poor reliabilty?

[hollywood_dsm]

I am going to pick my 1990 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD up this wedensday and drive it home 3 hours. Everyone I've told about getting this car have told me not to, due to poor reliabilty and EXPENSIVE parts. It's a great deal right now, the kid has to sell it to pay tickets and because he lost his licence. It only needs a few cosmetic touch ups and it'll be nice. So what do you guys have to say about the reliability of these cars?

 

[1993eclipseGS]

They are only unreliable if they were not maintained.

I just bought a 90 tsi awd 5spd, It is MINT with 60k miles, Bone stock. I bought it for 2,400 dollars off a 50 year old lady who bought it brand new from the dealer ship when it came off the trailor, In 1990. There are SOME ''lemons'', But usually you just hafto keep up with the regular maintanance and not beat on it doing 9grand rpm launches in reverse..

 

[hollywood_dsm]

Then I guess this car is excellent for me. I'm a perfectionist, I have to have things done to my vehicles religiously. Oil changed when they're needed, if a hose looks old at all, it gets replaced, if I don't know when the timing belt was done last, it gets done. Another question though, where can I find a shop manual or something to read up on this car? I live in Canada and I the only time I've seen a Chilton's manual is in shop class but my teacher is from Chigago. I'm looking forward to getting this car in mint shape then slowly tuning it for a nice performer.

 

[Gigaah]

Spare parts are reasonable imo. You can pick up anything in good used condition for decent prices on DSMtrader.com on here on dsmtuners classified adds. People parting out cars left and right..its going to the junk yard in most cases and it doesn't take much to pursuade them to sell the part to you.

Do your proper schedualed maintenance(especially timing "belt" job and drive it like a normal car it'll last a long time. Dump 50 to 100% more power than stock...and drive it like a drag car..and eventually its GUNNA break.

You can get shop manuals on ebay. I would sugjest getting mitsubishi factory manuals...if not in paper in digital format and get a paper chiltons or something. factory mitsu manuals show up on ebay often enough.



VFAQ.COM <---this site is LOADED with information 1000Q and walkthroughs for most procedures you can think of. Its amazing.

Just cruise though posts here on DSMtuners. You'll find the crowd to be generally professional and performance minded.

 

[Defiant]

the kid has to sell it to pay tickets and because he lost his licence.

So I'm sure the car's been treated with the greatest respect, and the piedmont of cautious use.

It'll probably be fine for a three-hour run. But do you have RAC up there instead of AAA? I'd bring a member along.

Without seeing it and checking it, all we can do across the internaweb is make guesses for you.

 

[Quasimondo]

These cars are only as reliable as you keep them. If it looks like it was beat on, don't buy it. This pretty much goes for any car with tuner potential, from RX-7's to turbo'd Civics. If it looks like it lived a hellish existence, don't play Capt. Save-A-Hoe and try to save it. You'll only become a frustrated DSM hater.

As for replacement parts, they're not that expensive, and whoever is telling you this is a cheapskate. There's an overabundance of new, and used parts available on this website, dsmtrader, ebay, local dsm boards, galantvr4.org (good for engine and drivetrain deals since they share the same components).

Before you pick it up, make sure it is thoroughly checked out by a competent mechanic! When I bought my first DSM, a 92 Talon AWD, the kid told me all it needed was a clutch. Turns out it needed a replacement transmission because the housing was cracked. After a bad transmission, I had to deal with transfer case lockup, bad axles, alternators, starters, and every thing else that could go wrong because I didn't check it out and I thought I was getting a good deal I spent more money trying to keep it alive than I did on my second DSM which was well maintained. Learn from my mistake, DSM's are easy to come by. A quality DSM is a rare find.

 

[mitsuman_626]

yeah they're kind of unreliable but it's worth it

welcome to the world of DSM's

 

[j0hnniz]

I, too, am worried. I want to get a 90-93 Eclipse GSX, it has to be that AWD and 5spd. I live in MN and found one in Chicago for $2,600. 92 GSX with 145,000 miles for $2,600 and driving back to MN would be 6 hours.

 

[j0hnniz]

These cars are only as reliable as you keep them. If it looks like it was beat on, don't buy it. This pretty much goes for any car with tuner potential, from RX-7's to turbo'd Civics. If it looks like it lived a hellish existence, don't play Capt. Save-A-Hoe and try to save it. You'll only become a frustrated DSM hater.

As for replacement parts, they're not that expensive, and whoever is telling you this is a cheapskate. There's an overabundance of new, and used parts available on this website, dsmtrader, ebay, local dsm boards, galantvr4.org (good for engine and drivetrain deals since they share the same components).

Before you pick it up, make sure it is thoroughly checked out by a competent mechanic! When I bought my first DSM, a 92 Talon AWD, the kid told me all it needed was a clutch. Turns out it needed a replacement transmission because the housing was cracked. After a bad transmission, I had to deal with transfer case lockup, bad axles, alternators, starters, and every thing else that could go wrong because I didn't check it out and I thought I was getting a good deal I spent more money trying to keep it alive than I did on my second DSM which was well maintained. Learn from my mistake, DSM's are easy to come by. A quality DSM is a rare find.

good advice.

 

[hollywood_dsm]

So I'm sure the car's been treated with the greatest respect, and the piedmont of cautious use.

It'll probably be fine for a three-hour run. But do you have RAC up there instead of AAA? I'd bring a member along.

Without seeing it and checking it, all we can do across the internaweb is make guesses for you.

The kid never got the chance to drive this car, he drove his dad's talon and this was going to be his car once he paid his dad for it. Up here we have CAA or AAA (alberta auto assoc.), but before I even buy the car, when we take it for a test drive we're going to a local brake shop for an inspection.