Are the 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse GST Reliable?

[Xyro]

I am currently considering trading my 94 Integra in for a 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse GST. I know for sure that the Mitsubishi Eclipse will cost me more when it needs repairs and all that. But I was wondering aside from crankwalk, is the car reliable? Is it a practical everydy driver for a 20 year old? I go to school but I feel I make enough money to maintain the car. I was planning on doing the regular maintence like any other car, and if crankwalk occurs I will replace with a 6bolt 4g63T motor. So mainly I would like to know for a daily driver that wont be on the track all too often, and will sustain only minor mods being front mount intercooler, cold air, exhaust is it worth it? And I know alot of people say the fun of the car and the looks are well worth the price. If that is your answer, how much money in repairs will i be expecting? Thank you.

 

[LD25Delta9]

It all depends on how well the car was maintained before you got it. How many miles are on the car? They're very reliable so long as you do your Proper Preventative Maintenence. Just keep your I's dotted and your T's crossed and it'll treat you right.

 

[Xyro]

the body of the car has 114,000miles. But the engine was replaced, and cuyrrently has 80,000 miles on it. Im assuming it had crankwalk. I am not too worried about crankwalk, because for 1500-2500 I can get the 6bolt installed and perfect. But I will do the needed things, all belts, all fluids and probably plugs and wires. But aside from the initial tune-ups and get ready business. Say in the course of 1 year, what kind of schedule should I be on with it, and how much money am I looking to spend in that course of time.

The 2g eclipse is my favourite car, Ive wanted one from day one, but I am also a realist when it comes to cars, and at my age I dont need every luxury of the exact car I want, so even though this is practically my dream car(and what i can do to it) I want it to be a good DD. And like I said in the first post. Either wheb/if crankwalk occurs, I replace with JDM6bolt then pump the bigger turbos and rebuild into the equation. But thats something im looking into next summer.

 

[94nonturboGS]

Like Delta said as long as you keep up with the checkups etc you should have a solid running car!

 

[gstryyder]

as long as you keep up on maintaining it you will be fine. btw... its not a 20yr old car...

my 1998 gst has 215k on it and still going. i keep up on my maintenance though. original motor and all.

 

[chico904]

If you are looking for opinions, then yes I think that the eclipse is a great bang for your buck car when properly maintenanced.

 

[blackjdm90]

After all the belts and fluids have been replaced it would be a very nice daily driver and dependable. And they are a lot of fun to drive!

 

[Xyro]

I am 20 years old, not the car. And thanks for the input guys. I hope your all right! Because Ill be posting to all of you my first problem! ahah, just playing. If anyone else has helpful advice please give it!

 

[jjrock5]

btw... its not a 20yr old car...

I think he meant to say HE is 20 yrs old. I have a 97 GST as well and JUST now Im doing a rebuild after 180K miles of life. They are def worth it and if you know what youre doing, the car(just like any other car) will last you. It really is just in how well you keep up with maintenance. Just like Honda...but better...

 

[kottyking]

What a dumb question. There are way too many variables for anybody here to tell you if a car is reliable or not. It comes down to the owner and if it was taken care of.

 

[knochgoon24]

Well, my car is just about to roll onto 220k miles, it will this weekend. The previous owner wasn't the best with maintance and ended up needing to get:
--a new motor (timing belt broke at 120k miles - didn't get it changed at 60k - and he took it to a dealer)
--a transmission rebuild (140k miles on an auto, not horrible)
--a turbo (blew around 160k miles - again took it to the dealer and paid $1700 for a new one installed)

I bought the car with 191k miles. I'm 20 and love this car. Everyone that rides in it loves it too, unless they're stuck in the back. The biggest thing is to keep up on the maintenance. Fix the problems before they get bigger.

 

[gstryyder]

i c... and do the maintenance when you get the car. b4 you go puttin around in it.

 

[JEFFREYCASTGSX]

Crankwalk is something you dont worry about, its so overrated you wouldnt even know. As for reliable, all cars are reliable as long as you take care of them(and the maintenance).

 

[joescool2008]

DSM mean down several months . It's reliable for several minutes though .

 

[rEclipserGST]

DSM mean down several months . It's reliable for several minutes though .

Excuse me sir, would you mind serving us English with a side of grammar. I have no idea what your trying to say and neither does anyone else.

The car can be reliable if you MAKE it reliable. Now, compared to your Honda... there will be a lot more required maintenance. BUT it will be a lot more fun to drive in comparison as well. Crank Walk... its rare, but it does happen. If it does, or you do blow your motor... yes please do get a 6-bolt. Till then, you can mod all you want. Then just swap the mods over after the motor goes or whatever. Do the dew.

DSM = Dangerous Street Machine

 

[GimmeMoeBoost]

Biggest thing to do to the car is get the factory scheduled timing belt replaced at 60k miles. Which is less miles than most manufactures recommend. If the rebuilt motor thats in there has not had it recently get it done asap. But yeah of course the DSM are reliable. Being the 2nd owner of my gst with 70k on the car i did the timing belt right away. A few things that did fail were: brake master cylinder leaked ($40 fix), thermostat stuck shut ($20 fix), and starter died ($90 fix). But within 70k-90k miles thats kinda typical with most cars.

