How reliable has your DSM been?

[Lumix315]

Id say go for it. My 16 year old brother saved up enough money to buy an FD rx7 all by himself(ten grand) and hes put quite a bit into fixing it up and learned to tune it all by himself. Insurance isnt really that bad if you shop around. Ill have to ask my brother what hes paying since he just got his license yesterday. He took it from stock to 436rwhp in under a year on a 15 year olds budget. If he can do it, you can too.

DAMN! That's impressive!

 

[EriClipse]

10, besides things that were wrong with the 2 ive owned before i bought them, nothing has went on me.

 

[motozachl]

Our dsms arent the greatest daily drivers and not to great on gas neither if you looking into good gas mileage and reliable then you really should get a honda......then build up your money get you GsX project going on the side. Just my opinion

Later
Rob

imo disagree, i drive mine every single day and get 24mpg city 31mpg highway

 

[lacroixdp]

imo disagree, i drive mine every single day and get 24mpg city 31mpg highway

That's amazing! On all my DSM's I think the highest I've ever gotten was 28MPG, and that was a few months ago driving it to IL. I've averaged around 13-15 MPG in the city on all 4 of my DSM's... that's heel-toeing and with my relative lead foot. I'm sure if I drove it like a normal person it would get much better. I don't daily drive DSM's anymore, but back when I did gas was only a buck, so it wasn't quite so painful as it is today.

 

[cardot33]

I rated 1
why? because I've put ~100 miles on my 90 Talon AWD and I've spent 900 on all the crap to getting it in better shape. most of that 900 is for the clutch and related parts I put in, but most of this stuff is ridiculous. example: the talon isn't starting up once I got everything back together from the trans install. fantastic, my starter isn't staying engaged either (weak solenoid?). why wasn't it starting? my fuel pressure regulator wouldn't allow any fuel pressure. so 90 bucks later it's running fine again. don't forget the time i was just cruising along and my timing jumped about 3 teeth. the $300 CAS wasn't the most exiting 300 I've ever spent either. All of this and more happened within 100 miles and the first 2.5 months of owning the car. I bought the car for 1700. I should've just got another camaro. as much as people say the mileage is bad, they don't know what they're talking about. Its about 26mpg and usually stays about 26ish when tastefully modded. my camaro had as many problems as my talon, but over the course of a year. the camaro was a project car and the talon was supposed to be a daily driver.

 

[evood69]

Well I have heard all the stories about "our" cars not being the most relaible. I have only had mine for 2 months and no problems yet and I hope to keep it that way. The way I look at it is no matter how much you mod it as long as you take good care of it and have sometime of logging device you should be fine. Also with the whole MPG discussion the most I get on a tank is right around 250 miles. I was hoping for a little better, but it doesnt seem like I am the only one with these type of results.

 

[popwarbunny111]

not to great. I always have some stupid problem with it. It's always coming back to the same thing as well, I'll fix it one day. and some days it'll be great and want to start up. others it's just like mad or something and wants to not work properly. I just can't seem to have a great grand day with the little car. but it looks nice. Lol.

 

[96rsSTBRWD]

Lately it sux. My hydraulic tensioner went out on the rs on tuesday. I've been driving my mothers POS 4dr cavalier its depressing... But for the most part as a DD its a very reliable car. I've only been driving it since the beginning of June, but I've been around the car since 98 and so far this is the first thing thats broken on the car in 3 years or so. Plus I think the tensioner might be origional from the factory.

 

[brownfinger]

My experienc is with NT, I haven't had my GST long enough to tell. It hasn't been out of the garage since I bought it. In it's defense, I had to make it legal. Add muffler, replace murdered-out lights, etc.... And the timing-belt looked like it was about to fall-off. And half the nuts&bolts from the whole car were just plain missing. I'm un-modifying it, actually. Then I plan on it being a relliable car.
In general, my DSM has been a dream. My now-gone '93 GS had the habit of only breaking-down in my driveway/garage, after a 2000-mile trip. In 15 years, it sent me walking down the highway exactly once.

My shiney new 94GS seems the same way. I just drove it home 2000 miles after flying to Spokane to pick it up. 2000 miles of near-death driving. Killer engine-blowing mountain passes in Idaho and Montana, deer grazing on the interstate in North Dakota in the middle of the night, snow-storms with cars off both sides of the highway in Minnesota, all with an engine that has a low oil-pressure problem and a t-belt that's off by a tooth or two. Then I get home, park it in the driveway, next day I start it to move it 10 feet, and the water-pump o-ring lets loose! Typical DSM. Gets me home, then blows-up. To me, that's a reliable car for under 2 grand.

BTW, 32 mpg on my last tank on the trip home, 420 miles on one fill-up. That's with an engine horribly out of tune There was nothing legal what-so-ever about my plates on the whole trip home, so speed-limits were generally observed, more-so as I got into Wisconson and Illinois.

I always had the local Mitsu dealer handle the car, untill they started telling me to get lost about a year ago. Now I do it all myself, using only genuine parts, be they new or used.

