How many DSM´s are left

[mephizto]

Hello everybody!

I just joined this community, been a DSM owner for years now. Was wondering how many DSM´s there are left out there, especially FIRST GEN.
Here in sweden i found only one that was for sale on the internet right now.
Tried to search on some american sites, but I couldn´t find very much.
How hard are they to find in 2021? I love these cars and I hate to see them disappear.
I´ve owned three Mitsubishi Eclipse´s since 2009, wish I could buy a Turbo DSM, but I´ve never found
one for sale on this side of the atlantic.

Thanks for all the help I´ve received through this forum over the years!

/Tobias

 

[Dhan]

Not very many.

Don't know much about the EU, but here in the part of the US I live in, the 1st gen has become rare. I see more 60s Mustangs and Chevys than 1g DSMs now. Looking back over the last few years, I think I've seen a 1g DSM once or twice per year. I see 2g DSMs a little more often.
A hugely different landscape compared to just 10 years ago. A decade ago, both 1g and 2g DSMs were plentiful. I could go on the local Craigslist and find a new DSM posting almost daily back then. The prices were rarely above $4,000. Nowadays, Craigslist is pretty quiet and I think sites like FB Marketplace are more popular for used cars. I don't have an FB account but I'll browse used cars on my girlfriend's account once and a while. A 1g or 2g DSM isn't very common though. The few I see have very high asking prices. I lick myself for not keeping a spare 1g DSM for parts, because now parts are getting harder to find.

I imagine by now, most of the US DSM cars are long since crashed/totaled and so are the EU ones. The few I've seen on the streets are on their last legs. The ones I see at the dragstrip are purpose-built and brought to the dragstrip on a trailer.

 

[Nagisa_98]

Yeah not too many anymore. I know 2 others besides me in my area. One is pristine with 20k miles and the other is rotted to hell

 

[XC92]

I rarely see 1G's here in NYC, like maybe a handful of times a year. But I'm not looking that hard and don't drive that much these days. I have one myself, '92 Talon TSi AWD manual, and am in the latter stages of restoring it. Most definitely not for sale any time soon. I see 2G's & 3G's more often. My next door neighbor has an '07 but it's a whole other beast, FWD, non-turbo, automatic. Its owner isn't as old as my Talon.

How hard is it to maintain and fix DSMs in Europe? Can you get parts locally or do you have to have everything shipped? Even basic stuff like spark plugs, filters, pads & rotors. What about service, can the mechs handle it or do you do it yourself or take it to specialists? And how about insurance and registration, any special considerations given how old and rare they are?

There's actually a very outside chance that I might someday ship mine overseas as I might move there, and I'm curious as to how viable that would be. I do all my own work these days but parts must be really expensive to obtain.

How much are ones in decent shape going for over there? If I do move abroad someday, I wonder how much I could get for it if it's in decent shape if I ever decide to sell it.

 

[mephizto]

It is hard to find parts. Sparkplugs, pads and filters are still available. My local auto store wants $250 for a brake caliper, so I usally order from Rockauto, much cheaper even with shipping and tax.

Here in sweden you only need insurance, if the car is 30 years or older, you dont have to pay tax (usally about $200 a year).

The only one for sale right now is a 92 Eclipse GS, 2 WD for about $6000. It is low mileage in good condition. AWD is rare over here, and they are all Eclipse´s, never seen a Talon for sale.

 

[JeffGS-T97]

They were everywhere here in IN about 10 years ago. I had to take a trip to get mine in 2018. There was a mildly maintained red 98 GS for sale a couple months ago and the guy got 3500$ out of it and sold it in under a week so people still love the DSM's around here but the reduction of DSM's on the road i think is blamed by poor maintenance and incapable people abandoning projects due to them not realizing how much work it takes to keep one running. You almost need to be a really good home mechanic or have some seriously deep pockets to own one and use it. I am sure everyone here is aware of this due to us all having one thing in common and that is the DSM's are very special do the necessary stuff to get our cars working properly.

