this condition, which is why it is worth fixing. If you look at the pictures, you can see the shine–and that is with this car not being waxed or detailed in quite a while! When viewing the pictures, the paint shines so well, it almost looks like there may be imperfections in other areas. This is not the case–those are reflections off the shine of the paint! The only affected area is in the drivers side rear. All other areas are as clean & perfect as you will ever find on a Metro convertible! I have not seen one with such high luster paint, and that includes 4 of these that I have previously owned.
*CONVERTIBLE TOP
The convertible top is fantastic-especially for a 1993 vehicle! See the pictures! I would easily rate it condition wise a 9.5 out of 10!!! You rarely see a Metro top in this exceptional condition unless of course you just replaced one! There are no rips/tears in the top. Rear plastic window in intact & in great shape, no scratches or cuts in it. Other than installing a brand new top, you couldn’t do better than this one! It is in great shape. Another big factor in considering this car! Also has the fully functional boot cover which many people always ask about on these!
*INTERIOR
In all objectivity, the interior is not at the same level as the exterior not affected by the incident, but is not terrible either (see pictures). I would rate the interior as o.k. with the potential to be even better, more so than most Metro convertibles still around. The main flaw would be that there is some minor effects from the sun on the dash in 2 areas. This is very common on these Metros, it’s hard to find one that doesn’t have this issue. This all occurred prior to my ownership, as I keep the car garaged, or I would cover the dash if parked outside & also use a sunshade. I had bought a brand new “Dash-Mat” for this car recently (included). The only other flaws worth noting are 2 small holes in the seats (1 on each), that’s about it.
One very desirable item that is often missing from these cars, but IS included & in very good shape on this Metro–the Convertible Boot Cover (See picture). They currently are selling on ebay for $200-300 shipped. The interior of this car has great potential & is not bad as it stands. 
*TIRES & WHEELS
Tires are Goodyear Integrity 175/70R13 and are in good shape. This is one of the highest rated tires for this car & are nearly impossible to find for sale due to the unique size. On rare occasion they will be seen on eBay but are usually unavailable even by special order from conventional retailers.  Wheels are Eagle racing & are in good condition. 
*****************************************************************************************************************
It’s getting harder to find any of these fuel efficient Metro Convertibles for sale even when searching nationally. But of the few that do get listed for sale, a great majority of the Metro convertibles for sale are with automatic transmission. This is because most owners of 5 Speed Metro’s know how much better they are and are less likely to part with them! YOU DO NOT WANT AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION METRO CONVERTIBLE!! DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ONE!
I had one AT Metro convertible years ago, and it was totally inferior to a 5 Speed Manual Metro. 
This is because: 
1)There is less control & power. If you live in a mountainous or hilly area, you will be in big trouble with an AT Metro! When going up hills/mountains, you will notice your speed dropping lower & lower, with nothing you can do about it–it’s a very helpless feeling! With the 5 Speed version, you can downshift on hills/grades & this helps tremendously. I cannot stress this enough. 
2)The 5 Speed Metro convertibles get MUCH BETTER MPG than an AT Metro! Its a fact! If you see a seller of an AT Metro claiming MPG in the upper 30’s, 40’s to 50 MPG, they are flat out lying! They do not get anywhere near that. Partly because as with any AT there is less control than a Manual trans, but it is even more critical with these 3 cylinder cars. Only the 5 Speed Metro Convertibles get the better MPG as claimed. Even then, for very highest MPG, you need to drive below 65 MPH. 55-60 is optimum. 
******************************************************************************************************************
INCLUDED IN THIS AUCTION:
1993 5 SPEED GEO METRO CONVERTIBLE-Vin #jg1mr3362pk208560
Also:
DVD/Navigation System & Metra Dash Kit
HD Radio unit
Delphi XM Satellite Radio
New DashMat Premium Dash Cover
New LeBra Custom Fit Front End Cover 
Replacement A/C Compressor
2  Sets of Keys
Clear Title