Our cousin in Bakersfield, CA has a 1991 Geo Metro with 145/85r12 tires.
She can’t find tires anywhere. She currently has a flat tire and can’t drive the car. The tire stores in town tell her the tire is no longer being made.
Any help? Thanks!
I think you can order them online
Boy, that sucks. Much less her tire problem. 
Has she called the local junkyards? They have used tires.
Well the thing about Metros is they get up to 50mpg (take that, hybrids!), and the hatchback holds quite a bit. Plus it would long ago be paid for, so if you’re not too worried about performance or having a cool car, I can see the appeal.
This reminds me of my old '87 Chevy Nova. By the time I got rid of that car, I was having major trouble finding tires for it. After one flat, I had to drive across town on the donut to find a store that had my tires in stock.
Trading that old piece of crap in for a Saturn was the best choice I ever made.
Have you tried a store that sells rollerskate wheels? 
In all seriousness, I second the online (tirerack.com or other similar site) recommendation. It’s probably the only place that you will find them.
I had a similar problem with my old car, a 1994 Suzuki Swift (looks just like the Metro to help you with a visual). I ended up having to go with a slightly different tire - I don’t remember what was different about the size at this point though.
What’s important to remember (at least as I was told) is that this will throw her speedometer off a little bit, so she needs to adjust for that, particularly at highway speeds.
She can probably buy a set of tires and wheels in a different size that has nearly the same overall diameter, so that the speedometer will not be affected.
Using the chart here we can see the common plus sizes for this vehicle.
Then, using the calculator here, we can see that two available sizes are within 1/2" diameter of the original. (bottom right, Tire A, Calculate tires equivalent)
165/65 R 13
195/45 R 15
It looks like Discount tire has the 15" one in stock.
I had an old Metro (two, really), and I had the same problem with each one. I remember the local tire dealer saying he might be able to order one from St. Louis, with a three-week wait and a $145 price tag! :eek: For a car for which I paid $500.
Those Metros were pieces of crap, but damn did they get good gas mileage! I love having A/C, a CD player, and four doors on my 1998 Saturn SL2, but I sure do miss those 50mpg! :smack:
I also recommend Tire Rack (from Pool’s link). They are located near us in South Bend, but they can drop ship tires to the installer. The website has a number to call with questions.
We have used them before. In fact, we will be taking our car there next week. Locally tires for our car are about $100 each. I can get installed at Tire Rack for $65 each.
I was told the same thing for my '91 Subaru Justy. I just had the dudes at the tire store put on the next available size since the diameter of the wheel was the same.
Jeez, what are you driving where the cheapest tires you can find are $100?
Something V-rated?
A couple of teenage punks were breaking into my 92 Metro some years back at about 2 in the morning. I’ve no idea why – the most valuable things in there were my Gilbert & Sullivan CDs, and I somehow doubt that the New D’Oyly Carte recording of The Gondoliers, even in pristine condition, would have fetched full price on the underground market. Anyway, a neighbor of mine who worked for the sherriff’s office happened to spot these miscreants and called in the boys in blue. Needless to say, since they were underage the extend of their punishment was a two week vacation from school in juvie hall. The very day they were released, three of the tires on my car were slashed by [del]these two stupid fucks[/del] person or persons unknown.
The total cost of having three Metro tires replaced? About $60. While I wasn’t thrilled about my car being vandalized, I did take some comfort in the fact that the damage cost me far less to repair than I’m sure the responsible parties had hoped.
I love my Saturn, but in many ways I miss my Metro.
Tire shop owner here. I have catalogs from all major tire manufacturers and no one seems to make 145/85 R 12 tires anymore.
Your best choice is to look for 155/80 R 12. I found this size on Pirelli (P 1000), Goodyear (GT 3) and Sava (Effecta +) catalogs. These are one centimeter wider but the overall wheel diameter is almost the same so it won’t affect the car’s handling.
Just be warned: These tires are low production volume so they are quite expensive.
I have an '87 Chevy Sprint, which was what eventually turned into the Metro. It has 12" tires and they certainly are still available. The ones I bought are called metric radials and have some weird dimension numbers. I don’t have the car here or I’d give the specifics.
You can try teamswift.net for info on parts for these cars (All of the little Suzuki-made cars…Chevy Sprint, Pontiac Firefly, Geo Metro, Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Cultus).
You might have to get a slightly different dimension of tire than the ones that are on there currently, but it should have minimal effect on the speedometer and performance of the car, as long as you get a 12" tire for your 12" wheel. You might be able to get a little better mileage by getting a slightly taller tire, but it’ll be slightly slower off the line and the speedometer will be off a bit.
I’ve heard you can go up to a 13" wheel and a taller tire and increase your fuel mileage by up to 15% if you drive the highway a lot (which could improve 50 MPG to about 57 MPG if you have the 3 cylinder with a stick-shift).
The only manufacturer that I coiuld find making the P165/65R-13 for my 91 Vert was Bridgestone. The tires cost me $130 each, but, the car sticks like glue on the turns, stops quick & is very stable in the rain. The car had Bridgeston Tires on it when I bought it but the sidewalls were checked from age, they probably werent the orginal tires but I drove it like that for a year and saw very little wear .
Why don’t you switch rims and get something that will hold a more common size tire?
To swerve off-topic.
Many years ago, the US Army developed a trailer that would spit land mines out as it was pulled along. The specially-developed mines were armed a few seconds after being chucked out by a pair of spinning rubber tires, the sort people used on powered lawn mowers.
When I retired, I worked with land mine programs. We were in a low-level panic because the tires were no longer being made and our stockpile was (as we say) rapidly aging. I never did learn what we did about it.
I wonder if, sometime during the last five years, Rico’s zombie car ever got its tires?