 

[XC92]

Interesting. Is shipping from the US or Japan reasonable?

Also, speaking of how Eclipses dominate, it's funny how so few people discuss Lasers. I wonder if they were always this rare. When I bought my Talon new in '92, I never even considered one. Didn't care much for the look or packages they offered so it was either Eclipse or Talon, and I went for the latter because there was a $1500 rebate and I liked the look a bit more, especially the spoiler and overall rear. Cost me just over $20k. Looks like if I keep it long enough and fully restore it back to new and keep it mostly stock, I might someday fully recover the cost! (Of course this doesn't take into account years of maintenance and repairs, inflation, etc.)

 

[JeffGS-T97]

A girl i dated in highschool her dad owned a white turbo laser and i tried everything to get it off him. I think lasers are definitely really rare since i haven't seen one around here since about 2004.

 

[XC92]

They were everywhere here in IN about 10 years ago. I had to take a trip to get mine in 2018. There was a mildly maintained red 98 GS for sale a couple months ago and the guy got 3500$ out of it and sold it in under a week so people still love the DSM's around here but the reduction of DSM's on the road i think is blamed by poor maintenance and incapable people abandoning projects due to them not realizing how much work it takes to keep one running. You almost need to be a really good home mechanic or have some seriously deep pockets to own one and use it. I am sure everyone here is aware of this due to us all having one thing in common and that is the DSM's are very special do the necessary stuff to get our cars working properly.

Sounds about right. All told I will have spent close to $4000 to restore my Talon more or less back to and in some ways better than original condition, not including tools I needed to buy to get it done. But only some of this was actual repairs, and most was standard maintenance replacement stuff like struts, tires, pads and rotors, plugs, filters, etc. And we're talking years of deferred maintenance squeezed into a single year. So that's really not that much.

The hard and what would have been costly part had I had shops do the work was labor, nearly all mine (except replacing tires and at some point alignment and maybe paint). I'm talking major stuff like rebuilding the calipers, strut assemblies, clutch replacement, trans rebuild, etc. Had I had shops do all this, we're talking $5-$8k at least. But until I started the restoration just over a year ago, I'd had shops do nearly everything, and money being tight I put off a lot until it finally broke down and wouldn't move. Thankfully, nothing was really broken, just worn out.

So yeah, money and time pit, but well worth it if you're inclined and able and care enough. The base cars, for all their well-known issues, are very solidly designed and built.

 

[JeffGS-T97]

I really like all the trims, my first one was a 420a in 06 and i would buy it back if i knew where it was. A quick guess I'd say the amount of remaining functional DSM cars is under the 50% marker or lower. Nice job getting yours going. I completely agree they are worth the hasdle.

 

[Red Rider]

No idea how many are left, but I'm in the middle of getting my 1990 GST back on the road.

There's a large cruise night near me, "Largest in New England" and they get hundreds, sometimes near a thousand cars. I go occasionally, and I have seen a Studebaker Avanti, Maclaren, 1925 Rolls, Stutz, 260Z, and tons of Mustangs, Corvettes, and 50's era. Sometimes a few brass era. Some are heavily modified, or custom built. A few are raced.

I don't think I've ever seen an Eclipse there, but I have seen a few modded Japanese cars.

 

[Mech Addict]

There was a nice looking red 1ga on ebay recently, talon Tsi I think. It failed to meet reserve at $13k. There was a 90 talon Tsi several months ago on Bring A Trailer that went around $16k, although it had like 60k mi. So that sort of defines the price ceiling, more or less, I guess. I see about 1 or 2 misfit/abused/poorly modded 1g at a time on a free car add site in Salt Lake area. They are often listed around $3~4k. I like the 2g, but don’t have one, so don’t really pay attention to those listings.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

I have a couple......and a couple parts cars too.