I guess the more you mod your car, the less right you have to expect it to be reliable. Seems common sense to me.

 

[NiKKUH_BOViCE]

in 3 months and 1600 miles my cars been treating pretty well. the only things i had to do were spark plugs, brake pads and an oil change. but my throwout bearing is about to shit and oil pressure starts playing a little low. so i guess too early to say .

 

[RipperXX]

Very reliable until I had a few hickups of late, and the new poly mounts caused a few lose bolts to go missing.

 

[Aceman]

I've put around 7500 miles on my car and I've had it for around 6 months. Motor should have somewhere around 71,000 on it, everything else around 135,000. That means, and I'm sure you guessed it, first motor crankwalked at around 64,000! w007. Junkyard 7bolt put in as replacement! 2nd time's a charm. Anyhow, since I've had it, I had the timing belt, alternator, and a transmission seal replaced at a dealership and a few weeks later I had the car on a lift and noticed that there was a little slit in the outer CV boot...replaced that myself... Other than those, which I consider normal maintenance, I've had no issues. She's not stock and she runs like a champ. I have run 3 oil changes in 7,500 miles though...all royal purple too : /...which reminds me that I did have to put silicone sealant on the oil return line gasket because it would drip occasionally.

My previous car was a 2000 Ford Taurus that I put around 60,000+ miles on in around 3.5 years(around 17,000/yr), and all I ever had to do to that was new tires, air filter, oil changes, and 2 bottles of fuel injector cleaner(got rid of the CEL!) The taurus wasn't stock either; I removed the air intake silencer . I didn't even know that you had to change the oil in a car when I first got that thing. I also drove it around a stalled 05 Civic in water so deep it came OVER THE HOOD at one point and it shrugged that shit off. Lo and behold my parents start driving it when i get the eclipse and all of a sudden it idles like crap, burns oil, and has a leak in the exhaust manifold...

Also, once had a friend who was telling me about how some kind of car i wanted was unreliable...so one day his car is having issues, so we go to change the oil...literally nothing drained out...wtf. Went to replace spark plugs...the wires were so corroded that you could just pull them and they fell apart at the ends...

So in the end I've come to the conclusion that you either get a car that is built Ford tough , get a car and treat it like a queen, or get a car and treat it like a pet fish/Giga Pet and it just dies a some point and you're not sure why. Stupid unreliable pet fish/Giga Pet...

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

That's funny; more people said the same as me than any other, a 7 out of 10 (average).

I based my opinion comparing it to every car I have owned in the past, and also keeping in mind how hard it has been driven. Actually I didn't really consider that last one as much as I should have. If I did, I would rate it an 8.

I mean I have had to put an engine in it at about 134K, but the toyota celica I had, the engine failed at 120K, so that means my DSM is more reliable than a Toyotoa, correct? Seriously I drove the DSM way the F harder than any car I have ever owned.

Bottom line is remove all the known points of failure, and maintain properly using factory spec fluids and parts, and pay attention to what you are doing.

Only buy a 7 bolt if you are willing to replace it with a 6 bolt, this is the one major drwaback to DSM's. Must be willing to do an engine swap to a 6 bolt if the DSM you are buying does not have one. Weak rods....

The AWD DSM platform is a great bang for your buck, and when maintained propoerly (with the help of other helpful DSMTUNERS members, OF COURSE!), is quite reliable.

And the parts are inexpensive for a car that beats a BMW. Frickin Porche drivers even wanna mess with me lately .

 

[dabishop1983]

I'd give reliability a 9. You get out what of it what you put in though. Like previously stated, prevantative maintenance plays a key when you start modifying cars at least a decade old. My car is daily driven, and I havent had any major problems with it other then it being in the shop for a week last year. It was too cold outside for me to work on it . I've had it for going on 3 years now, it was bone stock when I purchased it. Now rating the reliability of the factory paint, that would be a whole different story .

 

[Cancerplague]

Reliable? haha
i work on my car more than i drive it..

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

Reliable? haha
i work on my car more than i drive it..

That's because you're so f'n slow, if you worked faster, and knew WTF you were doing, things would be different! You'd be driving it much more than working on it. J/k

Besides, look how shiny and black your car is! That in itself is MORE than worth it!

 

[turbo90gsx]

Rated 9. I drive my FWD everyday. Go out in the morning and it starts, drives decent, and gets really good fuel millage. 25 city 32 highway.

You have to be willing to keep up on repairs if you want any car to stay reliable. So don't bi*** about a vehicles reliability when the car has been beat to hell and put away dirty its whole life with all maintenance neglected, cheap, or used parts to fix it, and some back yard half ass mechanic throwing parts at it.

 

[beihl304]

i got about 280,000 on the dash and still running like a champ. theres probably around 80 thousand on the rebuild tho.
still has never cause me any major problems yet and i definately give these cars a 10

 

[IgotBoost91]

well any car can be unreliable it all depends on how well the owners maintained it in the past.

