1997 Geo Prizm problems
Owners have filed 63 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Geo Prizm. Seat belts is the most reported problem area, at 29% of complaints. Next are air bags (25%) and brakes (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 63 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Seat belts 29% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 16 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 23 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 113,000 miles 17 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 1 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 1 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 17 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 113,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 16 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 23 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 96% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 6th most-complained-about out of 9 model years of the Geo Prizm with enough data (36 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
During an accident the air bags did not deploy and the seat belt equipment failed to lock. Everyone inside the vehicle sustained some type of injury (geo prizm). Updated 12/22/05
On 4/19/05 I was in an accident with my 97 geo prism. The vehicle air bags failed to deploy and the seat belts failed to operate correctly causing me to hit the steering wheel and dash causing severe injury to myself and minor passengers in the vehicle. I originally filed complaint through my attorney kenneth miller, jr. Baton rouge, la. I want to settle this case asap.
While driving down major highway, rearended another vehicle at about 25MPH. Resulting in major damage to front end, and no airbags deployed!
Driver's side seat belt retractor failed at 12,611 mi (3/29/99) and again at 24,000 mi. (out of warranty time by a few months). Central chevrolet in fremont, ca fixed both times. 2nd time cost $200+ and rental car charge. Central advised they wouldn't reduce the cost of 2nd failure because I didn't have my maintenance service work done by them. Back seat, passenger side seat belt retractor has also failed (won't retract). Can't afford to have fixed. Only have 2 useable seat belts in back seat.