Im intrested in buying a 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS. the car has aprox. 97,000 miles on it. so my question is, what should i expect as far as maintenance for this car? any well known problems with this car after 100,000 miles? any information is appreciated.
It’s like any other used car. It should be thoroughly inspected before purchase since it could be a jewel or it could be a heap.
JMHO, but I’m not a Mitsubishi fan. My daughter loves them, having owned 2 Eclipses (a '91 and an '01) and currently owns a Galant.
The 91 was a pretty decent car actually but did suffer a number of what I would consider premature failures for the 100k mile mark, with the most major one being a trans failure. Still, it was a decent car.
The '01 was more problematic, but nothing serious.
The Galant is a garden slug. Nothing but headaches with that car. Axles, transmission, engine mounts, and those oddball things that should not fail prematurely like wheel hub/bearing assemblies and rear steering knuckles.
The Eclipses are one of the main weapons of choice for the younger crowd, and the rice crowd. I would make sure it’s not one of those or it may have been Fast and Furioused to death.
The mileage is very decent for an 11 year old car, but if the price is right and it drives/runs out well during a good test drive then I would go for it. I also advise at least a 30 minute test drive. This gives one time to get acclimated to any quirks or notice any potential problems that might occur.
If the timing belt/tensioners/water pump has not been replaced then it’s WAY past due. Figure this expense in now, along with a trans fluid change if it’s an automatic.
Inspect the front motor mount to see if it’s damaged and if it is, figure this cost in also along with the rear mount which cna be knocked out by the front one going bad.
JMHO and hope some of this helps in your decision.
(There’s also a couple of recalls out on this car about ball joints and possibly the seat backs?. If you buy the car be sure to have those ball joints inspected, preferably before buying the car. Recalls are totally free to the car owner no matter what, but Mitsubishi’s policy on what constitutes a bad ball joint problem is pretty skimpy. One broke on my daughter’s Galant but luckily it was as she was turning into the drive. Recall or not, Mitsu. would not cover it on the basis of the recall only covers inspection of the dust boot and repl. of the ball joint IF necessary. In her case, the boot and joint were destroyed when it broke, so who knows.)