Faults:

Engine had to be replaced.

Transmission had to be replaced.

Several different sensors had to be replaced.

Clear coat on paint was horribly coming off.

Kept misshifting or not shifting at all within it's last 10k miles of life.

Shook at around 70 mph.

General Comments:

I liked the look of the car. I believe the car was horribly abused before my family got the car. In the past 3 years, the car has been having tons of problems. Considering the car was 10 years old and that it might have been driven rough by previous owners, I don't know if that might attribute to it. I think overall the car was only partially reliable. So much money had been put into the car to fix things, it was just ridiculous, so we traded it in for a Hyundai Elantra GT hatchback 2005.

The handling, such as turning isn't very good. You could easily feel any bumps while driving. The driving wasn't smooth at all. It is very cramped in the car. And there was probably more problems than what I mentioned, because it was originally owned by my mom.

Faults:

Factory stereo stopped working after a week of purchased.

Fuel filter was replaced at 90,000.

Door handle broke recently.

Gas sensor was replaced at 100,000.

Power antenna doesn't comes down.

The engine leaks oil.

The engine sometimes dies if it revs below 1000 RPMs.

General Comments:

This car is super fun when it works, but I wouldn't take it on a long trip. It is not very reliable and the seats are very uncomfortable. The back seats... what back seats? I'm 5'5 and bearly fit back there. Besides being an unreliable vehicle, this car is a thrill to drive. If you are thinking of buying one make sure you get a manual transmission.

Faults:

Major sunroof problems - replaced both sunroof rails and glass. This cost over $1000 at the dealer.

Engine pulley broke, this cost $250. This is common apparently and it was clear the part was poorly engineered.

Driving in snow caused the rocker panels to pop off and break.

Power antenna broke - $150

General Comments:

The good: this car is amazingly fast and handles like it's on rails. I don't think I ever squealed the tires when I was exiting the highway.

While the number of things that went wrong with the car is small, the general impression I had was very poor. The interior quality is extremely poor. The windows feel like they're going to shatter every time you shut the door. Plastic is the name of the game in the interior.

The all wheel drive is nice to have, but the ground clearance is so low that you can't really do anything useful in the snow when it's really needed.

The big problem with this car is the high costs of maintenance. The 60k tuneup with new timing belt, etc. cost almost $1200, not even including new plugs and wires. That is ridiculous. The clutch cost $700 to replace.

Faults:

Both door handles fell off of my Eclipse ($67/handle parts, $60/handle labor, plus $55/handle paint. I had to prepay for the handles before the dealer would order them. Once they come in I will have to pick them up, bring them to a paint shop to be painted, then return them to the dealer to be installed). This is very frustrating as it requires several days of leaving work to run these errands. I thought that the dealer would take care of that for me. I've been climbing into the trunk for a week!!!

When the car was brand new one of the door handles faded and had to be painted (at no cost to me after I raised a stink). At 50,000 miles, the fiberglass ground effects have faded like the door handle has (I'll have to pay for this one if I get it fixed).

The car has run great and has had no mechanical problems.

General Comments:

The car runs great.

However, there are cosmetic defects that are a nuisance.