2G Thinking of buying a 2g GST

[knappstaman]

Hey everyone, this is my first time posting on this message board, ive been a lurker for some time. I currently own a 99 mercury cougar but i am looking to buy a 95-99 gst, possibly the spyder version because i love the covertible part of it. The reason i want a gst is not because my cougar has any major problems or what not, its just lack of power. Since owning the cougar (V6 auto) i swore to myself my next car i would buy would be turbocharged/supercharged stock with a manual. The gst fits my needs perfectly and doesnt cost a fortune. What im asking is are there anything known to go wrong with the eclipses? because or instance the cougars are known for eating up alternators and fuel pumps, both of which mine have been replaced in the last year and havent acted up yet. Ive been told by some this isnt a wise investment? but ive been saving up rather lately and have 2k stored up plus my trade in value. What do you think? And what are common problems with the eclipse engines besides crankwalk, that i hear of so commonly.

any help i would appreciate it so much, and i belong to a cougar board known as NECO (www.fastcougar.com/forums)

 

[diab0liK]

Crankwalk isn't exactly as common as it's made out to be....just happens sometimes, and it sucks when it does.

I'd say you're probably in good shape though, you should be able to get into a solid 2g gst. I remember when I was looking for eclipses, there were a lot in the kentucky/tenessee area.

I have a spyder but would prefer a hardtop. I suppose I would probably mind less in tennesse though, w/ it not being snowy and freezing 5 months out of the year and whatnot.

I'm sure I'll love it in the summer, but it's not the greatest in the winter, and I need to replace the weather stripping.

I would recommend checking out autotrader, and the classifieds here, and dsmtrader.

g'luck mang
diab0liK

 

[punishercb]

I love my gst. I've only had it for a week, and it's been in the garage 4 out of the 7 days. But I DID buy it knowing something was wrong with it. As far as performance, your cougar is going to feel like a slug after you drive a clipse. The power's just insane. I used to own a dodge avenger which was probably slower than your cougar, but it's like a night and day difference.

Some things that I've read so far is that the timing belts have to be replaced religiously as well as the belt tensioner. Other than that, I haven't really heard of any flaws of defects.

Good luck shopping!

 

[knappstaman]

thanks, i plan on going car searching next weekend because im off on sunday there are many places in knoxville that sell eclipses and other sport compacts that i will go look at. This time before buying another car i am definately going to get it looked at by a certified mechanic to make sure anything or everything that is wrong with it. I didnt make that choise when i bought my first cougar, so i sold that one and bought my 2nd cougar that i own now. Thanks

 

[WI_99'GST]

how mch is your cougar worth? if you have 2k saved up, i know most dealerships are pricks and want like 15,000 for a nice 2g. they had my 99 stickered at damn near 17,000...i got it for 12. either way just look for overall maintenence and things like that, it should be easy to see whether or not the car was taken care of. also if you get a chance see if the previous owner has any of their personal info in the back of the drivers manual and if they do, contact them and aks them a few questions. the dealerships obviously wont give out that information, but if you stumble across it, thats a good bet.

Secondly you might want to think about selling your cougar outright and then maybe buying a 2g from somewhere other than a dealership. you will make more money off your cougar and more than likely pay less for the eclipse oh well good luck findin a nice 2g, you wont be dissappointed

 

[knappstaman]

Hey, the dealers ships im talking about arent those Huge ones that only sell one certain type of car, such as a ford/lincoln/mercury dealership or a honda/acura dealership. I would guestimate according to kbb.com that my cougar trade in is worth 3-4k dollars when i could probably sell it for 5k to a person. The dealerships im looking to get eclipses are the small lots with usually 5-25 cars on them. Ive been browsing around in local papers and what not but only eclipses i see are either in the RS or GS trim, not what im looking for. If anyones interested in my cougar send me a PM , but on the other hand how are the insurance rates? For being young and only having liability its 60 bucks a month, id imagine the eclipse would be more :thumbdown

 

[knappstaman]

definately after searching ive decided to go with a GSX, but the thing i see with GSX's is they have 2 different front style bumpers? whats up with that? what is the difference between the two models?


This is the first type (i dont like this kind and wouldnt buy this)

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This is the other front end, this is the kind i want in the GSX trim and would buy

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[iowaboostin]

95-96 Mitsubishi's have that trim in the first picture. 97-99's have the trim in the 2nd picture. Check your PM's, I'm selling my 2g (has the trim you want too) Click on the blinky light in the top right.

 

[punishercb]

why are you sellin your eclipse iowasboostin? It looks damn good.