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2G Thoughts on this car

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JM00

Probationary Member
2
0
Sep 12, 2017
Louisville, Kentucky
https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/d/1997-eclipse-gst/6300977496.html

Ive been looking for a car for a while now and have been eying this for a couple of days. I would be a first time dsm owner and was wondering if there were any red flags people could spot. Ive tried to do my research and ask the owner the right questions but im just not sure. Could people possibly leave some questions I could ask this guy about the car to be able to tell its condition. Also, being a possible first time dsm owner, what would the reliability of a 100k mile dsm be like. Thanks for any responses in advance!
 
The main things you'll want to know are when the timing components and water pump were last changed. Check for rust on the strut towers, rear wheel wells, underside of hatch, etc. For 5500 for a gst it should be virtually rust free. Overall it doesn't look bad. There's a ton of info on this forum regarding this sort of thing.
 
I forgot to add that the car has been on stock boost for the entirety of its life.
 
5 k nope i see quite a few rusty parts, and areas in that engine bay. Check the door bottom edges. Aftermarket rocker mouldings that are molded into the body. Check the underside. I have seen a many engine bays like that. And when its up that high ,most of the time it has the cancer bad on the bottom side.
 
That rust on the top of the engine bay looks like it might just be from rain coming in the front of the hood/ car nothing I would be worried about. Look around under the engine bay. For the most part it looks pretty clean. If you get it from the look of the rust on the strut towers your going to have to pull the suspension out and wire brush / paint the wheel wells. The suspension is likely 20 years old (unless its aftermarket) but from the look of those bolts on top its not. It is going to need new shocks likely. I wouldn't offer them asking price. Come down about 1-2k and then take that money and put it into the suspension.

I went the cheaper route and got koni shocks and reused the top hats (after wire brushing and painting them) also purchased a nice set of used eibach lowering springs on the cheap. Am in the middle of changing over to my koni setup right now and taking my time wire brushing and painting everything inside the wheel wells that's rusted. The rust on my car is light surface rust.. not deep cancer rust.

If that car has bad cancer rust I would avoid it. It looks like mostly surface rust from what I can see in the pics.
 
I forgot to add that the car has been on stock boost for the entirety of its life.

That would make me hesitate, unless he's been the only owner since new then it just seems like a pitch. It's even modified so it makes it a bit tougher to believe. Even if it is just the T25, it obviously wasn't raised to super high levels so its not a big deal, but its just on principal. If your going to be coming from out if state to go get it based on only his explanation of the car, I'd say pass on it.
 
I agree with the majority here, that car is WAY overpriced, a 2500-3k car all day IF the rust is no worse than what we currently see.. #1 rule in buying a DSM, READ all of the information on these forums and be PATIENT, there are some VERY nice cars out there and if your budget is 5500-6k you can score one easily.. If I were you I would keep an eye on the classifieds here, some very nice examples from people that know and love DSMs come up all the time, some modified very tastefully for that kind of coin($5500)..
 
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