The Official "What's this DSM worth?" Thread

[Mitsu RacerX]

For 3000.00 thats really not that bad. i would buy it just for a project car. Park it and do the work yourself.....

 

[Ferdundra]

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[TSITuner4Lyfe69]

Awd Is The Way To Go

 

[Auladan]

Hi, this isn't my account, the registering system is busted, so I have to post on his. I am looking to get into a DSM, and want an AWD 5sp turbo. I have found a couple for sale in the area, and am interested in one. Its a 1990 Eclipse GSX.

Car info:

1990 eclipse GSX 5 spd, red and black.
Had an engine put in it (junkyard pull) thats quite clean, and compression test numbers were good and it just had a tune up 2 months ago.
clean interior, only dent is right under the drivers side door handle, and theres a scratch on the ground effects in the front.

I asked the guy about the engine/how it runs etc he says the odometer is sitting at a LITTLE over 187K miles on the chassis. There are however a couple of issues. He says that it has a small boost leak (probably just in the tubes running to/from turbo) and the drivers side front wheel has a click in it (bad CV joint maybe?), other then this he says its solid.

So the question. I'm STILL gonna go on probably monday to check the car out, drive it etc, but I wanted a professional opinion from people that own these and work on them, if this would be a good investment, and something that can be my daily driver and not need a grip of work right away (im currently working on my camaro trying to finish the engine/rear end/driveshaft/brake conversion on that) Oh hes asking $2300.00 OBO.

Thanks much, I look forward to hearing your opinions!

Cheers

 

[Black91TSiAWD]

Id ask him exactly what the compression numbers were, and how many miles are on the motor and tranny, those would all be good things to know.

Also going to a mechanic you know and having them throw it up on a lift would be a good idea, then you can check for leaks in the tranny/axle seals/t-case/rear diff, and you can check other stuff like u-joints and carrier bearings and the list goes on of things you should look at when buying a 16yo car, cause the more stuff you find wrong, the more leverage you have to knock the price down sometimes.

I dont know about where youre at and the market for dsm's, but here $2300 would be a bit too much for a starting price, check it out and offer him $1800 and see what he says.

 

[DSM_TSI_95]

Id ask him exactly what the compression numbers were, and how many miles are on the motor and tranny, those would all be good things to know.

Also going to a mechanic you know and having them throw it up on a lift would be a good idea, then you can check for leaks in the tranny/axle seals/t-case/rear diff, and you can check other stuff like u-joints and carrier bearings and the list goes on of things you should look at when buying a 16yo car, cause the more stuff you find wrong, the more leverage you have to knock the price down sometimes.

I dont know about where youre at and the market for dsm's, but here $2300 would be a bit too much for a starting price, check it out and offer him $1800 and see what he says.

Im going to agree. $2300 is a little steep on this especially if the car has no mods what so ever. I would take it to a mechanic and have hime do a compression test on it. These cars are definitely worth it if you have the time and money to spend on them.

 

[AWDrivinIT]

Dude honestly is this a car that you are planning on keeping for a LONG time??? or just plan on usin it as a daily driver putting some power on it and then selling it ### if u dont plan on keeping it and you want a 1g then i would look at one with maybe less miles and a little newer... no matter what kind of money you put into it you will never get near anything like that out of a car with 186 on the odometer now... keep in mind not alot of people want to buy a cars thats been threw a couple motors/trannys and has almost 200 thousand miles on it... i hope i gave you some things to think about and run over a couple times in your head... but either way good luck with finding the car you want and welcome to the wonderful world of owning a DSM...

You will soon realize that its not always a wonderful world when you own a dsm...

 

[Auladan]

heh I know its not always a good world been workin on the camaro for a LONG friggin time. I know what you guys mean about the mileage thing. Thats what worries me too, but I have yet to see a single TSI or GSX from the 1G family that has under 150K miles on it. As far as taking it to a mechanic...thats next to impossible, the guy lives 2 hours away, and that makes it really hard to fit it into my work schedule/weekend house repairs. About keeping it for a long time, I would plan on holding onto it for as long as possible. The camaro has cost me a new engine, transmission, rear end, etc and I still got her The problem with that is the wife "doesn't want another project car." hehe.

