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The old heap that is your hobby that has been taking up space in your garage and that your wife has been nagging you to get rid of but you could never bring yourself to do may finally be showing its value with the sky-high prices at the pumps these days.
Econboxes from the early 1990 such as the Ford Festiva, Hyundai Excel and Geo Metro are valued upwards of $6,000 today, says Kelley Blue Book. Quite the investment considering you only paid maybe around a thousand dollars to buy this thing to kill time in the first place. Some prices have risen as high as 30% for these rather old cars.
A 1993 Geo Metro XFI is EPA rated at 46 miles to the gallon; nearly the same as an ’08 Prius which starts at 21 grand. The Festiva and Excel both get mid 30’s mpg; their impressive mileage was made possible by smaller engines. Many of these 90’s cars have less weight, since they sometimes lack air bags and other safety features.
As the bottom rung of the auto industry, they were marketed to first timers, usually sold to students looking for a cheap buy for their first car. Many of them have met their fate in the jaws of the crusher since. Whether or not the gas mileage is worthwhile, the safety precautions should be taken into consideration, advise experts.
“Nick Skouteris, an Atlanta auto restorer, says he has fixed up and sold about 10 Geo Metros but is having trouble finding more at reasonable prices.” A Metro convertible he had set his sights on was going for $3,000 on eBay, complete with rust holes and 175,000 miles.
Our take? While you may not have been willing to be caught dead in one of these nerd cars in the past, the better mileage, and the cheapness of the car itself are heating the market to new heights.
via USA Today
