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Reliable DSM?

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19gsx91

10+ Year Contributor
1,199
294
Apr 20, 2011
Walworth, New_York
No no kids, not IS a DSM reliable. All of mine have very much been so. But who else has one that they drive regularly or have little to no issue with.

I bought mine 3 or 4 years ago bone stock with just under 60k on it and have since put almost 45k on it only driving it in the summer and modding it the whole time. I have NEVER had to tow/flatbed my car. It has never left me stranded to the point where a few simple tools couldn't do the trick

Who else has had a good experience? I know guys that have had their cars several years and have barely done more then drive them up and down the block.
 
144k miles to 155k miles. Only oil Changes. Every repair that had to be done on my dsm was from personal error while customizing. Never afraid it will leave me in the winter or nights. We had -40C snow storms and that thing pulled like a tank on the highway. Most impressed with this 20 year old platform.
 
I've had four 1g DSMs over 8 years and all have been as reliable as any other 90s car.

Nearly everything that's ever gone wrong has been expected and typical of an older car. Worn belts, broken plastic handles, clutches, brake pads, etc.

Biggest unforeseen things I dealt with are a leaky heater core and a shredded roller bearing inside the transmission. Both of which happened on my 2nd Talon around 165k miles.
The heater core rusted and coolant was seeping out inside the cabin. I've never dealt with this issue in any other car so maybe it was just a fluke.
The roller bearing coming apart and ruining the transmission could have been a lack of oil or maybe the previous owners were really rough on the thing. I hadn't had the car long so I didn't have much to go off of.
 
I spent almost 4 years in Alabama driving mine daily and only popping the hood for maintenance. I would see triple digit ambient temps all the time and never once over-heated it. Now I live in NY and see single digit ambient temps with no issues. I don't daily drive it here though. It stays in the garage all through salt season. This is causing me serious boost withdrawals right now...

I also had a bone stock 90 FWD turbo Laser with 180k. I sold it 4 and half years ago to a guy in Alabama and it is still on the road down there.
 
Nice! Well at least I'm not alone, and yeah Rabenne, it's nice to see some fellow NYers, I park mine in November and normally I'd start rolling it out and getting it ready now but the weather keeps changing.
 
Mine has been reliable. Then again all the maintenance was done correctly and on time. I've only had small issues, like the cup holder cover breaking, hot/cold hvac cable broke, plastic piece on the dipstick broke off, the rear plastic pin that pulls up the cargo cover fell out etc.
 
*shrug* I think it's down to who owned it before you, and how competent you are as a mechanic owning the DSM. I should around 400whp right now at 30psi and I drive my car every day. and the biggest complaint I have is that sometimes my exhaust nuts back off and I blow gaskets out. beyond that? It's great.
 
Me, mine has never left me stranded. Never had to call a wrecker or anything of the sort. Annoyingly it is down right now for an alternator, but big deal, it's a 90 model car and has a hot ass turbo sitting next to it... big surprise every half decade or so it may need to be replaced. *shrug*
 
That's not bad. better then the guys that have a PS leak and won't fix it then start crying when they're alternator craps out, it's like they don't understand that PS fluid dripping onto the alternator is not doing it any favors.
 
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