I want something that can be a daily driver and be fun to add some mods to. I've come to the conclusion these are pretty much the best platform for that, but i do need something that will run strong for some time regardless. Without mods, how much do you think this thing is worth? If I go low ball on it, I can almost guarentee he won't sell it to me. The 1Gs that are for sale that are under 2K generally have no mods, or have mods and are in poor shape.

thanks

 

[Auladan]

Any other thoughts? I'm going round and round on this idea of getting a dSM.... thanks

 

[flyinghighlm]

I recently bought a 90 GSX m/t for 1200 with motor issues, with a new clutch and tranny. I ended uo sinking about 1800$ in part and labor replacing just about anything and everything I could get my hands on. I LOVE the car and it has made me a huge DSM fan. It is completely stock except for the exhaust and a couple minor things, shoot it still has the factory swirly rims. ITs a sleeper what can I say, like the others said 2300 for a car that needs some TLC is a little much. you can try and low ball him but depending on how bad you want this car will effect your price and remeber all DSM's are a project some just bigger than others,

 

[echostats]

I am picking up a 98 GSX for 13,5

Mods include:

EVO316G turbo with 34mm flapper, APEX front mount intercooler with all hard apex piping, 650cc fic fuel injectors, 255lph fuel pump, SAFCII fuel controller, boost controller, koni yellow adjustible shocks with eibach sportline springs(2 inch drop), 6bolt valve cover, apex el gauge boost gauge, strut tower bar, HKS carbon-titanium exhaust with HAHN racecraft 3-inch 02 eliminator downpipe, southbend ceramic/ceramic clutch(pretty much exedy clutch) with 8lb fidanza flywheel. Very fast car: currently at 17 lbs of boost and probably has around 340hp.

yea, i just copied his autotrader description.

i would like feedback, thanks.

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

I am picking up a 98 GSX for 13,5

Mods include:

EVO316G turbo with 34mm flapper, APEX front mount intercooler with all hard apex piping, 650cc fic fuel injectors, 255lph fuel pump, SAFCII fuel controller, boost controller, koni yellow adjustible shocks with eibach sportline springs(2 inch drop), 6bolt valve cover, apex el gauge boost gauge, strut tower bar, HKS carbon-titanium exhaust with HAHN racecraft 3-inch 02 eliminator downpipe, southbend ceramic/ceramic clutch(pretty much exedy clutch) with 8lb fidanza flywheel. Very fast car: currently at 17 lbs of boost and probably has around 340hp.

yea, i just copied his autotrader description.

i would like feedback, thanks.

Kinda spendy...Look up the blue book or Edmunds private party value, then add up the cost of the mods; I think it's woth a few grand less then that.

But either way, it sounds fast.

Good luck with the purchase and the car.

 

[Boost95]

What do you think this car is worth?

1996 GSX Auto w/63k. Fully loaded with every option including Home Link. All reciepts for 60k work at Mitsu dealer. New 17" black wheels with deep dish. Only mods are a Dejon Intake Pipe and Dejon Upper Intercooler pipe with a 1g bov. Paint was just buffed and its like glass, leather has no tears at all. Seats are not even wrinkled. It's my g/f's car, but im just wondering its value.

 

[echostats]

Kinda spendy...Look up the blue book or Edmunds private party value, then add up the cost of the mods; I think it's woth a few grand less then that.

But either way, it sounds fast.

Good luck with the purchase and the car.

It's only got 60k miles. I hope I am not spending too much. I talked him down from 14,5

 

[AWDrivinIT]

If your looking for a daily driver buy a honda... the dsm isnt going to be such a daily driver when it breaks week after week... put it this way.... they are very unreliable cars and you should always have a spare/backup ride... its been awhile since ive posted so did ya end up vuying it or what?

 

[JOEY A]

I would stay away from it, spend extra money on a clean dsm thats been well kept. Trust me your going to hate DSMs if you get a shit box.

You will save money if you buy a nice dsm in the future...

