How reliable has your DSM been?

[BUCK]

Just keep enough cash for a Tow Truck in your pocket AT ALL TIMES!

At my MITSU Dealership the Dealer Key Rings are SPONSORED on the back by a TOWING COMPANY - BRILLIANT TARGET MARKETING!!!!!!!!

 

[Dieselboy]

Dependability all depends on maintainance and owner care. Take care of it, and it will take care of you.

 

[Defiant]

My '94 with _very_ casual maintenance is going just swell at over 130K- water pump and belts at 105K.

My '95 with lots of fussing over -but no mechanical work since replacing the clutch when I got it- is going great at 80K.

In stock trim, they're very quick cars with good dependability.

 

[Warhead2k3]

Yes in stock trim. But as soon as you get the desire for more speed and power, modding your car will cause more things to go wrong and less dependability.

 

[Dieselboy]

As with any car

 

[eclipse13]

Originally posted by Warhead2k3
Yes in stock trim. But as soon as you get the desire for more speed and power, modding your car will cause more things to go wrong and less dependability.

 

[CowPimp]

Within the 14K miles that I have owned (90K-104K) my Talon, here is what I have had to do:

Front Ball Joint & ECU Recalls (Free)

Clutch - This is my fault. I launched frequently on the stocker. ($700 for ACT2100 and new stock flywheel installed)

Turbo - Replacement of the stock turbo with another stock turbo should only cost you about $100 + 2-3 hours labor. ($800 for FP Big28 + Installation)

Valve Cover Gasket - This is something that many cars need at some point in their lives. I didn't even really need it that bad; I did it as preventative maintenance of sorts. ($100 Parts + Labor)

I beat the SHIT out of my car the first few months I had it. Basically, the result of that is my dead turbo and clutch. If you can exercise more self control than I did, the car should be pretty reliable.

 

[blk91tsiawd]

i got my 91 tsi around july 03, when i got it the clutch was slipping, the person i bought it from told me that he put a new clutch in and spilled power steering fluid on it and thats why.he told me just drive it around for a little bit to burn it off. about 2,000 miles later the trans blows. come to find out the seal ont the t case was leaking caused the clutch to slip, rounded the gears in the t case and blowing out my diff in the tranny. put a new trans and transfer case in and not even a hundred miles later blew a hole in piston #1 so thats where i stand now. had the car for about 5 months now and not even driven it enough to change the oil, my motor should be done in a couple of weeks and hopefully it lasts. as much of a money pit and headach it is i still love it..

 

[TurBoGs-T]

Just as unreliable as any other dsm. But like everyone says if you keep up on your maint. You should be fine.

 

[TheTSiGuy]

Originally posted by Warhead2k3
Yes in stock trim. But as soon as you get the desire for more speed and power, modding your car will cause more things to go wrong and less dependability.

For sure. I found out the hard way....sure a car can run 12's, but is it worth it to sacrifice more dependability? I think not

 

[Therrien]

Well I have heard mixed reviews for DSM's. Of course every car has the usual problems.
But..

I have $3,500 for a talon 95-96 manual sti awd.
I also will have about $2,000 for fixes from my dad. Is this enough money? I'm looking for a reliable everyday driver to get me to my High School and back. Also a fun weekend cruiser. I don't want there to be huge problems everytime I turn around.

 

[DSMeclipse4G63]

if the car was maitained then yes it will be reliable, all the people who say "dont drive it on trips" or always broken is because they dont maintain their dsm. Or their dsm wasnt maintained before they had it, it also doesnt help to drive the hell out of the car on top of poor maintenance...or a history of bad maintenace. The way you treat your car and maintain it is the foundation of how it will perform at the track as well as get you where you are going without leaving you stranded. Good luck in your choice...hiope you will choose succesful as I didnt with mine::knockls on wood::
Andrew

 

[ntjoe]

^^^^ Absolutely correct. DSM's are like any other car...take care of them and they will take care of you. Don't take it out racing every weekend and expect never to break anything. If you run it hard all the time it will break parts. Like DSMeclipse4G63 said above...look for records and if you can find an unmodded car then you are probably in good shape.

Good Luck!

 

[kpt4321]

People complain becuase these cars are easy to make decent power with, and then they go out and beat the piss out of them and don't take care of them.

Take care of it, and you're fine.

I guarantee you that if those "reliable" cars made 100-200 horsepower more than stock, they'd break tons of stuff.

 

[Therrien]

What would you guys say is the most reliable a 1G or 2G talon??
and yes this will be getting mods done to it.

 

[A016]

Not right on topic, but seems fair enough. My cousin told me that the lasers and talons are not as good as the eclipses. He says something about them having tranny problems or something? I thought they ran the same thing buy maybe I'm wrong? My cousin is a mechanic of a sort, but he's a major muscle car type guy, not the biggest fan of imports. Thoughts?

 

[talonted_one]

Honestly I think these cars are P.O.Ss. You can ask anyone who knows me and how I drive my car. I don't beat on it at all yet the thing ALWAYS breaks. On average I drive the car 6 months total out of the year. Maybe I got the 1 or 2 lemons that DSM made. Who knows.

 

[AWD Eagle]

Umm, no. Talons and Lasers and Eclipses are all the same trannies, etc.