 

[tjbiker031]

These are fun cars to drive and have, but you are going to have things that will need to fixed along the way, after all these cars are 10+ years old, and a lot of original parts still on these cars. Although things leak and sometimes break on my GST, i still love her. I used to own a Honda years ago, bought my GST and haven't looked back since.

 

[_Madman_]

Crankwalk is something you dont worry about, its so overrated you wouldnt even know. As for reliable, all cars are reliable as long as you take care of them(and the maintenance).

I would argue about that... 5 cars had a tranny, engine or clutch work performed over here and all of them got checked for crankwalk. 5 of 5 7-bolt cars were walking, my car including. One of them had the repair done twice, and it had eaten away the bearing so far that the crank started to eat the block.

Then again, most cars were in 120k mile range and the repair is not that expensive or lethal. Just do a regular maintenance and checks and everything will be fine.

I also used MBCAD kit during the rebuild, but it had issues with fitment (frame shaved off a little splinter of one of the bearing during reassembly) so we'll see how it goes...

Also 2G pedal pump up might be causing crankwalk as well if left unchecked.

All in all, DSM are not bad if you just do the maintenance instead of going BIIG turbo and forget the belts right from the start. And they are very pleasant to drive. Although GST has never ending traction problem in 1st, 2nd, and with bigger turbos in all the remaining gears

 

[Travis96GS-T]

There are way too many variables for anybody here to tell you if a car is reliable or not. It comes down to the owner and if it was taken care of.

Period.

 

[LD25Delta9]

Crankwalk happens for a reason. If it's properly maintained and isn't beat on without proper supporting mods and tuning, the car will run perfect. You can walk any car's crank. I've got half a mind to report some flaming. He didn't ask whether or not it was a dumb question. The OP asked if it was, in our opinions, reliable. With the info given I'd say it's more than reasonable to call it reliable. I hate schmucks that post idiot, smart-assed replies. This is a forum meant to help, especially with NEWBIE questions. No question is ever stupid, just the people who ask them and, apparently, the people who answer them.

 

[BklynsDsmer]

just do your hw before you start doing any upgrades and just give it a good tuneup . N so far Very Reliable even with the upgrades .

Oh yea and Become BestFriends with this site has all the answers you'll need

L

 

[joescool2008]

Excuse me sir, would you mind serving us English with a side of grammar. I have no idea what your trying to say and neither does anyone else.

The car can be reliable if you MAKE it reliable. Now, compared to your Honda... there will be a lot more required maintenance. BUT it will be a lot more fun to drive in comparison as well. Crank Walk... its rare, but it does happen. If it does, or you do blow your motor... yes please do get a 6-bolt. Till then, you can mod all you want. Then just swap the mods over after the motor goes or whatever. Do the dew.

DSM = Dangerous Street Machine

It was a joke, i forgot a s on means. I have a 6 bolt, thx. Anyone who mods alot has a ton of downtime. Turbo cars are not made for reliability. Yes a GST is a fun car. And my ford ranger is the most reliable thing i own and ever will. I love having my turbo DSM as a hobby. And im sure 3/4 of this forum understood that comment. Crankwalk is generally caused by bad clutch installs or worn down bearings or improper gap in the main bearings.

 

[zhjiln]

crankwalk is overrated... but its not easy to find a unmolested DSM ... good luck...

 

[Travis96GS-T]

He didn't ask whether or not it was a dumb question. The OP asked if it was, in our opinions, reliable. With the info given I'd say it's more than reasonable to call it reliable. I hate schmucks that post idiot, smart-assed replies. This is a forum meant to help, especially with NEWBIE questions. No question is ever stupid, just the people who ask them and, apparently, the people who answer them.

Yeah, that's why I cut that little part out of the quote. There was no need for it.

 

[Xyro]

Thanks again guys. And to the guy who said its a stupid question, grow up. Ive never had one for more then a week, and this site if filled with people who have, so in my opinion, its a smart question.

The person im buying the car from is the second owner. So I would be the third. Im sure at some points in the cars life it has been beat on, but most cars a 20 year old has interests in will be, especially an eclipse. I intend on taking great car of this car, much like I do my Integra. I just hear alot of poor things about this car, probably because all my mechanics are honda fanatics, and so are my friends. I will be the first person to leave the Honda/Acura scene. I owned a 97GST last summer, and I bought it with crankwalk, being inexperienced I did not know how to check for it. Luckily I told the seller and he took the car back without an arguement. And like I said in my original post, what kind of care does this require over others. My integra recieves oil changes ever 3 - 4 thousand KMs with synthetic and gets looked at by the mechanic for about 10 - 15 minutes each time. And I give my little integra a good go here and there, I am no person to turn down a jackass in daddys automatic 300C or Pontiac G6, whether I win or lose. So yes I will be giving the eclipse some shit here and there, not aimlessly, but when needed. I am sure alot of you here can agree with that. So as I said, I will go to the mechanic with any signs of any problem, I will go every oil change for a good check up, and replace belts every 50 to 60 thousand miles. Will it handle the minor beating it may get from time to time? with only minor mods? They are great cars I know, but how fun can they be under 3000rpm all day every day?