I've come across a 97 Eclipse non turbo here locally being sold by the original owner with only 99k mi on the odo. It has an auto transmission, 4spd I assume? To be honest, all I really know about the 2g nonT's are that they are Chryslers. Are they terrible in terms of reliability? The vehicle will be for my nephew who just recently got his license and isn't too much into cars at all. We could just simply get him something like a corolla or sentra of the same vintage (likely with higher mileage on the clock) but I'd sorta like to get him something with some style as his 1st car. Any items that are known to be problematic on the 2g eclipse? Would an Eclipse be a bad choice for a new driver who needs something reliable to get to school & work on a daily basis?
thank you in advance for any feedback

My 420a has been excellent in the 'reliability factor.' It's all in how you maintain them.

People say Honda's are the most reliable but you see those broken down every day on the street, it's all about the driver.

Some people just drive the car until it stops driving and others do preventative maintenance.

I heard the 97's had some recalls that were addressed in the 98' model, but that is pretty low miles. I'd say go for it just make sure the driver isn't some F&F wannabee.

If your nephew can maintain a car, it will last for a long time granted it doesn't have major mechanical problems when you're buying it.

Take it to a mechanic you trust for a thorough inspection! Check the compression, the transmission, all that major stuff, or do what I did when I bought my car, test drive the HELL out of it. I did a 2+ hour test drive.

I would say so. I've put so much blood sweat and tears into my car to get her running, but now she runs like a champ. I wouldn't recommend the spyder version, though. They have leaking issues. Good luck!!

Another thing. Make sure you know when the timing belt was changed. It should be changed every 80,000 miles. My brother used to drive the Eclipse I own now. One day he started it up, and started backing out of the driveway, and the engine just stopped working. It never did start again. It sat for 2 years in our garage until I was old enough to drive it. I went through so may headaches replacing parts on the car trying to figure out what was wrong with it. It turns out that the person that sold it to him at 120,000 miles had never had the timing belt changed. It broke at 130,000 miles. When I found that out, I was pissed!!! Fortunately the car was only idling when it broke. If he was driving it, the engine would have been toast. It was hell trying to get it timed right. I was learning as I went. Car runs perfect now, though. Learn from me, though. The timing belt is important. Don't neglect it.

420A (DODGE NEON motors) can run forever with proper maintenance.

The Transmission the same if fluids are changed on a scheduled basis .. and they use ATF+4 fluids.

Car should last a few hundred thousand miles if properly maintained.

It's a good starter car.

My first car was a GS Spyder. I loved it, however I would of kinda wish I had a GST, Although it was a 4g64 and there was the possibility of swapping heads, plugging holes and turboing it, Its a huge process and modding it is almost pointless unless you got cash to throw. IF hes into cars, and I had the knowledge I have now about the dsm turbo vs non turbo, I would of wanted something I could grow with like I have with my 1g tsi. But if hes just cruising it and keeping it clean, I say go for it.

I bought a 96 RS when I graduated high school. It was black and had a 5 speed, and at the time that was all that mattered to me. I loved that car. I would say they are very reliable cars. Then, I somehow convinced my mom to buy me a 20g Hahn Racecraft turbo kit. I had no supporting mods and you can guess what happened a few months later, but it was fun while it lasted.

GSX_beast said:

I bought a 96 RS when I graduated high school. It was black and had a 5 speed, and at the time that was all that mattered to me. I loved that car. I would say they are very reliable cars. Then, I somehow convinced my mom to buy me a 20g Hahn Racecraft turbo kit. I had no supporting mods and you can guess what happened a few months later, but it was fun while it lasted.

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Bet that was fun while it lasted

They sound like rice if you put an exhaust on it but otherwise good cars. Altho if yourt getting a non turbo car there are alot better cars out there. Altho I bet you do like the eclipse/talon body style.

