Faults:

Interior has its minor problems like cracks in the doors and marks where the seats are wearing thin, but what car that is 13 yrs old does not have them.

One of the vac-cum hoses kept blowing off when you the turbo wound up and kicked in.

The transmission was rebuilt by the previous owner only about 5000 miles before I purchased the car. It had quit shifting into third gear.

General Comments:

The car runs great and is fairly quick for being stock.

The handling of the car is excellent, There is very little body roll so it hugs the corners very tightly.

Being a little above average height, there is not much room under the steering wheel for my legs.

Faults:

1 week after my brother gave me this car, the passenger side lower ball joint broke when I was doing 55 mph. The garage had to refill trans-axle. Reassemble drive-axle. Replace the CV Joint that blew apart. Drivers side lower ball joint was also going bad. Had to replace both lower ball joints. Plus emissions and inspection. That cost $500.

Last December, timing belt jumped a couple teeth.

Had to replace timing belt, idler pulley, tensioner pulley and timing belt tensioner. That cost $500.

Have to put one quart of oil in it every 1500-2000 miles.

Have to refill clutch master cylinder reservoir every month.

Have to top off Engine Coolant reservoir every 2-3 months.

Realized carpets were turning brown. Found out that water was leaking in the trunk area and rolling towards the front of the car. The water was leaking in the gas cap area. The gas cap door release was allowing water in. The seam around the inside of the gas cap area was gapped. I ended up using clear silicone to seal the entire area up as to not allow water to leak inside the body. This is a poor design.

Had to pull back seat out and allow to air dry. Had to remove padding under carpets to allow the carpets to dry. If you're Talon is condensating on the inside its either this or your heater core. Had to scrub the carpets after ripping the car seats out. Was a big pain in the A$$. But only cost me $5.50 for silicone sealant and my time. And it doesn't leak anymore. All drainage hoses function normally and don't leak.

Vandals broke my drivers side window. Luckily a friend of mine had a 1995 Talon he was parting out. He put in the window for only $50. Couldn't beat that!

The tabs that hold the cruise control panel in are broken. The on/off switch plastic piece, tabs are broken on it as well. My friend has it too and wants $10 for it. I will be replacing it very shortly.

Door jamb switch on passenger side doesn't work. The drivers side didn't work as well but I cleaned the corrosion off the contacts and it works now.

Horn works when it wants to. My brother said it is located under the passenger side right by the headlight/fog light. He said its in a bad spot and gets a lot of water splashed on it. I cleaned the corrosion and it works but sounds like a clown horn. I will be buying a much better horn replacement and electrical tape the contacts to prevent corrosion. May even use silicone.

When you spin tire there is a knocking noise coming from the front end. It does it more significantly if the roads are wet. Whether turning or straightforward.

Someone said it may be wheel bearings. Have no clue.

The battery is leaking fluid out from under the cell caps. Have no idea why this happening. No battery light coming on.

Air conditioning doesn't work. My dad tested the lines and they're running High on both lines. Possible blockage. Thinking it may be the condenser in front because there is no grille and there are a ton of rocks in it.

Valve cover gasket leaks. It has been replaced 2 times when my brother owned it and he said it starts to leak after 4000-5000 miles.

My brother removed the fog lights.

My brother had to replace the driver door handle.

My brother replaced the windshield wiper motor for the rear window.

Rear hatch shocks don't hold hatch up when it is cold out. Will have to replace them shortly. They'll cost roughly $45 bucks.

General Comments:

My brother gave me this car because he was buying a new Volkswagen Diesel to save money on fuel. The car was taking care off when he had it. I have put just over $1000 into it since June 2007. It has been getting on my nerves but the body is immaculate inside and out.

The car had a Mako paint job done 2 years ago.

A semi hit my brother in the A$$ when he owned it and they replaced the entire rear-end.

He had the transmission and clutch replaced 2 yrs ago.

My brother put a cold air intake in it. He also put in a Megans Racing header.

He had all the sensors replaced.

He put in all stainless steel exhaust and Hi Performance exhaust tip with 4" out.

This car was a southern car. It has no rust on the interior or exterior. It looks almost showroom condition when it is washed and waxed. Definitely a head turner. It has very fast acceleration and top speed. I topped it out at 135mph on the interstate twice. No speeding tickets yet. The tuned Performance muffler sounds awesome. Sounds like a race car.

This car gets amazing gas mileage. I get 28-32 mpg average. Most of it is city driving. Only used less than half a tank of gas (about 7 gals) to drive from Fairfax, VA to Altoona, PA.

Other than the two incidents that occurred last year this car is very dependable, efficient and a blast.

It is just showing faults due to high mileage and mechanical wear. Will just have to replace things as they go. The car is definitely worth it. And yes most of the parts are expensive. This is due greatly to the fact it is partly a foreign car. DSM (Mitsubishi/Chrysler). Plus they don't make them anymore.

If anyone has any clue to as why there is clutch fluid mysteriously disappearing please comment. I have not noticed any leaks from the clutch cylinder or the line that runs to the slave cylinder mounted on the trans-axle.