97 gst not reliable?

[someguy1984]

I found a 97 gst with 114k on it, convertible, 5 speed. The car looks great, everything is stock and an older lady owns it. Apparently it was a show car. They were asking 5500, but I got them to 4250.

Now here's my question...I drive a lot. I'm talking 3000 miles a month for work. I need something reliable and I love the gst. Although, I've read terrible stories about crank walk (whatever that is) and the turbo going. Should I stay away from a car like this as an everyday driver and maybe go with a 2000 eclipse 5 speed?

Thanks guys

 

[gusu]

I found a 97 gst with 114k on it, convertible, 5 speed. The car looks great, everything is stock and an older lady owns it. Apparently it was a show car. They were asking 5500, but I got them to 4250.

Now here's my question...I drive a lot. I'm talking 3000 miles a month for work. I need something reliable and I love the gst. Although, I've read terrible stories about crank walk (whatever that is) and the turbo going. Should I stay away from a car like this as an everyday driver and maybe go with a 2000 eclipse 5 speed?

Thanks guys

If you drive 3,000 miles a month NO car is going to be very reliable for very long. But a turbo DSM isn't very easy to maintain for a newb.

If I were you I'd get a GS or something. But I personally went from not knowing how to change oil when I got my Talon to being able to being able to fix most problems that go wrong with my car. The longest down time I've had with my car so far is 5 days to have the transmission rebuilt. Honestly, repairs/mods are all pretty easy if you are just willing to READ.

I'm on this forum for at least 4-5 hours EVERY day.

 

[Black'95]

^^What he said. I drove my Talon TSi for about 4 months, and last year I put almost 50k on my truck, if that gives you an idea. The engine now has almost 200k on it, except the crank and bearings, which I had to replace because the car sat in a yard with the engine partly disassembled. When we got it running, there must have been some dirt that killed one of the bearings... But it still did 13.1 on a 14b after all those miles, so don't let people tell you they're unreliable!

 

[GsXdSmKingGsX]

I would say no man.

 

[TSI from Hell]

Crankwalk and the "turbo going" is over rated by people who has other, slower cars and are jealous of DSM's so they need to make up B/S about our cars to make theirs look better. Reality is, it's a turbocharged sports car, so it needs maintenance, that's obvious; it needs more maintenance then a N/A Honda Civic made to go get your grocery and be cheap on gas. Any cars where you need to burn more fuel and breath more air will put more stress on the engine... But if you're willing to learn, and willing to take the extra time to warm up the car before pushing it and checking/changing your oil when need be, and make sure all your belts etc are not deteriorated than you shouldn't have any problems.

I actually don't understand the "unreliability" mentality... It's a damn car, a chunk +2,500lbs metal with ~comfortable seats driving you around, often for hours at a time, going +60mph etc... And all it needs, is for you to make sure nothing is deteriorating, and that it's internal are well lubricated, so why all the fuzz . Just my opinion.

 

[gusu]

Pretty much what everyone said is the truth.

You really need to decide if you can/will give the car the attention it deserves. Plus remember, the harder you drive it the faster it will die.

 

[avenged5]

The Importance of Vehicle Maintenance « Auto Mechanic | Auto Mechanic Repair and Maintenance Tips

Kindof a ghey website but applicable.

Plus if you sense a problem, don't do this.

I had a girlfriend with an RX7 and whenever it had a problem, her solution was turn the radio up.

 

[TSI from Hell]

Haha, that cartoon was pretty clever.

 

[avenged5]

Yeah I found it a while ago. So I didn't make it, just to be clear.

 

[someguy1984]

I guess I'm going to maybe stick with a lower model. I found an rs 94,000 5 speed for 3700. Maroon, not bad looking.

I'm still trying to figure out the top 5 most reliable cars after 100k. I'm thinking civic is number one

 

[empie1]

Any used car is as reliable as you make it. Simple as that.

 

[TSI from Hell]

I guess I'm going to maybe stick with a lower model. I found an rs 94,000 5 speed for 3700. Maroon, not bad looking.

I'm still trying to figure out the top 5 most reliable cars after 100k. I'm thinking civic is number one

Usually, very low HP/Torque = reliability... Of course there's exeptions.

From my experience, Civics are reliable beside the 7th Generations (2001-05), as I had a rod go through the block twice on mine . My girlfriends "95 Civic coupe has been pretty reliable though.

Mazda Protege (mine was an "03) was extremely reliable, but is prone to rust... Although the car handles great for a FWD in my opinion.

Beside that Sunfires and Cavaliers with the Ecotech engines are quite reliable from what I've seen, I hate those car with a passion but they are reliable.

And an N/A DSM would be decently reliable... Of course, it goes without saying that any second hand car, regardless of it's power output, will need to have basic maintenance done, and also the way the past owners treated the car will also play a huge role in the reliability of the car.

 

[JusMX141]

Engines blow up and turbos shit the bed everyday. Doesn't matter what car, doesn't matter what manufacturer.

The engine in my mother's Lexus ES300 blew randomly at 88,000 miles, and that's a luxury car built by Toyota who is widely known for reliability. This was a car that never had more than 3000 miles on an oil change, and always had Castrol GTX 10W30.

Buy it, drive it- if it sucks, sell it. If the car was maintained properly it should give you long service- there is no reason to believe hearsay and create a thread regarding two topics that have been discussed at least ten thousand times on this site.