Faults:

Door handle breaking off of the car: I have found this a very common problem with this car and with the cost of close to $200 to repair it forget it. Ebay:Dr Auto has a pair (new) for $50.00. I replaced them and it was not difficult to do just a litte patience. I used the Haynes repair manual.

Faults:

Transmission is slipping. It was slipping when I bought it, but didn't notice it at the time. The transmission on Eclipses are weak, but they hold up as long as you still take care of it. My transmission has been going strong and not slipping any worse since I bought the car. Planning to switch to a manual later this year. Valve Cover seal is leaking a little, but this is common on these cars.

I messed up the cam positioning sensor, but that was my own fault. I put in a short-ram intake and it didn't have anything to hold onto so everytime I accelerated, it pressed up against it. I replaced it and its been going great.

Brakes are weak, but that is because I didn't bleed them the last time I changed the brakes. I can't on one caliper because the part to bleed it broke off due to rust. After driving a little bit, the brakes really tighten up and they're great.

There's is a little rust on the frame developing in the front.

I replaced the bumper due to another one due to the wear and tear. The car tends to catch a lot of edges and a rip developed on both sides. drive it carefully enough and it'll be fine, but just don't fly out of any steep parking lots or streets or you'll regret it.

Other than that, everything else runs great. I can't complain at all.

General Comments:

For anyone looking for a fun small car, this is it. It isn't the best reliable, but it's easy to fix and the parts are cheap, apart from transmission. There is no other car that looks this great coming out of the factory. If you like to mod cars, there are more than enough parts around.

The gas mileage is a lot less than you'd expect from a 4 cylinder, I get about 20-24 MPG in the city, but once on the highway, its great, I get around 30-36 MPG on highway doing 70. This is also due to the mods I have installed. Iridium plugs, MSD coilpack and wires, 2.5 Custom catback exhaust, and AEM V2 cold-air intake. It's not a lot performance wise, but it does help.

The car is too little power for its weight. The turbo moves quickly, but it has about 60-70 more horses. The manual does drive faster. If you want a car that goes quickly, but is small, look to the GS-T or GS-X trims of this car or look to something else.

Handling is great. I can take off and on ramps twice as fast as suggested or faster. I've taken one going 100 before. I added front and rear strut bars and the handling gets even better. I can take quick sharp turns or sudden maneuvers without worry of losing control. I had to evade a tire on the highway today. I pulled to the left and back to the right going 70 with ease. Be wary of torque steer though. Since it is front wheel drive, you will experience this from time to time. It's nothing horrible, but it is something you want to pay attention to if you're in a crowded place.

Mine came with the 6 disk changer, but the base speakers. They sound alright for stock, but have very little bass. I have sub-woofers to compensate for that though.

The only reason I would not buy from Mitsubishi again is because I do not like them anymore. The Eclipse for 89-99 was the only true Eclipse IMO. the 2000+ are just marketing schemes. The Eclipse lost it's true self after the 2000 models came out. The 3000GT was the other nice car, but that's long since gone. The Mitsubishi Evolution is nice, but they new model looks hideous. Next car I'll be buying will be either a Nissan or Infiniti.