im thinking about buying a second gen eclipse and i was wondering if you guys knew how reliable they are...like for example how many miles could i get out of one before lots of major things start failing and i need to start putting more money into it then its worth?

theres a few things to take into account.

do you want a turbo or not?
if yes do you want all wheel drive or not

if no do you want a 420a or a 4g63 (RS or GS)

they can run 200K pretty commonly, you have to stay up on the timing belts and water pumps (60k or so)
turbo's tend to burn oil, but not a big deal. all around they are a good car for a DD

um.. the GS still has the 420a

Well...how's your RS treating you?

reliability isn't the strong point of these cars. mostly the fault of the owner

the turbo model you will get 30 miles before the first problem occurs and then another 30 until the next one, and then another 40 before it sits a year because you got the power bug and you are building the engine to handle 600hp :P

the non turbo cars you will get up to 180k miles as you mod along the way

I've had my GS non turbo (420a) for two years and no major problems. I'm about to install the turbo kit I have for it, then I'll let you know. :)

i havent officially bought it yet, im in the process rihght now im drinving a 2000 Audi A4 Quattro but ive always loved 2nd gen eclipses so i decided that id buy one im just trying to reassure myself that im making a good choice lol

if its your audi your going to kick your self in the head for getting the eclipse.

+1 keep the audi. unless the eclipse will be your weekend warrior and the audi your dd

i havent decided if im going to keep the audi yet ive been having alot of front end suspension problems and its starting to cost a lot to fix it all

I would keep the audi. if you get the eclipse be ready for problem after problem after problem with the engine and tranny. I have had never ending problems with my 1g talon and 2g eclipse.

Because German cars aren't the absolute worst cars reliably ever.


You've had issues maybe the car was a lemon from the start get over it.

Heck man, there is one guy on here that bought a 1G brand new, taook religious care of it and never did any mods. He posted a while back sayint he had 230,000 miles on it.

So... The car is reliable.... People are what F them up.

my 1.8 has 180000 miles on the factory motor and only thing to ever go wrong was the thermostat went out (2 dollar fix) lol

reliability was something i seriously looked into before buying my GSX. when you get right down to it, it all depends on how well its been taken care of. ill use my car as an example and tell you all thats happened, reliability wise, with it:

engine and transmission were rebuilt 30xxx miles ago by the previous owner, and has a few goodies thrown in along with that, including a new clutch and smooth-shift kit; the engine had the balance shafts reduced. safe to say, i have never had a problem with the engine or transmission with my car. i have owned the car for almost a year, and these two components have been excellent.

problems i have encountered:

had to replace an axle; the boot was completely gone. was like that when i bought it.

oil pan has a *very* small leak. did this when i bought it. RTV was used when reinstalling the oil pan instead of a regular gasket. ive kept a close eye on this leak, and because it is so small, have no intention of going through the trouble to fix it.

the interior, while clean, has a few panels that no longer fit together very well. surprisingly, the only part of my interior that rattles is the only part that isnt stock: the **** boost gauge. dont really know if you would consider this an issue of reliability or not, but i figured it was worth throwing in.

the AC doesnt work. the system doesnt have freon. I dont know if the system has a leak or not, the car didnt have freon when i bought it.

the front shocks squeak like a mofo

these last 4 are the only issues i have had that i didnt know about when i bought the car:

power steering pump started leaking a few weeks after i got the car. i replaced that myself, and no problems thus far.

the stock radiator exploded a week after getting the car. i took that opportunity to install a metal radiator. all-metal radiators own j00.

the MAS died a month or so after i got the car. it took me forever to pinpoint the problem. a new MAS solved the problem beautifully. on this topic, my idle is anything buy consistent, so i think my TPS might be on the way out. im keeping an eye on that...

my coolant hoses keep blowing up. i blew the first racing a Hummer 2 (still won), i blew the second showing off for a friend, and the last one i just got done replacing today; it wasnt busted yet, but it had a nice bulge going, so i replaced it before it got around to blowing up. after 18 years, that old rubber just isnt cutting it anymore.

depending on what 2nd gen you are looking into, this info might be pertinent, or might be completely useless. i dont think my car shares anything with the 2nd gen RS/GS. at least with a GST/X the engine is the same. so, take it or leave it, thats how reliable (or unreliable) my GSX has been since ive gotten it. its been reliable enough to daily drive, so these issues arent too bad.

I have a 96 RS and was taken care of religiously by my aunt. Got it for 800 in October and the only thing that has broken on it is the ball joint. Took it into the dealership and they fixed it for free because it was on recall. Only problem is they only did one side, so now the otherside is going out, or so it feels.

I only raced it once against my brother in a Ford Ranger (01 I think) with a V6. Was pretty proud of myself too when I was pulling away in 2nd gear, but I missed 3rd, and he ended up winning...

Oh, and my radiator leaks across the top where the plastic and metal meet.
And I have a small oil leak, no idea why yet.

Other than that, I would say they are very reliable.

nah its not a lemon lots of the older A4s have front end suspension problems...i have the money to keep on fixing it its just getting to be a pain to do it

I was talking to some one else.

ull have the same issue with a eclipse unless u maintain it like it a new born baby. this is my second eclipse and both i have had to replace a motot in cuz the person i bought it fron didnt maintain it and after i get it runnin again i kept up the maitance and all was good u can even ask 2 ppl on this forums and they will tell u that the car still runs great n has no issue but as every one else had said maintain it well n ull get a long lastin car. beat the piss out of it and ull fix every week