Opinion wanted on Mitsubishi Eclipse

[whitsend]

I'm looking at a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT for my son and was wondering if anyone has any experience with them.
V6, Auto, leather, sunroof (not working, seller says needs a fuse), driver side seat is worn some, 195k on car but 121k on engine.
Seller said he's only had the car for 2 week, but is in a financial bind so he needs to sell it.

Good? Bad? What to look out for?

Also anyone know a good mechanic in Ruston/Grambling area to have look at it?

It will be Wednesday evening before I can go look at it, plus he is still waiting for the title to come in. (Not even going to look until he has the title in hand)
I would like to find a mechanic for him to take it too if possible.

Any thoughts?

 

[Tony Stark]

That story has all of the signs of BS. The typical "financial bind" story, along with the "only had the car 2 weeks"....which of course doesn't allow you to come back on him because he'll claim that he hadn't had the car long enough to know that it had any major issues that you may find.

As for the sunroof needing a fuse? If it were that simple, he would have done it himself to make the car more attractive to buyers....it's rarely just a fuse.

Those cars were never really known for being super dependable, and those miles, and the shadiness of the story, I would walk.

I've been in the automotive business for 25 years, and this one honestly has a bad vibe to me, but if it's super cheap, you could roll the dice.

 

[Neil09]

I agree with Tony.. All high mileage vehicles have newer motors, ask him for proof. Unless it's a smoking deal, I'd pass.

 

[SVTFreak]

Agree with tony also. Too much bs. Seriously, you troubleshoot it to find its just a fuse, including pulling it out and checking it, but don't replace it? That's a crock.

 

[Saintsfan6]

 

[mr.z28]

pass

 

[DixieXD]

Primarily transmission problems is what I heard. My son had both a '97 & '98. Eclipses are otherwise solid cars and way fun.

 

[fng]

the late 90's models Eclipse GT's were beasts, some had transmission issues but otherwise badass. My friends little brother had one ~97, maybe 98 it's been a long time, but he had a shop do a full suspension swap/upgrade , tires and a dynotune left the rest bone stock, was super quiet, no fartcan/weedeater sounding muffler and smoked plenty of mustangs and Camaros. go check it out, bring a fuse and replace the fuse, if it works see if seller is willing to meet you at a shop and have mechanic give it a once over and go from there.

 

[AustinBR]

My thoughts exactly. Everything about it smells fishy.

 

[bayoupirate]

I would be sure to price the insurance for this vehicle before buying. May fall into High Performance Category= Huge Ins Rates.

 

[sandman7925]

I wouldn't even consider it.

 

[Cochise]

That sounds shady on several levels. Not to mention that 2000 was the first year for that generation of eclipse and had more bugs than later years. I'd pass.

on a side note, a '98 GSX eclipse is one of my dream cars.

 

[noob]

don't walk away, RUN away.... First he doesn't have a title, there's also too many unknowns, what year is the motor, why was the motor replaced, sun roof not working, whats the status of the title (salvage, reconditioned)

Also did you run a car fax?

 

[wilssoon]

That story has all of the signs of BS. The typical "financial bind" story, along with the "only had the car 2 weeks"....which of course doesn't allow you to come back on him because he'll claim that he hadn't had the car long enough to know that it had any major issues that you may find.

As for the sunroof needing a fuse? If it were that simple, he would have done it himself to make the car more attractive to buyers....it's rarely just a fuse.

Those cars were never really known for being super dependable, and those miles, and the shadiness of the story, I would walk.

I've been in the automotive business for 25 years, and this one honestly has a bad vibe to me, but if it's super cheap, you could roll the dice.

*this* Agree...

 

[RedStickChick]

Pass on it. Get him a used Camry. Yeah, he won't be the cool kid necessarily but he can drive that thing into the ground.

 

[JHenley17]

My dad got me a cool first car that was fairly cheap. A lot of my minimum wage went into repairs. I loved the car, as did my classmates, but I was damn near ready for a beater Civic by the time I graduated.

I recently picked up an 02 Accord for $3k from my grandma. I know it was babied and kept immaculate, so I couldn't pass on a good commuter. Old Hondas are nostalgic for me, so I love it. Anyways, point being, that's typical market price on it, so if you weed out the beaters, you should be able to find a nice car in that range.

All I can really say about it, don't know if you or him would care, but I drive fast and four gears isn't enough for an I4.

 

[madwabbit]

Those eclipses were the armpit of mitsubishi's lineup and have tarnished an otherwise fantastic legacy for that vehicle. I wouldn't buy under those circumstances anyway, but THAT model with THAT mileage I wouldn't dare. It's just an endless onslaught of unreliability. I cite as reference that he's already replaced the engine. sheesh, do the math on when that happened. (~73k miles?)

In that era imo the nicest/most reliable youre going to get is a civic, accord, or camry. All 3 boast reputations of 250k+mileage lifetimes.



For the car nerds: if it was a late 90's model 4g63t with that mileage, I might even buy it myself.

 

[jessopher]

for used japanese cars I would stick with hondas and toyotas....for something a bit cooler and not too pricey can't beat a mustang for reliability....and that is coming from a gm guy lol

 

[dougstump]

I used to work at a used car lot & I wouldn't buy that car at wholesale. If you are seriously considering it, get a Car Facts report on it. But don't do anything until you see the title!

 

[bjeepin2]

get him an old truck