up cost it depends 420a sure great car do maintenance like any other car, cheap on insurance being a non turbo car.

For your age, that car is perfect to start with.

Thats not expensive and still good looking car.

Get it and do maintnace and you will have car for ever, they are very reliable and will look for you on the road.

that would be a good car for a first car insurance sucks when your young when i was 16 i paid 187 a month for liability for my 84 s/e firebird so the non turbo would be good

That should make for a good first car. Depending on the condition of the car the up keep should be minimal. Once you go through the car and fix any problems and do all the maintenance you should not have to do much else besides change the oil when needed. You will be happy with the gas mileage, I usually average about 28/29mph when just driving normal and get about 32/33mph when focusing on getting the best mph possible.

Good reliable car, just please for the love of god don't rice out a 420a. It will only cause butthurt in the end.

420A Super easy to work on, easy to maintain, i agree with everyone else, good choice

I had one as my first car. They are fun for a little bit don't dump money into it doing "performance" upgrades it will in the end hurt the car or hurt your wallet and the car won't be any faster. Great beginner car.

98eclipse3493 said:

Good reliable car, just please for the love of god don't rice out a 420a. It will only cause butthurt in the end.

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agreed, i've seen way too many people trying to sell their riced out 420A's for massive amounts when I was in the market to buy

Good start to learn the DSM platform, if you get adventurous you can do the timing belt/water pump service along with other maintenance items.

I bought a 420a powered 2g when I turned 16.

Three quick bits of advice:

1) Do not put any money into performance, focus on keeping the car well-maintained and looking nice. The performance:money ratio just isn't good.

2) Be prepared for a head gasket change if the car hasn't already had one. They like to go out around 100,000 miles. Chrysler supposedly fixed it in '97 but my '99 had it happen at 167k in the exact spot on the head as the flawed engines so....

3) It's a dual overhead cam interference engine with a hydraulic tensioner so it's a bit more of a pain than the typical car but it shouldn't sway your decision on whether or not to buy the car.


I really love a 2g DSM with a 420a. It's an amazing car to look at, reliable, cheap when it breaks relative to many other cars, impressive mileage, fun to work on, etc. etc.

Have fun!

A 95 420a was my first car and my first love haha. Alot of fun great looking and cheap to drive. great as a dd

The 420a is a great, reliable engine. Just change the oil and dont treat it like a fast car!!! Its not meant to be thrashed. Its a 130hp car that LOOKS fast. I ran a 98 420a over 225k with almost zero issues. Lots of highway driving. Unbelievable car. Rivals my 99 expedition for reliability.

Im on my 2nd 420a eclipse awesome cars. Just keep it will maintained and address problems as they arise and should be okay.

I agree with the others on this. Great first car, I had a 2002 neon for my first car that had the SOHC 420a in it and that thing was great. I never had one issue with it at all, I traded it for my first 4g63t 2g and then I found out why DSMs can be a headache but so addicting. None the less the 420a is a great MPG engine and you still get the looks from the 2g body. Lately ive been thinking of getting a N/T 2g that is close buy and looks really good. But my wife would kill me so yeah.

I really hate to say this to the dsm crowd BUT if it were me and I had the choice ... I'd pick up a comparably priced old (92-00) civic over any 420A. I've owned 18 Honda's and that is what I recommend to everyone who wants a cheap reliable car. There is a reason there are so many on the road ... they are cheap to maintain, easy to fix and easy to find parts for, cheap insurance, get GREAT fuel mileage etc.

When I was in college and poor, I threw a vitara/eagle d16 together with a worn out 57 trim, tuned on crome ... it went 118mph. For those not familiar, that's a BS set-up but, it's effective and will last if done right.

That's just my opinion though.

I had a 420s for my first car. Put a lot of time into that thing and loved it but I wanted awd and turbo.

Matticus said:

I really hate to say this to the dsm crowd BUT if it were me and I had the choice ... I'd pick up a comparably priced old (92-00) civic over any 420A. I've owned 18 Honda's and that is what I recommend to everyone who wants a cheap reliable car. There is a reason there are so many on the road ... they are cheap to maintain, easy to fix and easy to find parts for, cheap insurance, get GREAT fuel mileage etc.