I've had my '99 RS since 2004. Its been the only car I've ever owned and dd it to work every day. Its a 5 speed, which I love. Obviously getting older with the car I'd want more power, but maybe that can be a goal for him work towards and save money so that he is proud of his purchase. Thats what I've been doing. Good ole reliable.

It's all about RELIABILITY. It was my first car, had it for 8 years, and had no major problems with it. It has enough power to drive around traffic, but by no means is it fast. And if you get the right exhaust it has a deep tone. Go with the Apexi N1 or replica catback. Also, depending on the engine health it gets great gas mileage (depending on driver).

Thank you for the feedback thus far. Just to reiterate, this will be my nephews 1st car ever. He just recently got his license and just needs a dependable car in order to get to school and work on a daily basis.

I spoke to the "owner" that's selling the eclipse and it turns out he's not the original owner... but he did buy it from said owner a little less than 2 months ago. I suppose he's having buyers remorse... Again, I don't know too much about 2g NT's other than the fact that they have a Chrysler built engine and trans. This particular eclipse has an auto trans (my nephew has no desire to drive/learn stick) whichever car he ends up getting will more than likely end up not receiving any sort of modifications ie: intake, drop, exhaust it'll just be a stock daily driven vehicle. His mom recently showed me a 1998 sentra here locally with about 150k on the odo that's within their budget as well. The eclipse looks cleaner and more stylish imo. I shouldn't really care about looks but this is going to be his 1st car so the eclipse has a huge advantage in that dept. My nephew just wants a decent car, he can really care less what it looks like so I don't want to influence him too much especially since I'm not too knowledgeable of the 420a powertrain. I honestly know more about that 98 sentra in terms of mechanicals, haha. Anyways, thanks again for the input.

DKJson2112, are the timing belts just as critical in these motors as they are in the 4g63?

DSM1G90, how often should the ATF+4 be changed in these trannys?

General question: how would this 97 eclipse w/ 99k compare to a 98 sentra w/ 150k on the odo in terms of reliable daily operation? Obviously previous owners aside, which vehicle would you feel more comfortable with say your son, daughter, or younger sibling driving on a daily basis? I know sentras are pretty rock solid in the the dept of reliability, my buddy still DD's his 94 w/ 220k on the odo... I believe the sentra basically used the same motor from 91-99 which appears to be pretty rock solid.

Id say mos def especially if u dont want to get tickets haha... just throw a drop on her and full exhaust intake and rims and wow what a beautiful individual and fun...

A good 420a is a great car especially for a new driver. It was my first car which I've had 3 of them with good results. I would do a compression check and headgasket inspection. Those two things are the biggest down falls for the 420a. My first one had 158000 miles on it after running it hard it still held up. The rings were bad I had 90 psi in one cylinder with lots of blow-by and ran for 9 months. Got in a car accident but the motor never died . If your a car guy your gut will lead you in the right direction.

If your nephew can maintain a car, it will last for a long time granted it doesn't have major mechanical problems when you're buying it.


physical therapy emr

Yes sir, turbo's break, cost to much to fix the right way, hail n/a!!!

roboron13 said:

Yes sir, turbo's break, cost to much to fix the right way, hail n/a!!!

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. Turbos DO NOT cost to much to fix "the right way".
ANY car can be reliable. Its all about how it was maintained. I've had nothing but reliability with my 4g63t powered cars.

Anslec said:

If your nephew can maintain a car, it will last for a long time granted it doesn't have major mechanical problems when you're buying it.

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^This. Find out why the buyer is selling it so fast. Buyers remorse is not a valid answer either. Did he buy it cheap and flip it? Are there problems he doesn't want to deal with?

jayson427 said:

A good 420a is a great car especially for a new driver. It was my first car which I've had 3 of them with good results. I would do a compression check and headgasket inspection. Those two things are the biggest down falls for the 420a. My first one had 158000 miles on it after running it hard it still held up. The rings were bad I had 90 psi in one cylinder with lots of blow-by and ran for 9 months. Got in a car accident but the motor never died . If your a car guy your gut will lead you in the right direction.

