Help buying 1999 eclipse?

[Ethan Cusumano]

Hey guys, so I made an account to get some help for a buddy of mine. I'm going to be going to look at a 1999 Eclipse tomorrow with him so I can test drive it and look it over (He can't drive stick yet so he needs me). I own a Cobalt SS so I have no idea about these cars. Besides the usual with all cars: fluids, brakes, tires, leaks, clutch etc. is there anything specific that needs to be looked over on these cars? The guys says he has all receipts for everything replaced and just did all the belts and rotors.

Thanks for any help

 

[farmer890]

Front strut towers, they rust out sometimes. Check for rust around the lip of the sunroof and lip of the rear hatch. Also open the hatch and look in the jams, water can pool up in there. Take a close hard look at every single body line, a lot of these cars have been in an accident of some sort.

I just sold a 98 GSX that had body work done to it I didn't even know about. Bring a magnet and a cloth, go over the body.

Which model Eclipse are you going to look at? GS, RS, GS-T or GSX?
Different things to look for with each one.

 

[Ethan Cusumano]

Front strut towers, they rust out sometimes. Check for rust around the lip of the sunroof and lip of the rear hatch. Also open the hatch and look in the jams, water can pool up in there. Take a close hard look at every single body line, a lot of these cars have been in an accident of some sort.

I just sold a 98 GSX that had body work done to it I didn't even know about. Bring a magnet and a cloth, go over the body.

Which model Eclipse are you going to look at? GS, RS, GS-T or GSX?
Different things to look for with each one.

It's either the GS or RS I'm not sure. It's the 4 cylinder N/A motor. Like I said I don't know anything about these cars, I've just been researching the past 20 minutes so my friend doesn't buy a POS. It has 133k miles. I'll link the CL ad for you.

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/5119428320.html

Edit: Also why a magnet? Never heard of that before for any car. Just curious.

 

[farmer890]

When looking at a used car, you wrap the magnet with the cloth, then "wipe" it over the entire car (metal panels). If the magnet sticks, great there's metal. If it doesn't stick in a certain spot, well you've just found a previous repair spot you might not have otherwise known about.

That car looks to be in good shape, however there aren't any engine shots and lacks interior shots. Worth checking out for sure though.

Bring a code reader if you have one, at that mileage it's bound to have a code or two. Receipts are a must if he says he has them. Watch the exhaust at idle, then watch it in the driver review mirror when test driving. Look for white/blue smoke.

 

[StevetotheH]

I agree with the code reader, but your looking for incomplete monitors not current codes. Codes will trigger the CEL, if they clear them before you show up, then you will know by the number of incomplete monitors. The Evap is the last one to be ready usually.

The code reader will read 6 inc, or 5 incomplete ...something along those lines. If this is present then they are hiding something. Call them on it, and if it is worth it low ball em.

 

[Tony818]

Don't worry about cosmetics that much.those are easy fixes. Get in the car
And drive it. Make sure it doesn't over heat, it keeps a steady idle, ac works, all lights work, transmission shifts smoothly, the engine isn't knocking, what matters the most is that it runs great abd safe. For any exterior/appearance stuff I wouldn't worry about it. There are plenty of donor cars and junkyard out there to find what you need

 

[lasershark]

This should be the standard reply for the next two plus threads a week that keep coming up.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=buying a dsm site://dsmtuners.com#

 

[ZACH 99 GST]

Just be very thorough when you look at it. Good luck