DSM's do get a bad name for reliability. Just treat it how you want it to treat you. I believe most of the poor reliability comes from the fact that they are so much fun to drive, and that makes it difficult to not drive them hard. Hondas and other very reliable cars are nothing special, so no one drives them hard except the kids.

I bought my car from some old lady who bought it brand new because she thought she needed all wheel drive for the wintertime. My dad was the first person to ever ride in the passenger seat when we test drove it.

Just find a nice one and you'll be fine.

Dan

 

[RiceKiller_TSi]

DSM's are just as reliable as Honduh's IMHO. I have a Honda AND a DSM and with 206,000 on the dash board. I am the second owner of my Talon and it has been maintained by me personally with tune ups and oil changes. I've only had to replace parts that you WILL have to replace on ANY 11 year old vehicle such as gaskets, shocks, battery, tires, engine mounts, and alternators. I drive my car like its stolen and the po po is right on my a$$ then I bring it home and reward it for a job well done. Take care of your car and it will "usually" take care of you and reward you with many nights of ricer murders.

 

[Syndicate]

Originally posted by AWD Eagle
Umm, no. Talons and Lasers and Eclipses are all the same trannies, etc.

DSM's do get a bad name for reliability. Just treat it how you want it to treat you. I believe most of the poor reliability comes from the fact that they are so much fun to drive, and that makes it difficult to not drive them hard. Hondas and other very reliable cars are nothing special, so no one drives them hard except the kids.

I bought my car from some old lady who bought it brand new because she thought she needed all wheel drive for the wintertime. My dad was the first person to ever ride in the passenger seat when we test drove it.

Just find a nice one and you'll be fine.

Dan

I don't think dan could say it any better, the problem is that alot of people get these cars, and like the boost so much they up it to a point where old rings in the motor can no longer handle it .
So keep it at stock boost untill you can feel that you can afford 1g rods and 2g pistons or aftermarket rods and pistons .. "keep it at about 8-12 pounds"

As for the transmissions , they are alot better than people say or think , it all depends on how you drive it .. if you shutter the hell out of it when you start off bolts will loosen cause all sorts of a mess in your tranny. The gears never shred etc etc mostly its just the synchros get busted , a fork goes , or the bearings are shot .. once you get them replaced with something stronger and you know how to drive the car correctly you will have no problems with it.

And personally i would stick with a first gen ( 6 bolt ) the 2nd gens have 7 bolts which are built by the same people who built the 420a's and get crank walk .. as most of the 2nd gen owners will tell you once they get crank walk they end up doing a 6bolt swap anyways.

 

[Syndicate]

Originally posted by A016
Not right on topic, but seems fair enough. My cousin told me that the lasers and talons are not as good as the eclipses. He says something about them having tranny problems or something? I thought they ran the same thing buy maybe I'm wrong? My cousin is a mechanic of a sort, but he's a major muscle car type guy, not the biggest fan of imports. Thoughts?

1st gens are all imports , the motors where designed over in japan for us economy .. 2nd gens are a product of chrysler america.

also you can get talons cheaper than you can eclipses just because people are stupid and think a talon is domestic .. so when you buy the car or a part sometimes it tends to be cheaper .

 

[RiceKiller_TSi]

Originally posted by Syndicate
1st gens are all imports , the motors where designed over in japan for us economy .. 2nd gens are a product of chrysler america.

also you can get talons cheaper than you can eclipses just because people are stupid and think a talon is domestic .. so when you buy the car or a part sometimes it tends to be cheaper .

Talon parts are the same as Eclipse parts and cost the same amount of money. Go to online and price parts for both and you will find them the same.

 

[Syndicate]

Originally posted by RiceKiller_TSi
Talon parts are the same as Eclipse parts and cost the same amount of money. Go to online and price parts for both and you will find them the same.

uhm here do yourself a favor look at the book value for a eclipse vs a talon .. same year same everything .. the eclipse will always be more because it is considered a import .. durrr.

 

[DSMeclipse4G63]

Originally posted by Syndicate
1st gens are all imports , the motors where designed over in japan for us economy .. 2nd gens are a product of chrysler america.

also you can get talons cheaper than you can eclipses just because people are stupid and think a talon is domestic .. so when you buy the car or a part sometimes it tends to be cheaper .

You werw making good points up until the 1g are imports and 2g are chrysler. Fist off not one dsm is imported ion fact they were all exported to japan...only about a few thousand each year were shipped over. But they are domestic even the eclipse. The motor 4g63 or turbo and aslo the non turbo in 1gs is mitsubishi but is built here the most "rice" dsm would be 97-99 when chrysler sold all its shares way before that, and even those are 70%american and 30% japennese making them bonified domestics. So really if these cars were to be cond=sidered imports(which they arent) would be the technically non dsm's 97-99 eclipose and 97-98 talon. But again they are domestic...in other words what I said = stick --->dead horse. Sorry for going off track
Andrew

 

[lam]

im lookin to buy a gsx/gst whichever comes up first with a better deal. But im afraid of the mileage of the car even though its cheap. Should i pass on the deal?

96 gsx 125k for 6200

http://www.craigslist.org/sby/car/22698814.html