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[TheBrownMike]

Same story here in California. Used to be a dime a dozen, now they are few and far between. Especially good clean candidates. I looked for several months and ended up driving to Denver to get mine

 

[Widgmaster]

First and second gen DSM`s are very rare on my side of the boarder.. I saw a 2G for sale for $12.900.. in excellent condition . Must have got his asking price cause it`s gone. I drive a 3gen and get a lot of attention from the younger guys. There are Mustangs , Camaro`s , Chargers and they still come and make a fuss over my Spyder .
I went to my local auto wrecker to get a set of side skirts and they had crushed the car the day before... I plan to travel in my area and see whats left in the yards...

 

[Dericsh]

I saw one 1g for sale in my city in the last several years. I had never seen it on the road, nor any others (including mine).

I have seen one or two 2gs more recently. There’s a rusty looking talon with mix matched wheels that I don’t see move very often on my way home from work.

 

[streetraceboi]

Ive got 2 1ga AWDs, I sold my buddy my old 1ga AWD. It sits in storage across mine. Ive got a 2GA GST, 2GB GSX, 2GB GST, and my gf has a 2GB GST Spyder. Im trying to save as many as I could...and if anything...im real picky on who I sell a DSM to. I don't want it in the wrong hands....hopping 10 owners in a year. Im in San Antonio, theyre out there...but far and few. But we still hang in there. As the years go by...the thumbs up and "badass car" comment gets more common

 

[KCDsmDude]

@1990TSIAWDTALON is hoarding them all.

 

[JeffGS-T97]

Ive got 2 1ga AWDs, I sold my buddy my old 1ga AWD. It sits in storage across mine. Ive got a 2GA GST, 2GB GSX, 2GB GST, and my gf has a 2GB GST Spyder. Im trying to save as many as I could...and if anything...im real picky on who I sell a DSM to. I don't want it in the wrong hands....hopping 10 owners in a year. Im in San Antonio, theyre out there...but far and few. But we still hang in there. As the years go by...the thumbs up and "badass car" comment gets more common

Lol its like wild life protection but with cars. I hope thats where most of them went being hoarded by dsm fanatics.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Its crazy guys, most of these cars came TO ME. The owners didn't know who to get rid of them to. I have a 90 Laser also that was DELIVERED for $400.
Like I'm a dam DSM magnet......I was the SBC guy......

 

[JeffGS-T97]

Wish i was a DSM magnet

 

[jed344]

I have owned so many over the years.. Still have my first one 13 years later. I wish i never sold my 1990 laser RS turbo looking back. In my local group we have 10+ 2gs and a few 1g's between the 4 of us . Cars for sale are hard to find and with the way prices are going we are not selling any.

 

[RLSchwabe]

I hardly ever see them on the road. Three of my friends have one - a 2G Spyder w/ a GSX drivetrain swap, VR-4 Galant, and a 99' 2G GSX. One of them HAD a 1G up until recently, pretty sure he sold it. I'm the only one with a 1G now ((

 

[19Eclipse90]

Like others, I rarely see them on the road. 2Gs more than 1Gs. I generally only see one other 1G and it has been owned by the same high school teacher in the area for at least the last 18 years, 1.8L Laser. Got passed by a 2G on the highway recently and the guy was ecstatic to see me rolling in a 1G. He then proceeded to take off and I watched his front suspension lunge forward before pulling the rest of the car along with it...

I know where (3) 2G turbo models are at, mostly just sitting (and not in junkyards). My dad still has a 1990 GST and a 1996 GST in storage. After recent fuel tank troubles, I'm back to driving my 1990 daily. There's obviously a group of OKC guys that have one or two hanging around as well. But aside from maybe @pauleyman , I don't think many get driven regularly.

 

[pauleyman]

You can count me out for awhile. I've been on jackstands 3 years now. Soon...soon. I've spent more money on it in the last 3 years than since I've owned it. Lol.