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Hell yeah!!! Power to the people, a man that knows What he's talkin about, . 25Yrs auto mechanic exp, and this is one of the best and more power producing d.o.h.c. motors around, chysler shocked everyone with this one!!!

roboron13 said:

Hell yeah!!! Power to the people, a man that knows What he's talkin about, . 25Yrs auto mechanic exp, and this is one of the best and more power producing d.o.h.c. motors around, chysler shocked everyone with this one!!!

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Still post whoring??
25 years?! highly doubt it... the 420a shocked people? I doubt that too 140hp is nothing, toyota made that with a 2zzfe 1.8L Dohc for example
Reliability is all in the owner maintenance but the 420a was not that much of a champ.

Phantom DSM said:

Still post whoring??
25 years?! highly doubt it... the 420a shocked people? I doubt that too 140hp is nothing, toyota made that with a 2zzfe 1.8L Dohc for example
Reliability is all in the owner maintenance but the 420a was not that much of a champ.

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Nobody said h.p. shocking for chrysler to finaly make a dependable 4 cylinder motor. 44Yrs and 25 of it all hands on, knuckle busting, real man's work.. we didnt play fairy games and hide behind a screen so we could finaly be able to feel like a man for once in your life and put a real working men down for helping others. I wish mother earth could rid herself of such parasites!!!

roboron13 said:

Nobody said h.p. shocking for chrysler to finaly make a dependable 4 cylinder motor. 44Yrs and 25 of it all hands on, knuckle busting, real man's work.. we didnt play fairy games and hide behind a screen so we could finaly be able to feel like a man for once in your life and put a real working men down for helping others. I wish mother earth could rid herself of such parasites!!!

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We work hard too man, Im inspecting many vehicles all day, doing mechanic work, and work on my car all night if i can. Calling us internet fairy boys is not gonna get you fair treatment. Come on bro, my sarcasm came by so you could be more serious, not to attack you. Relax

Phantom DSM said:

We work hard too man, Im inspecting many vehicles all day, doing mechanic work, and work on my car all night if i can. Calling us internet fairy boys is not gonna get you fair treatment. Come on bro, my sarcasm came by so you could be more serious, not to attack you. Relax

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My man, all i did was answer a few threads real quick with a common solution to the problem and getting talked shit about it. Ive been on here many, many months. Can only get on ocassionly and want to teach my son how to diagnose a vehicle from a simple description, a good place to start, but not in a newbie section.ive been dealing with a bunch of immature punks on here today. Thought it was happening again!!!

roboron13 said:

My man, all i did was answer a few threads real quick with a common solution to the problem and getting talked shit about it. Ive been on here many, many months. Can only get on ocassionly and want to teach my son how to diagnose a vehicle from a simple description, a good place to start, but not in a newbie section.ive been dealing with a bunch of immature punks on here today. Thought it was happening again!!!

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I understand, no harm no foul
Good info on this forum..

Or you could pick up a 94' with a n/t 4g63 and those are probably the most reliable 4 cylinder car ever made and great gas mileage.

roboron13 said:

this is one of the best and more power producing d.o.h.c. motors around, chysler shocked everyone with this one!!!

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Sure did- especially gasket manufacturers and the mechanics who changed the head gaskets which at one point duing that engine's tenure had about a 100% failure rate.

roboron13 said:

44Yrs and 25 of it all hands on, knuckle busting, real man's work.. we didnt play fairy games and hide behind a screen so we could finaly be able to feel like a man for once in your life and put a real working men down for helping others. I wish mother earth could rid herself of such parasites!!!

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Feeling is mutual.


I believe you need to check yourself on the mathematicals. Pic for lulz:

Reliable? Yes.

Just don't ever try to race anyone. And I mean anyone (Car, Bike, Bike with training wheels, baby crawling across the kitchen) because you will lose.