Is it strange to review a going-on-13-year-old car? I am certain it is, but I feel the need to write something and the fiction is not flowing, so perhaps a little non-fiction will get the ideas running.
I did not purchase my first car until 31 of my (currently) 40 years had passed me by. Before that I had subsisted mostly upon my father's hand-me-down vehicles. When he was done with one, it became mine. This behaviour was partly due to his wish that I have a reliable vehicle for my family, partly because I had no money, and partly because I am his only son and he just wanted to help me out. It is unfortunate that neither my father nor I realized that purchasing your own vehicle is an important step into adulthood and perhaps an even more important step into manhood.
At 30 years of age, I was married with 3 children, 3 cats, a dog, a 1992 Dodge Spirit that recently hopped the 400,000 km milestone, and a rusting, gas-guzzling 1992 Ford Aerostar. My wife had just traded in her Dodge Stratus for a next-to-new Volkswagen Beetle and I was somewhat ticked that she had not passed it on to me as the trade-in value was next-to-nothing and I really needed a new vehicle. This was typical behaviour for her — what was hers was 'hers' and what was mine was 'ours'.
At the time, I was a huge fan of hyper-miling and fuel economy, so I bought the ultimate in basic transportation: a 1995 Geo Metro.
Trust me, this is all leading up to the Sunfire.
The Metro was the first car that I had purchased on my own. No one gave me advice, no one told me what to look for, no one told me what to watch out for. That was probably a good thing since the Metro came with quite a list of parts to replace and I cut my mechanic's teeth on that little car. I have never been able to afford to bring my vehicles to a mechanic, so I learned to do the work on my own with lots of help from Haynes manuals and the internet. The Metro was truly the perfect vehicle to learn on as the motors are extremely simple to work on, parts are cheap, and the vehicle is so light that jacking it up is not the least bit scary.
The Metro stayed with me through my deconversion from Christianity and my separation from my wife — the little car was far more reliable than God and kinder than that woman. Unfortunately, as I changed and grew as a person, I felt there was a need to choose a new vehicle that could kind of be part of the "new" me and grow and change with me.
So, the Metro went up for sale and the Sunfire was bought from a dealer in Leduc, Alberta purely by chance as I had actually been looking for a Saturn Coupe. I absolutely did not want a Sunfire, but I let the sales guy talk me into taking something for a test-drive (the Saturn Coupe they had had on the lot was sold) and the Sunfire genuinely surprised me.
As this was my second car to purchase on my own, I had a list of criteria that I really wanted the vehicle to meet: less than 10 years old, less than 100,000 km, coupe, manual transmission, alloy wheels (no more hubcaps!), air conditioning, and a great stereo system. 40 miles per US gallon was a somewhat-flexible condition and I discovered that the Sunfire will meet and exceed that number on hot days with careful driving (I managed a 50 miles per US gallon stretch from Olds, Alberta to Red Deer, Alberta at one point).
The Sunfire met all my conditions (72,000 km on the ticker) and it was black. Love at first drive.
Were I to add a few more conditions today, they would be: power mirrors, maybe power windows, sunroof/convertible, 170 horsepower minimum.
The Sunfire has been mine for over six years at this point and it is still running well. It has required no major repairs, is just shy of 200,000 km, and the clear-coat is starting to peel on the rear quarter panels. The rear-bumper is cracked due to being rear-ended in Calgary, Alberta a couple of winters ago and, stupid me, I did not make a claim to get it repaired.
I believe the wheel bearings will require replacement soon and I have a myriad supply of upgrade parts to install on it — new exhaust and lowering springs (finally did the brakes and added 17" wheels last year).
The car is comfortable and handles well on long trips. Not much more can be said about the machine. I have always said that it is an "econo-bucket with a fancy lid".
There are a few design flaws in the Sunfire. First, the seatbelts. There is no 'stop' or anything to block the clip from sliding down the belt and onto the floor when the seatbelt is off. When one gets into the car you will almost always have to crack the door open to grab the clip that is wedged between the seat and the door. Second is the placement of the environmental/blower controls. They are placed extremely low on the dashboard so that you actually have to look down (away from the road) to adjust them. Also, the cupholders are right in front of them, so if you have a couple of drinks filling the cupholders, have fun changing the hot/cold settings. Also, with the manual shift in fifth gear the stick right in front of the controls so you have to reach over and behind the shifter to reach them. Ridiculous and very, very poor design. Third is the all-around vision within the cab. Not bad, but not great — especially when it comes to shoulder-checking out the driver's side.
However, those are the only real complaints I have with the car. A surprisingly well-made GM product with the bonuses of ABS and a hydraulic clutch — things you do not usually find in a low-end vehicle.
By the way, my Sunfire is a non-GT coupe, so it has the 2.2L OHV (Over Head Valve - fancy speak for old push-rod tech) instead of the 2.4L DOHC (Dual Over Head Cam). Unlike the GTs, my Sunfire won't blow its head gasket right around this point in its life.
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