How reliable has your DSM been?

[MYSTIC]

1998 black Eclipse Spyder GS original owner. I love this car, still admire her when i walk away sometime haha.

Just hit 185,000 yesterday!!!, the only problems I have had is with things wearing out , just replace them when they need it, like automaitc transmission (got this because new wife could not drive manual) went out at 143,000 miles 1st real issue with her but its expected, last year replaced rims (old ones refused to keep the air inside) replaced top. the car runs and idles like brand new.

THE ONLY REAL GRIPE I HAVE IS THAT THE CLEAR COAT STARTED COMING OFF ABOUT 3 YEARS AGO!!, which is sad since I have took such good care of her, I have decided to get a Vantage V8 manual (she is the old wife now and keep the spyder as second car. Now deciding if its worth repainting quoted $4,000 to strip down to metal and redue.

Oh yeah forgot had to put new pins in convertible top motors, love this site!!!

Mystic

 

[TunaTalon]

The Talon turned over 200,000 miles yesterday.
The odometer passed 200K near the end of an 1100 mile road trip to the mountain roads of Northern
Arkansas and East Oklahoma. We drove the Talimena Scenic Drive and recommend it for DSM's that can turn.

The rebuilt engine and tranny are still performing great. The car will claw its way onto an Interstate from a short ramp with a quick growl to match speed.

A primer painted 70's muscle car tried suicide by Talon so I know that the car will still make an emergency lane change under ABS.

The car has been pretty reliable for such an old relic that is driven for the fun of driving.

Not all was well:
The driver's side door handle broke while loading suitcases before leaving home.
The cruise control stopped working on the last day of the trip.
At 3200 RPM on the interstate the wind sound through the 15 year old seals gets annoying after a few hours.

 

[isantop]

I've only had mine a month, but now that I've replaced the O2 sensor, I expect a lot of reliability. It seems to be decently well cared for.

The cruise control stopped working on the last day of the trip.

On my car, there was a small fuse holder (separate from the main junction box) under that dash that holds a 10 amp (IIRC) fuse. When this was removed, my CC stopped working. Check if you have that fuse, and make sure it's good. That may fix your cruise.

 

[BryanGSX]

For years I've always heard DSM's are unreliable. Not only have I heard this from Non-DSM owners, but DSM owners as well. All I have to say is I've had my 99 GSX going on 9 years now with 288whp/271ft-lb and I've never had a problem with my car whatsoever. Maybe guys who don't know what they're doing mess with the car and cause the issues. I see tons of DSMs that look like straight up junk. Take care of your car! It's not the car's fault, it's the owner's.

Ha well that is another way to put it!

Haha exactly.

Instead of "Are DSM's a reliable car?", it should be "Are DSMers often too cheap to maintain their car?".

True.

 

[n0de]

One thing i can say for sure is that my new DSM has not once let me down...

But that's only because it's never run since i've owned it Still building.

 

[Michacolonia]

I bought mine in 2006 and it NEVER left me alone!
I love my DSM

 

[Bo0sTdTsI]

Mine talon gave me hell when I first got it. Trans was trash so I bought a working one and swapped out, timing jued on my fault one of the bolts to one of the pulleys was loose, but once things got sorted out shes been fine so far im glad and I beat the crap out of it pretty often, whats weird is she seems to get tempermental when shes babied and not abused haha. And I have only been on 12 psi nothing more yet, and shes barely scratching 110k on the body, lowest miles ive seen on a 90 awd here in town.

 

[TallestHERETIC]

If you take care of your DSM, it will take care of you! Sounds cliché but it is true. The opposite is also true as well: Treat your DSM like crap and it will treat you like crap. IMO, these are very reliable cars (Turbo and N/T)

My '99 N/T had many crappy previous owners. It had so many little annoying problems. It was also neglected for quite some time before I got my hands on it. A full tune up and a very through car wash/detailing job and it was practically a day and night difference. Very smooth running, too!

My '99 GSX is also very reliable. Other than some minor body problems and an electrical problem (damn autozone parts!) it has given me no troubles since I bought it.

Who ever says these are crappy, unreliable cars needs to stay away from cars, period.

 

[91-GS]

Bone stock 1991 GS, after fixing some minor age-related issues the was a great car for over two years 'till timing belt slipped because i did not change it in time Does not seem to be any valvetrain damage though, so that's good.
She was only red-lined once, and that was in neutral. Usually kept her between 1500 and 4000 RPM while driving.

 

[sagys]

1996 Spyder GS, 2.4 engine, 5 speed. Bought new, now has 144,400 miles. Just drove it to Florida, 1468 miles.
Only work that's been done on it was a timing belt at 85,000, and had to replace the clutch at about 100K when it lost a damper spring from the disk and jammed one of the release levers. Just before I drove it down I finally replaced the front hubs and the drive axles.

The only other problem has been the alternator has been misaligned since the car was new, squeals when started.

Driving it down, I lost radio and the heater blower- went thru everything and turned out that one of the screws holding the 60 amp main fuse under the hood had worked loose and fallen out. (Wasn't the blower relay, the blower switch, the resistor pack or the blower)
.

 

[greydelta38]

I think to sum this thread up:

The more power you make, the more repairs you make.
The less maintenance you perform, the more repairs you make. Maintenance before mods.

That simple.

Also depends on whether you drive it like an idiot.

 

[Better In Black]

Starter has been recently giving me problems, had to pop start it at a Sunoco tonight with my bud and I had to replace water pump early in the summer. I think it fried my head gasket. gotta work on that now.

Also had to tighten throttle positioning cable when I first got it and the interior was soaked with coolant due to a bad heater core which I had to byass (and eventually replace before winter). Last guy beat the hell out of it but I'm giving it as much love as I can afford. Gonna get another one to actually work on: this one is too beat up.

 

[Jaxness]

I drove my DSM 1000 miles to the Shootout. Competed in Max Effort. Drove 1000 miles home. And it's my daily driver.

Pretty reliable,

 

[shredwin]

Since I build the motor in my 95 Eclipse GSX it's been great so far. I drove it from St. Marys,PA to Tampa, FL on 2/7/13 for 18 hrs straight, the only stops it made was for fuel. I literally had around 250miles on the engine before I took off for Florida. Since that day I have put around 13,xxx miles (8 month period). It's tuned @25lbs of boost, AC blows ice cold, it's driven daily, and the cruise control is nice for them long trips. So yes my car has been reliable so far.

 

[phee0220]

Beautiful cars (all of them in my opinion) and if you keep them maintained I'd say they are pretty reliable.... Now the only problem is working the two jobs due to the maintaining part!