420A 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse Purchase Suggestions/Help?

[AlphaCentauri]

hey everyone! i’m newbie to the dsm community, but have previous experience in the welding and mechanics department. i’m interested in getting this 1996 eclipse with some mods done to it (fast and furious replica) but I don’t know if anything is wrong with the car or inaccurate, and i’m not sure what trim the car is because of the body kit. the guy has it posted for $10k, was previously posted for $20k. he’s located 2 1/2hrs away so I can’t really go conveniently test drive it or look at everything in person. any help for what to look out for and to ask the seller about would be greatly appreciated.

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[TheDude236]

Well, for starters, that is not a GS-T or a GSX. The engine bay looks entirely different than the 4g63 turbo cars.
Obviously, that car is a turbo as well, and unless he mentioned it, its a FWD car as well.

Since that car is also in a snowy environment there is also some concern for rusting on the chassis. In the pictures, it doesn't appear to have rusted on the bad areas like strut towers, but there is some rusting going on on the bolts holding the radiator in. Just something to consider.
Otherwise, the car looks fine cosmetically and the engine bay looks fairly clean. If that mod list is to be believed than that should be a very reliable car as well. Just know that it isn't a AWD or a "stock" car.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Here's my concern. I see a lot of modifications and I also see the stock ecu. The car is turbocharged with 800cc injectors yet still running the stock tune. Probably idles rich and breaks up under boost. If you really wanted the reliability aspect with that car you would need a tuning solution.

If it originally had leather interior & split back seat it is a GS. If not it is an RS. FWD with 420a engine.

 

[AlphaCentauri]

Well, for starters, that is not a GS-T or a GSX. The engine bay looks entirely different than the 4g63 turbo cars.
Obviously, that car is a turbo as well, and unless he mentioned it, its a FWD car as well.

Since that car is also in a snowy environment there is also some concern for rusting on the chassis. In the pictures, it doesn't appear to have rusted on the bad areas like strut towers, but there is some rusting going on on the bolts holding the radiator in. Just something to consider.
Otherwise, the car looks fine cosmetically and the engine bay looks fairly clean. If that mod list is to be believed than that should be a very reliable car as well. Just know that it isn't a AWD or a "stock" car.

Yeah the pictures he has on there it’s hard to tell if there’s any hidden damage. Biggest thing I’m worried about is the trans. The engine was swapped at about 175,000km, but he doesn’t state if the trans was replaced aswell. How much does a new transmission for one of these bad boys even cost? I should say that I’m not paying cash for the car, I offered to trade him my 2013 Dodge Dart Rallye 1.4L Turbo that has 203,000km on it, I’ve installed an aftermarket cold air intake, Alpine double din stereo that has Apple CarPlay, blue interior EL wire dash light kit and Phillips LED headlights. I bought brand new winter tires about 2 months ago, and they’re on aluminum alloy dodge rims also have summers with about 60% tread on other dodge rims, brand new wheel lug studs, brand new e-brake cable I just replaced about 2 weeks ago, brand new left rear caliper because the previous one had seized up on me. I also got new drilled and slotted performance rotors and ceramic brake pads last July. I’ve done regular oil changes about every 8000km as I live in bc where we have tons of hills and our roads aren’t always the best haha. I’ve also had a peace of mind service check done at the dealership every 4 months (it’s only $100 takes about 2-3 hours for them to check everything out, and saves me the time .) The things wrong with my dart are that the cruise control only works intermittently, needs new wiper blades, but most importantly, the shifter has a lot of play in each gear (really wiggly when in gear, and when in neutral, I can make it go around in a small circle motion) it also makes a sound that I don’t think it should be making. This is my best explanation of what it does sound like: *whizz, slight grind*
It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, it’s mainly in 3rd and 4th gear.
Despite that, I have taken very good care of the dart. However, I don’t think she’ll make it much longer. I just have a weird feeling, and I can’t afford a new trans for it because they cost quite the pretty penny for my budget. Also, my year of dart specifically has a horrible reliability score, and once it hit 200,000km that’s when it hit the ‘retirement home coming soon’ kind of milestone and lost alot of its value. I mainly want to know if you guys think I’m getting the better deal here, because I would like to mod this eclipse even further if I do end up getting it. Reliability is what I mainly want, I would like to make it my daily

 

[97egl]

This car is NOT going to be a good daily without a lot of work. I haven't talked to the guy so maybe he knows what he's doing and has done stuff not mentioned in the add, BUT he makes no mention of any tuning or even a SAFC or piggyback system to control 800cc injectors which is about 4 times the size the factory injectors are so I'd have to assume the car runs extremely rich at idle and might run ok in boost. The turbo kit looks like the cheapest one you can find on ebay so not much value added there. The oil feed line is litterally run over the valve cover and I'm not sure where that why they wouldn't feed from the side of the head.

The strut towers aren't rusted out which is rare and a good sign. If the body isn't rusty underneath you may have a decent start for a replica that just needs to have tuning and engine work done. To make the replica more correct you'll need the "MI" sticker for the hood, the sunroof hole has to be filled in and a roof scoop added. At least get 7 spoke rims for it. The rear spoiler is way off IMO. You'll probably never find an APR Performance one and if you do it'll be priced insane but there are spoilers that are closer than that one. If you don't care about having a replica car I'd just look at a different car. That car is going to collect all sorts of debris and salt if you drive it as a daily and it's not going to stay nice.

I'd try to get rid of that dart ASAP tho. My brother works at a dodge dealership and absolutely hates them. Refers to them as the biggest paperweights ever made

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

The car actually might have MegaSquirt already. I see that cooling fan wiring is not original and I see the battery is moved, the harness coming off the stock ecu looks pretty slim as well. Not sure why he wouldn't mention something like that in his advertisement though. You'll just have to ask him about it.

I also see that the A/C and power steering are both deleted. So be prepared to either drive the car like that or purchase the accessories.