03 Eclipse opinion

I am considering purchasing a 03 Eclipse GS. Any feedback about the car (quality, problems, etc.) would be helpful.

Reply to
Josh McClure
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mitsu is near the bottom in the recent jd power quality study. i'd check out resale on other 3G eclipse cars first if you don't plan on keeping it for a long while.

Reply to
simpleton

search the net, there is a web site with eclipse 3rd gen. issues etc. there seems to be some issues. This is one site

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good luck...

Reply to
LWG

Is this a quality of the car report or the one on the JD powers site that rates the quality of the dealer and salesman.

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This isthe dealer quality study link, I'd didn't see one on car quality. I just bought an 2003 Eclipse RS, so far my only regret is I didn't spring for the GS. No sunroof, no ABS, no alarm, and no cruise. And why did I not get these features?. Because my current car has all but the ABS, and we never used them, and I couldn't justify the price difference for features that were not on my list of must haves. We did get the immobilizer though. My younger son drives a 91 Eclipse, my older son drives a 92 Honda Civic SI. I service both vehicles. I can't say the Civic is better, or more reliable than the Eclipse (my personal preference is the 91 Eclipse). Both have had rear caliper problems, oxygen sensor problems and body damage (accidents). The 91 Eclipse blew it's ECM last month ($2000.00 cdn new, $300.00 cdn from the auto wrecker). Just for the hell of it when I was shopping for the new car, I checked the price of the 92 Civic ECM, it was $1000.00 new from the dealer. Neither son would change their cars, they are both totally happy with their cars.

I got the service manual with my Eclipse. I've been reading some of the service information in it.

Mitsu (for this car, that I know of) has adopted a new wiring model, called SWS (simplified wiring system). Computer modules communicate between them selves to perform the required function. For example, when you turn on the headlights, the switch on the steering column tells the steering column ECM to send a message to the engine compartment ECM to turn on the headlight relay, and the head lights. Everything goes through an ECM on this car, even the door locks and the electric windows. I suspect this is the new industry standard, and you'll find this system on all new cars (just my guess on other cars). I normally prefer mid 70's and earlier cars, but my wife wanted a new car (she had a 1977 Mercury Cougar XR7, 6.6 liter engine), and with high gas prices and small parking stalls, we were having issues.

Any servicing of new vehicles WILL be at the dealer as not only does this car have an OBDII system (as do they all) but there is also a Mitsu test box that is required to test the communications bus. OBDII scanners can be had for about $149.00 US (works with your PC). This will allow you to read all the error and performance codes on your car. The Mitsu box I don't know about. That being said. As a side note. The finance manager (during ideal chit chat) mentioned that now a days the minimum repair bill is about $600.00 and hour. He said all they do to repair anything is to replace a module. This dealership sells multiple car brands, he wasn't referring only to Mitsu.

My wife loves this car. The 2.4 liter is very peppy (auto trans)(I had trouble letting go of the 6.6 liter). The turning radius is small, and the car ride is smooth. It's also quite inside (I didn't get the add on undercoating).

I compared a 91 Eclipse and a 91 Honda (Acura) Integra for resale value. The Honda was higher by a few thousand dollars.

You might also want to checkout

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. They have a neat feature called the "True cost of ownership" that'll let you know what each car will really cost you over five years. There are also surveys from current owners, ballpark pricing, and a list of TSB's (I think). OBTW the cost of ownership of the Eclipse is higher than that of a Honda Civic. They also have used car prices. For what it's worth, service manuals run about $350.00 cdn from the dealers (Honda and Mitsu), but some web sites have them for less. If your interested in one, shop around or tie the sale of the vehicle to the service manual.

Hope I haven't bored anyone with this long list.

Ray

Reply to
Nirodac

You got some good info already, but check out

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Lots of Eclipse owners here, both the V6 and I4, and quite a few with aftermarket turbos on it as well..

Reply to
Lurkor

j.d.power results:

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ray if you require more parts for the '91 eclipse, try here:
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i sold my '91 computer for $100 u.s. they fail due to leaking capacitors and cost $1.50 to fix.......

the only reason i own an eclipse is that the all wheel drive/turbo cars build up into very nice sports coupes. minus the awd/turbo, the car has zero potential and there is no reason to deal with mitsu's crappy quality.

Reply to
simpleton

Thanks for the tip on the DSM parts site, I've now book marked it for future reference As for the old computer module, I still have it. I checked the electronics, and the only thing working on it was the CPU oscillator. The power rails (5 volt I think) appeared to be OK. I used a scope to test with and didn't observe any problems on the power rail. I set the module up on my test bench, and simulated the inputs (I have the service manual for this car also) I couldn't see any activity on the data bus. The output code was "replace ECM". However, I think I will revisit the module and replace the filter caps on spec and see if that makes a difference. The module died, in use, as my son was driving up a hill. Considering I live in a province with 3 million people, 2.0 million within

50 miles, the nearest place I could find the module was about 4 hours drive away. They seem to be very scares Dead caps is becoming a big problem these days in the electronics industry.

Thanks for the link to the JD powers survey, it's interesting which cars are where. Now, if I'd only seen it before I bought my Eclipse!!!! I probably would have still bought the car, but I may have been able to get a better deal.

Ray

Reply to
Nirodac

JD Power has been accused of selling themselves to the highest bidder, and I don't think that accusation is unwarranted, so I wouldn't put much faith in what they have to say. If other reviewers agree with them, that's different.

As far as a 3g Eclipse goes, to me, I just treat it as a better-look>

Reply to
Brad

There is no such thing as a totally unbiased review. It's human nature. Of course, if you happen to have a place run by 4 reviewers that all own, say, a Honda Accord you can bet they are going to make their cars look stellar so that they have good resale when it's done. If someone just got dumped out of a relationship by someone who owns an Eclipse when they were on the way to do a review they may harbor that against the car. Logic? Hell, human's are not logical. It also comes down to whether someone simply likes something or not. There's no way I'd ever go for an Element or an Azteck but other people like them.

They learned one thing from Pontiac when it came to attracting a lot of ladies to their product.. Make it 'ribbed for her pleasure' and they will come panting.. (pun intended)

Reply to
DragonRider

I think its a great car,, I work on them and have had friends buy them.. So far,, so good.

Reply to
OhioPlantz

I have an 03 GTS that I bought in June 03. ***I LOVE IT*** No problems to speak of.

Oh, did I forget to mention that *************I LOVE IT************** ?

Reply to
Hank Arnold

I bought one new, after 18,000 miles nothing bad to report. I drive very hard and feel the car is solid and worth teh money.

John

Josh McClure wrote:

Reply to
JVM

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