11th Feb 2005, 02:40

I have recently decided to buy a 2000 or above Eclipse GT. I greatly appreciate this forum and the feedback that has been posted. It has been a great help to me. My question is does it matter if I buy the car with an automatic or 5 speed transmission?

20th Jun 2005, 00:41

Hello Everybody, I am planning to buy a 98 eclipse RS with 83000 miles on it..the car runs fine... the only problems I felt were that the brakes when pressed made sound and there was some other sound coming from the trunk... the reviews on the site have scared me to death... should I buy this car... is that only the GSX's...and GT's have problems and not the RS's...please help...

23rd Jul 2005, 00:15

I would steer clear of the rs eclipse. It has a 2.0 liter engine made by Chrysler that is notorious for head gaskets leaking oil, and poor engine electronics. Putting that engine in the eclipse was the worst thing Mitsubishi ever did.

26th Aug 2006, 21:12

I just recently bought a 1997 eclipse gs 5 speed manual with a little more than 97,000 miles on it. I love driving the car, but I do have some problems with it since I bought it (from a dealership)

In the time I have had it, I have personally replaced a few parts and fixed a few problems in the car, nothing major, but I was wondering if it is just from over use or shoddy parts I have so far replaced the PCV valve and hoses, valve cover gaskets (including the 4 spark plug gaskets), fixed the passenger seat (it would not slide back and forth when purchased)

I bought the car with a check engine light and the dealership told me I had a leaky evaporator (never told me which evaporator and I need to replace the A/C evaporator, even though I never use my A/C, and another evaporator, I forget where it is in the engine though), anyway, I took it to a mechanic and had a diagnostic check done and I pulled a code (i believe) PO442, which has to do with the evap system, so I figure to replace the hoses and if that does not work the charcoal canister and gas cap.

Unfortunately when I bought the car I signed an as-is statement (even though I did not find out about all of the problems except the a/c evaporator), it alarms me that the dealership did not see these problems, but they are nothing major like replacing a clutch or needing to tear the engine apart for a head gasket or something like that.

Also, I was looking in my fuse box, and I seem to be missing a few fuses, I saw that I am currently running without an ABS fuse, is that safe and can I pick one up at a local auto-parts store,

On a side note, I am finding it hard to remove my wheels to replace them (if I had a flat), one of the little plastic covers came out and I went to take the wheel off to replace it and I couldn't remove it.

Any help appreciated thank you.

20th Dec 2006, 19:37

Well in 1997 I do not believe that ABS was used so don't worry about it. As for buying a vehicle with high miles and expecting a perfect vehicle, well unfortunately it is just about impossible with any type Brand, Make or model vehicle to be in perfect condition. When you buy a use vehicle that is exactly what you get. This is someone else's old used vehicle.

6th Jun 2007, 08:15

Ugh. I'm buying an 02 Eclipse GT today for my 18th birthday. There seems to be a bubble in the wheel, but it is getting fixed. After all of these negative reviews, I don't know if I should purchase the vehicle :|.

29th Jul 2007, 12:53

I have a 2001 Eclipse Spyder GT I bought used about 2 1/2 years ago. I have not had to take it to the shop except for routine maintenance and a tiny problem with an emission sensor. I bought the car with 70,000 miles on it, and it now has 106,000 miles on it, and it still runs like brand new. I don't know who owned the car before, or how they treated it, but I treat it very good. Most of the time, if you just take care of a car the way it should be taken care of, it will last you a really long time. Every once in a while, any manufacturer will produce a lemon, but my Eclipse is running sweet. So sweet as a matter of fact that I am hesitant to make the horsepower upgrades I have been wanting to make for a while.

11th Aug 2007, 15:45

I have a 98 eclipse RS and it is at 100k. I bought it used at 53k. Since this time, I have treated it like crap. I like old cars and take very good care of my "weekender" 65 impala SS. In the two years and 50k miles that I have had my car, I have given it one oil change... yes one...and I used regular oil. I have replaced the air filter once as well. Never have I replaced the spark plugs, wires, or any other regular tune-up item. I drive my car in the winters and used it for snowboarding. Many times during the year, it will be -20 degrees for weeks at a time. I could care less about his car, but it has been amazing for me. I drove it from Washington State to Kentucky and back, at 85-90 MPH, and got 36 miles per gallon. I have the stock steel wheels and they have not bent. Also, I lived on a dirt road and would drive fairly aggressively from time to time. I have nothing bad to say about this car except that Mits is doing something right. I am not saying that all of their cars are wonderful or that you will all have the luck that I have had. This case stands for itself. I was thinking that I should do an oil change soon though... or I could probably wait another 50k.

21st Feb 2008, 18:30

Have a 2000 Eclipse GT V6 5-speed. I bought this car as a front-wheel drive semi-sporty car for the winter and parked my Mustang.

The tranny grinds into gear, and when I had the tranny fluid changed lots of metal shavings were found in the fluid. The tranny still grinds into gear till this day.

I have had mine for over a year now. Only problems I had is the sunroof motor which isn't a big deal because it only opens about 2" anyway.

I beat on it pretty good. My tires like to leak air a lot, maybe the rims are bent or it's just the extreme cold temperature.

This car is not fast, it just looks nice (even better without the spoiler). I took my emblems off hoping to find a pair of Ferrari emblems to put on as a practical joke.

I would recommend everyone to buy the 5-speed version of this car; the sport-tronic isn't all too reliable.

I know there's a lot of negative comments about Mitsubishi's, but there are several other issues out there with cars such as GM's 4 and 6 cylinder engines (head gasket, fuel injector gasket leaks, blah blah blah). Mitsubishi has it set on their minds to deny any defects is what the ridiculous part is. If they would have denied me any warranty coverage, they would be walking around with a bumper up their asses.