To Buy Or Not To Buy Options

[Aemeth]

First of all,
Hello everyone from a new member!
I have built two 13 second Neons 1 of them with a turbo. But now its time to have a new winter project and im sick of FWD Neons, (turboing a non factory turbo car sucks)
With that said it was down to a mustang or a 2g Talon/Eclipse. AWD Turbo sounds much more fun!

Right now im looking at a 1996 Eclipse GSX
Interior is in bad shape (Its all painted up sadly)
Body is in Good Shape, no visible rust, owner says its rust free also but it will need repainting very soon.
Motor is stock and does not leak any fluids. It has 96,000 miles on it.

My question is, Is this car worth $4500..? Or atleast sound like a $4500 eclipse?
I'd hate to get ripped off. TSI's and GSX's are hard to find around where im from but the FWD versions are all dirt cheap.

Anyway thanks for the time and let me know what you think

[piggylover1985]

a little on the high side

[JuGs]

I agree it seems a bit pricey. does have low mjiles which is a plus, but with iinterior shot/ bad cond and it needing paint Id offer 3500 max and that would be after a nice test drive.

[Az3g]

ya, with the neglect to the paint and interior, try hard to talk him down. but just to throw it out there, a TSI or GSX ware I am would be around 5k-6k even in that condition.

[Aemeth]

Thanks for the feedback, I have him talked down to 3k!!! The car however is 300 miles away. Im going to look at it next week and plan on driving it back if all goes well.
Is there anything special/known problems I should be looking at in order to help ensure it makes the trip?

I wish I could post pictures but it would be my luck the owner frequents here. I'll get pics up once ive bought it.

[Az3g]

just listen to the engine for awhile for any bad sounds, and the tranny as well. see when the last oil change was done, and that the air filter is clean and everything. chech the spark plugs. If anything is bad, get it done in town before the ride home. air up the tires if needed.

[junior805]

First of all,
Hello everyone from a new member!
I have built two 13 second Neons 1 of them with a turbo. But now its time to have a new winter project and im sick of FWD Neons, (turboing a non factory turbo car sucks)
With that said it was down to a mustang or a 2g Talon/Eclipse. AWD Turbo sounds much more fun!

Right now im looking at a 1996 Eclipse GSX
Interior is in bad shape (Its all painted up sadly)
Body is in Good Shape, no visible rust, owner says its rust free also but it will need repainting very soon.
Motor is stock and does not leak any fluids. It has 96,000 miles on it.

My question is, Is this car worth $4500..? Or atleast sound like a $4500 eclipse?
I'd hate to get ripped off. TSI's and GSX's are hard to find around where im from but the FWD versions are all dirt cheap.

Anyway thanks for the time and let me know what you think

hmmmmm well i bought a 1997 eclipse gst like it had alot of miles it was 217,000 nd it runes good like its a lil souped up nd i got it for 2,000 shure there wear like a lil oil leaks nd things but thats wats fun right buy a car u want to fix up right ? i think a good price u should tell them at 3,800 it might be more then mine but like i had alot more things in it for way cheaper but i think 3,800 good depends wat it has ;] (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/00000732.gif)

[Az3g]

hmmmmm well i bought a 1997 eclipse gst like it had alot of miles it was 217,000 nd it runes good like its a lil souped up nd i got it for 2,000 shure there wear like a lil oil leaks nd things but thats wats fun right buy a car u want to fix up right ? i think a good price u should tell them at 3,800 it might be more then mine but like i had alot more things in it for way cheaper but i think 3,800 good depends wat it has ;] (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/00000732.gif)

he said he talked him down to 3k already

[Aemeth]

Ok im fairly certain i dont need to be paranoid about the owner being a member here, even so he seems nice enough. After a few emails I asked him all that was wrong with the car and this was his response:

body
the car was originally silver and was painted black so the door jams are still silver.
the car really shines when it is clean, but if you look closely its not perfect. there are about 10 splits in the clearcoat from the heat of the sun. they arent noticable unless you are looking for them, and they are mostly on the top of the car.
there is a dent under the drivers side floor pan where someone before me tryed to jack he car up. the dent is noticable from inside the car but doesnt effect driving.
there is no rust on the car except minor rusting under the car.

Mechanical

-the A/C compressor went bad so i have the pulley disconnected right now i drove it all summer with no a/c and didnt have a problem.
-there is a slight transmission fluid leak and i've narrowed it down to the axel seal on the front drivers side.
-the engine light is on because 1/2 of the O2 sensors is going bad which is very common for tubo cars..
-the last thing is at about 50-60 there is a slight vibration and it doesnt get much worse the faster you go. I havent narrowed that down because it wasnt a big deal to me but i would assume it may be some sway bar seals or something like that.

the car runs great especially if that O2 was working properly im not worried about it driving 300 miles ive never had problems with it overheating. ive never drivin it over 70-80 miles before but it rides pretty nice on the highway. The title is clean but rebuilt. It originally had an auto tranny, i replaced with a 5 speed and a stage 2 clutch installed. 3"downpipe also.

I have him down to $3000.00 and maybe because the deal is close to being struck that im so paranoid =p
Thanks for all the help!

(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/1.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/10.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/11.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/12.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/13.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/2.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/3.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/4.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/5.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/6.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/7.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/8.jpg)
(IMG:http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Achaleon/Eclipse/9.jpg)

[BigJohnson9796]

Whoa that thing needs some TLC....I would grab it though gsx are hard to come accross. It looks good with the doors closed on the outside the interior is really ugly but Im sure you could fix it up and make it real nice. It don look like it needs too much.

[junior805]

idk whats this gata do but ill post a pictiure XD


(IMG:http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/8766/l9528cf2e5b73456aa9ee78.th.jpg)

[Lewiman06]

if you got a fully stock 1996 eclipse GSX w/ 96,xxx miles on it with NO major mechanical problems (engine tranny) for 3 grand you got yourself 1 hell of a deal. considering a running turbo eclipse with any number of miles is 2 grand bottom line, you scored or are about to score big time!

[raveneon]

That car is in much better condition in the pics than I expected however.... the rebuilt title would be enough to scare me away from it. That just screams accident with major damage. The only way I would even consider it is to take it to a quality body shop before purchase and have them assess the true damage and former repairs. After all there must be some reason why an insurance company totaled it out.

BTW: In the first pic (engine bay) is the left side of the engine supposed to sit higher than the right? I know nothing about the 2g so maybe that's normal or maybe its picture distortion.

[Lewiman06]

BTW: In the first pic (engine bay) is the left side of the engine supposed to sit higher than the right? I know nothing about the 2g so maybe that's normal or maybe its picture distortion.

i just noticed that. and NO it is not. maybe a possible bent frame? just take it to a dealer or mech that does an inspection. they may charge you 50 bucks, but either way (good or bad) you'll be happy you did it. also run a compression test yourself. takes like 2 minutes on these cars and will tell the tale of the engine.