 

[david-b]

When my car was NA it was obviously more reliable. It was DD and it took me everywhere. Drove it from Chicago to South Carolina ~800+ miles nonstop (minus pit stops) and put it on a dyno no more than a a couple hours after getting there. Did 3 runs, drove some more, and drove back home a day later with no problems except the corner light popping out. That's pretty reliable to me.

When I had my first turbo setup on this car, was taking it all over again. Still a DD and was reliable for the most part. Drove from Chicago to Minnesota basically nonstop for the weekend with no problems and back. Only issue when there was were one of the DP/turbo bolts backed out, but had spares to fix. Also had a minor overheating problem when sitting there idling for too long in the 85* weather. I only had 1 slimline fan at the time, so was kind of expected.

With my new setup, I'm not expecting any reliability with it. I've blown off oil lines, leaky fuel lines, leaky coolant lines, exhaust leaks... nothing has been right from day 1. Granted, it's only got 100 miles on the motor, so takes time to work out the kinks, but I bought a DD just for this reason.

 

[Boost_Addict_88]

It'll be 16 months since I've owned my 1G on the 16th. In that 16 months, my DSM has been on the road for about 12 months. Besides oil return lines (found out it was rear bracket that snapped, causing vibrations). I installed an alternator in November '08 and went about a full year before my engine went out the door (203,886). I've run him here and there, but haven't had any major issues (till the motor went). I had issues with dropping th '92 motor in because of plugs, but that was as easy as swapping. My cam angle sensor also decided to come apart (wiring) during the swap, but other then that, my 1G has been one of the most reliable cars I've owned. As stated before, all cars, even Hondas, have problems (I've experienced that). It just depends on how well you take care of it.

 

[stev]

for the price you cant beat a better car for what speed, horsepower, and torque these babies throw out. my GST has been on the road about 30% since i have owned it (2 months). all cars break. if you take care of them, they will last. if you mod them, then be prepared to take care of it more often. you will break stuff when moding and you will need to upgrade when you get up to 350+. so yes they are good strong cars, but will give you some problems when reaching high hp. IMO!

Ok i used to be nothing but an old car kinda of guy but now i got my import i love it any car EVEN a muscle car built WILL break if you drive it like u stole it ALL the time you WILL break your U joints in a car. IN this car if u drive it like u stloe it YOU WILL break axles and a TRANNY but if you upgrade them you should have no problems working on mine i have a oil leak trying to find

 

[NightRider97]

I'll be honest. I've owned my 97 for like 4 years now. In that time I've put less than 20k miles on it because I'm always fixing something on it. I'm almost to the point of selling it. I don't beat the snot out of it. I built it to go fast when I needed it but get good fuel economy so I'm conscious of how hard I'm pushing it because of my need to get decent mileage out of the fuel I put in it.
To be honest I'm not sure why it has as many problems as it's had. I guess one being DONT be stupid and put seafoam in the oil. I did that and took out a brand new front main seal. I'm used to working on diesels and old hot rods. These new cars take time for me just because I'm nervous with some of the delicate parts.

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

I'll be honest. I've owned my 97 for like 4 years now. In that time I've put less than 20k miles on it because I'm always fixing something on it. I'm almost to the point of selling it. I don't beat the snot out of it. I built it to go fast when I needed it but get good fuel economy so I'm conscious of how hard I'm pushing it because of my need to get decent mileage out of the fuel I put in it.
To be honest I'm not sure why it has as many problems as it's had. I guess one being DONT be stupid and put seafoam in the oil. I did that and took out a brand new front main seal. I'm used to working on diesels and old hot rods. These new cars take time for me just because I'm nervous with some of the delicate parts.

Yeah? Well I've put seafoam in my oil, marvel mystery oil, for a while my injectors were pouring raw gas into my oil (I changed it pretty quickly when that was happening), and the only leak I have gotten is the oil filter o-ring or seal whatever you call it the orange one on the oil filter housing, and the valve cover leaks because there are some stripped bolt holes from the previous owner.

So I have to wonder; how much seafoam did you put in it? What weight of oil was already in there? How old was the oil? How full was it with the 2 combined? Was it overfull or not?

Just putting a little bit of seafoam in the oil shouldn't really hurt it unless it was maybe super high miles and previous owners never changed the oil, leaving a ton of buildup on the insides that may have been cleaned off; or causing it to be over filled.

Like so many people posting on this board, you leave all the details out.

Practically every one of us has put seafoam in the oil, the gas, and even sucked into the intake to clean our valves and pistons. I know I have all the above.

(I actually prefer MMO because you get twice as much for the same price, and it seems to take less of that to do the same as seafoam. Seafoam seems a bit more mild, though which could be a good thing. MMO is harder on rubber I think.)

 

[NightRider97]

I measured the seafoam exactly as explained on the bottle for the oil capacity of these engines. Wasn't an idiot and just dump the can in there like most people do. I did it with an oil change so it was fresh Mobile One oil and a fresh Mobile One filter. No it was not overfull either. The engine had about 40k on it when I did the seafoam treatment. I just wanted to run a clean cycle through it.