do mitsubishi's last long? fact or fiction?

Hello, I am thinking about buying an 1997 eclipse gs-t with 55k miles on it. I though before I actually do it that i do some research from people who actually have them. Do they last long? Like transmission wise? I have heard that mitsubishi's and american made cars don't last as long as like honda's or toyota's or nissans, is that ture? Some please give me some info about this. How long do they last? I mean this saying how long does the tranny last? Thanks.

You can't just judge every single american car as not lasting long and then foreign cars last forever. If your going to take car of the car it will last. My dad's Ford Aerostar had 183,xxx miles on it and still running like a champ. :)

US accords for 1996 were made either in the USA, or in Mexico. Reliability can't be generalized like that.

If you need an answer, even though this is stupid, no... a turbo DSM isn't as reliable as most hondas. You don't buy a sports car because it's reliable.

i totally agree with joewagon on this.espcially when the moding starts it makes it worse but who wants a car just to drive and not play with even if its a bad thing messing with cars is what racings all about. unless ur a rich dude who takes his car to hookups and makes them do everything and once its out runs 11s then thats up to u but for me i like knowing whats under the hood and knowing i did it.

If your looking for a car you can drive to work every day, and count on it getting u there every day on time, buy a Honda. If your looking for a car that is more rare, stylish, easy and cheap to upgrade, buy a GS-T.

if you take care of it and don't drive like an idiot, it will last forever [sort of]. performance always comes at the expense of longetivity.

reminds me of a joke from a movie [oooh some trivia, name the movie!]

Father Bull and Son Bull are up on top of a hill overlooking a pasture full of cows grazing in the sun.
Son Bull says "hey Dad, let's run down there and fuck one of those cows"

Dad Bull says "nah, Son, lets walk down and fuck them all"

Ya, but the taking care of a DSM is a different story than that of taking care of a Honda. Honda=changing oil, filters, and plugs every 100xxx miles. DSM's are definetely more higih maintenance. Just make sure you know a few things about Eclipses before you start upgrading.

Ummmmm..... i dont think ive seen that movie lol. I wonder why....

DSM will definately make a mechanic out of you.. Mostly cause once you go to the dealership youll be scared to go back... Not bad cars... If youre bad about doing regular maintainence and preventative maintainence.. itll fall apart REAL quick..

Beware though.. If its got 55k on it.. youll be needing the 60k tune up...timing belt, waterpump, fuel filter, PCV valve, etc... You definately do not want your timing belt to go in these cars..

Oh and on the American vs honda reliablity.. iNot a big honda fan... But this guy at another forum i go to has one CRX with 510,000 that no longer runs... on its second engine.. And another with like 300,000k with original engine... still runs.. Friend with a Toyota corrolla with 257,000.. Takes a beating too.. cause we tried to kill it for several days before she ended up just giving it too her neighbors daughter..God knows she rarely changed the oil in the mofo... Good buy if youre anal about reliablity.. Takes quite a bit of money to make them fast though

First it depends what kind of a car you are looking for. If you want a daily driver that is reliable, just to drive around kinda car, i would go with a civic or somethin like that. However, if your looking for a sports car, something more that just a daily driver i would say the eclipse. Any car is reliable as long as you take care of it. Remember it all depends on what you are lookin for.
Good Luck.

Just my personal opinion. Mitsubishi is the worst Japanese Made. (I'm originaly from Japan). The engine itself is strong as long as you replace timing belt and balance shaft belt and change oil regularly.(I don't know about 2G. Many people had crank walk). The electrical stuff, pumps, tensioners, brakes, transmission, radiator, and so on don't last long. I own 1990 Talon AWD is just because I like how it lokks, especially pop up light, All wheel drive and turbo chaged. I considered celica alltrav, but they were way to expensive, and I gave it up. I own my Talon since 99' and it breaks down on me 5-6 times every year. I don't want to get rid of it because I love mine even it's not reliable. When it's in good condition, it'll fly. I own 2 more cars (Nisssan and Toyota), and whenever it breaks down, I still have enough back up trans portation. I guess you just don't want to own one Mitsubishi car only.

cars are only as unreliable as their owners.