 

[wolf20043]

but I have yet to see a single TSI or GSX from the 1G family that has under 150K miles on it.

The '92 we bought had 100k on it when we got it. And we picked it up for $1000.
Mike

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

Well around here that would go for about $2500-3000 if it's clean..

I mean yeah you can find a DSM cheap; but that usually means it has some expensive problems.

BUt ya, if anyone wants to sell their low-mileage clean DSM for $1000 I will take it off your hands.

 

[DSMark]

If your looking for a daily driver buy a honda... the dsm isnt going to be such a daily driver when it breaks week after week... put it this way.... they are very unreliable cars and you should always have a spare/backup ride... its been awhile since ive posted so did ya end up vuying it or what?

That's bullshit, the only reason they break down week after week is probably because you beat on yours week after week. If you take care of your ride and keep up the maintanance then it will take care of you in return, if you beat it to hell then it will be a piece of crap. All my friends and i have dsm's and they're our weekend warriors and daily drivers. I actually did have a honda once and it gave me more problems in a week than my talon ever did. My friend has a civic hatchback that was suppose to be his daily driver but it just sits on his driveway because it wont start, and this is after he spent 500 dollars on a tune up trying to figure out the problem. So long story short, no car is unreliable as long you take care of it.

 

[JOEY A]

They also break down if you buy a peice of shit, like most of them are nowa days. Look hard and take your time to find a nice one. Trust me it will be so much better in the long run.

My car was a clean straight car, but wasnt taken care of and serviced all the time. Ive gone through the who car and its a great car now but it used to be the biggest head ache.

 

[Auladan]

Well he wants 2100 now instead of 2500, I'm willing to bet I can get it for right around 1800. The body is clean and straight, only one dent below the drivers side handle. Just the small boost leak (easily fixable, so it seems) and the axle click. Axles aren't very expensive to buy, and my buddy has already changed his out so probably wouldn't be bad.

The compression numbers are Good. He says the transfer case is in good shape. Just put a low mileage engine into it and gave it a tune up. Just put it through emissions in March. Body is in good condition.

Seems like a good deal to me. Other thoughts?

cheer

 

[BeerBaron]

Seems aight, but a dsm with that many miles on it has a slim chance of being a reliable daily driver, especially once you start putting the mods on. Axles are around 150$, did he rebuild the xfer case ever? What are the actual compression numbers? If everything is as it appears now, 1800 wouldn't be too bad, but it is a roll of the dice at that mileage, but hey, what dsm isnt a roll of the dice?

 

[Eclipse98Spyder]

the guy selling it is it a private seller or a car dealership type deal? Show him the kbb price see if that does anything. Because for $2,100 is to expensive that kinda car in that condition with that many miles on it.

 

[Auladan]

Yah its a private seller. KBB shows it worth IN EXCELLENT shape at about 1700, and in "good" shape at right around 1500. Not sure how much of a bearing the mileage has on it.... I figured Id offer like 15-1700 and see what he says.....Im a bit worried about it breaking right away, we can't have that! The axle wouldn't bother me much, I would just hate to have to replace tranny/transfer case. Basically, I don't want to have to spend near 2K right out the door. Over time, sure, not right away. (says hes never hadp roblems with the tranny transfer case, but no, no work done, and unfortunately he doesn't have the actual compression numbers, just said they all checked out according to his mechanic)

I'm abit worried about all of this, probably means its not the best idea huh?

thanks for all the replies!

 

[mra4886]

i got mine a 90 tsi its primmered and it has 156000 when i got it also having a 16g turbo and mbc on it with a boost gauge. was in good running condition when i bought it. i paid $1k cash. but now ive messed something up in the head. but for $1k i couldnt let it pass. but on your deal if he cant give you some kind of number on the milage then its still questionable. the motor he put in it could be almost near the miles on the body. you just got to go by his word. but low miles i wouldnt be thinking to low if he cant tell you atleast a close number to the miles. if you can get it for like 1500-1700 then it might not be a bad deal. but like everyone else said over $2k its not worth it. my two cents.