When I was in college and poor, I threw a vitara/eagle d16 together with a worn out 57 trim, tuned on crome ... it went 118mph. For those not familiar, that's a BS set-up but, it's effective and will last if done right.

That's just my opinion though.

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Lol, no ones gonna hate: You speak the truth bro. Hondas in the 90s and even 80s were bullet proof vehicles. They earned a name for a reason. Nowadays pretty much everything from a Kia to a Bentley are all extremely reliable. Engines and QC are so much tighter now. But i totally agree, if it were my money and i was looking for absolute reliability and it had to be a mid 90s car, the Honda wins hands down. Plus they are actually kind of quick little cars. Dont look nearly as good though. Never will either!

My first car was a 99 eclipse gst and never really have a problem with it 420A is a great car

That's a good choice for a first car. The 420a is a cheap reliable engine and easy to maintain, insurance is relatively cheap. Still has enough "get up and go" for new driver. I liked my GS Eclipse. Do not put any money into performance parts as it is not worth the cost. Do whatever maintenance it needs and keep up on it and you will have a good reliable car for as long as you need it.

boost97gst said:

Lol, no ones gonna hate: You speak the truth bro. Hondas in the 90s and even 80s were bullet proof vehicles. They earned a name for a reason. Nowadays pretty much everything from a Kia to a Bentley are all extremely reliable. Engines and QC are so much tighter now. But i totally agree, if it were my money and i was looking for absolute reliability and it had to be a mid 90s car, the Honda wins hands down. Plus they are actually kind of quick little cars. Dont look nearly as good though. Never will either!

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I totally agree here as well. My first car was a 92 Civic hatch with a D15. It was stupid reliable and took all the abuse I could throw at her. I wish I still had it for my daily commute to work. but don't tell anybody here I said that.

No, it's a slow, unreliable, Chrysler, shitheap with a Mitsubishi badge on it.

98dsm31710 said:

That's a good choice for a first car. The 420a is a cheap reliable engine and easy to maintain, insurance is relatively cheap. Still has enough "get up and go" for new driver. I liked my GS Eclipse. Do not put any money into performance parts as it is not worth the cost. Do whatever maintenance it needs and keep up on it and you will have a good reliable car for as long as you need it.



I totally agree here as well. My first car was a 92 Civic hatch with a D15. It was stupid reliable and took all the abuse I could throw at her. I wish I still had it for my daily commute to work. but don't tell anybody here I said that.

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About 2 years before I graduated college, I ran across a teal green 92 civic hatch that I bought from a 77y/o man (2nd owner car). It was in good shape for a car that had over 200k miles. I put nearly 20k miles on it in less than a year. Then pulled the swap out to put a thrown together turbo motor in. Made reasonable power and still maintained great fuel mileage. I ended up pulling the turbo swap out, sticking the stock swap in and selling the car for what I paid for it. I say that, I sold it for what I had in it, which wasn't much more than I paid for it. I fixed some sloppy bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends etc.

Single cam + 14b/13b/16g hell, even a t25 is cheap fun. Lots of guys use stock dsm injectors, fuel pump and turbo ... volvo i/c, crome ... there's actually a stock honda manifold off a crx that you can get a flange for that a mitsu. turbo bolts to. 220whp hatch is good for 12's if you have slicks and a heart!!!!!

Just my .02 ...

The only "toy" car I still have is a dsm. I started playing with more cylinders as soon as I could afford it.

Getting into the 420a is deffinitely a great choice for what your looking for. as far as DSM's go, your going to get great gas mileage. keep up with the basic maintenance. dont go putting on an exhaust, tints, or anything that would draw unneccesary attention. if its a car to get around, keep it that way. attention from cops can also stop that right away besides a car malfunction. Just a bit of advice.

You bring up mpg. I repeatedly got 35mpg hwy travel. up to 38 a couple times

While I've admittedly never had a 420a, I can attest to the rest of the 2G that its an easy enough car to work on. And inexpensive enough to operate for a new driver.