Father Bull and Son Bull are up on top of a hill overlooking a pasture full of cows grazing in the sun.
Son Bull says "hey Dad, let's run down there and fuck one of those cows"

Dad Bull says "nah, Son, lets walk down and fuck them all"
i remember that from an episode of the sopranos.
but from a movie, i'd have to say colors.

156,000 miles 2 timingbelts 1 altenator 12 spark plugs an ungodly amount of tires but no break downs not one

The engine itself is strong as long as you replace timing belt and balance shaft belt and change oil regularly

Gee, the engine is good as long as you perform maintenence before your timing belt breaks, or your engine seizes? Sounds kind of similar to every other car ever made to me. Any 14 year old car is going to have problems. Not all DSM's have electrical problems for example, just because yours may.

91 eclipse gs 198,000

transmission rebuilt twice
all new motor mounts
new radiator
new exuast manifold(2g)
whole new intake system
new front pipe
new performance muffler(it went bad upgraded since it went bad)
all new vaccumm lines
timing belt
new tie rods
2 new axles
repainted everything when i bought the car it was all rusted under the engine

preventive maintence
fuel filter
k&n air filter
spark plugs & wires


see how much i love this car ill never get rid of it it might of cost me alot of work but i did it all by myself (saved me alot) once i bought this car i fell in love with it i love my dsm

I've driven my car almost every day since 1997 when I bought it with 19k on the clock. She is almost at 119k with no "suprise" problems.

Im kinda skeptical about the crankwalkin issue... Even though 2 of my friends did have it.. Most people ive come across on forums and stuff claimed to have crankwalked and later found out it was just a clutch problem.. Blown way out of proportion.. Id really like to see the number of acual documented cases broken down by model year..

nice job on the trivia oxy...

racecars break because they are racecars. high levels of stress will tear anything apart. that is just the facts. if you are concerned about reliability, you probably can't afford this. and i mean that in a way that this is a user maintainable car. if you properly maintain it, you will never have a worry. slack off and don't change your oil with premium oil or start to put in less than premium gas [well for turbo's mostly] and you will see how expensive it can get...

if you want it fast and good it aint gonna be cheap
if you want it fast and cheap it aint gonna be good
if you want it good and cheap it aint gonna be fast

hondas are number 3 unless you put tons of money into them then theyre 1
dsms (talon/eclipse/laser) are 1 if you maintain them well if you slack on the maintence meaning your cheap then they become 2 just like any other car

Gee, the engine is good as long as you perform maintenence before your timing belt breaks, or your engine seizes? Sounds kind of similar to every other car ever made to me. Any 14 year old car is going to have problems. Not all DSM's have electrical problems for example, just because yours may.

Some other car doesn't last long even if you give a good care. Some other car last longer even if you don't give a good care.
Anyway Didn't I say "Just my personal opinion"? Sorry that I didn't mention my personal opinion comes from my personal experience.
If you guys don't mind, please look post #10 again.
Thanks.

this is my 1st car ever ...the lady before me didnt take care of it it costed me a new main engine weld but under my supervison the olny problems ive had with it is 1 flat and a locked radio but the car after all that still rides like an animal

156,000 miles 2 timingbelts 1 altenator 12 spark plugs an ungodly amount of tires but no break downs not one

i wish it was the same with my gs, right now i have a vaccum leak somewhere or a bad tps. but i mean except for jakes rst i mean the gs engine doesn't have nearly the stress levels(well ok it does if you horse beat your engine to death) on it that the 4g63 engine does.

mitsubishis are fun, reliable and fast when you take care of them properly(and even then they thend to reak down, my gs for example). if you start slackin in any respect on maitance then the car will fight back and become a stubborn lil bitch and start to break and not run correctly