I bought a used 2003 eclipse for $6750. The dealer wanted $6950 for it. The radio was messed up so he gave me $200 off.The car had 71,000 on it. I purchsed a 1995 many years ago, I paid about $10,000 for it. I have been well pleased with the eclipses. I have gotten good service out of them so far. Of course the maintenance has been kept up.
I'm not really good in cars.. and in fact I'm just about to buy my first car ever! I've found this really nice looking eclipse and the guy wants to sell it for $5300 (maybe he will go down to 5000$)
Do you think it's the fair price for this car with such mileage? The car has also some extra music system and tri-tronic transmission..
I had them install the iPod connection for nothing and the vehicle came with Vredestein Ultrac tires on 19" TSW Croft rims included.
Minus $3000 cash back,
My price $22891
I purchased it from Braeger Mitsubishi and then transported to me for $525. The sale was smooth and the salesman ALWAYS called back when promised. Real nice guy and the company cared more about my satisfaction as a customer than the sale price of the car. He even offered to pick me up from the airport in Chicago and drive me back to Greenfield, WI.
I am a girl in need of advise. Looking to buy an Eclipse with 141,000 miles on it for 3800.00. Car is in excellent condition. Ad is as folows 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT V6 Automatic. It currently has 141xxx well taken care of miles on it. It is in great condition. This beauty has cold ac, all tan leather interior, a sportronic shifter (meaning that you can go from automatic to stick.), a four disc cd changer, tape player, power seat, power windows, power locks, cruise control, a sunroof. Please any advice would be taken graciously. It is a beautiful car inside and out.
With any high mileage car, the care & maintenance that it's received is going to count for a lot when it comes to how reliable you can hope it to be going forward. I'd suggest asking to see copies of the maintenance records, paying closest attention to the major service intervals (30/60/90/120K miles) and making sure the routine stuff like oil changes were done on time (doesn't have to be exact; just close).
At 60K & 120K there should have been a timing belt change.
There should probably, though I can't confirm, be a transmission fluid change in there somewhere (some trans are lifetime on their fluids; some aren't). Refer to the owners manual (hopefully the seller still has it) to confirm.
If it hasn't happened yet, around 140K might be time for a water pump replacement. This isn't a routine maintenance item but in general, 120-150K is a reasonable life expectancy. That said, if it hasn't been done it wouldn't keep me from buying; just something to consider as a possible future maintenance item.
As to the car itself & Mitsubishis in general, I don't see any problems. I'm a two-time Mitsu owner ('99 Galant and '10 Outlander) and like the brand. I've not had any reliability issues. My Galant, BTW, shares the engine (and platform and other components) with the Eclipse. I had 152K miles on the Galant when I sold it to buy the Outlander. Everything still worked just fine, but after over 10 years in one car I was simply ready for a change.
On the car specifically, look to see if it's had aftermarket engine modifications. If so, there's a higher chance that it's been driven hard. That wouldn't rule out buying it as long as the maintenance is done, but a driven-hard car + minimal maintenance would tell me to look elsewhere.
A week ago I purchased my second Eclipse (traded in a 2001 Eclipse RS w/auto transmission and 89000 miles for 2009 Eclipse GS w/auto trans and 20,400).
Nothing was wrong with the 2001. In the last year I put in a new battery and put on four new tires. After driving the 2001 for 9 years, I was at the point where I was ready for something new. The 2009 is a great ride. It's quite a looker. The dash and dials are so retro European. I can see myself keeping it as long as the 2001.
With my trade in, the bottom line on the 2009 Eclipse was 14,000.00 What kind of deal did I get?
DO NOT buy from this dealer. They are crooks and will give you the run around. They will add other services to your contract and confuse you with it. They will also rush you on signing so you don't get the chance to question the other charges. They will accept your offers and then add charges without telling you. Beware! Go some place else.
I bought a black convertible with 17k miles for $5500 garaged and detailed every year. I had to use the car for the past year added 8k miles been stored the last 6 months any advice on the maintenance? I plan on storing it every winter from now on only putting 3or 4 k miles on it a year. My first rag top!!!
goose56, since it's gone a day with no replies I'm going to suggest you ask your questions about long-term storage in a car maintenance thread that's more general to long-term storage.
I've never had a pleasure car that spent time in storage, but off the top of my head I'd say some things to consider are resting the car on jack stands to prevent the tires from getting flat spots, running out as much gas as you can before storing/gas stabilizers, whether or not to drain the oil when you store it so you start the summer season with a fresh change, whether or not to use a cover, and surface protectants (tires, ragtop, upholstery).
Ok, so I've been searching around looking for a reliable life expectancy for the 2000 Eclipse and have found a wide range of answers (from 150k-240k). This car I have been looking at for quite some time and tests great on the road. There are no known problems with it and seems to be in great condition. I keep up with my car maintenance and was wondering if it seemed like a good investment for $4000. I don't want to get into a bad investment. However, I realize I'm most likely am not going to get up to 220k+ miles but hope to get quite a bit of mileage. Some guidance would be much appreciated!!
My last car was a '99 Galant. The Eclipse is basically a Galant Coupe; they use the same underlying platform & have powertrains and lots of non-cosmetic bits in common.
I had the '99 for 10.5 years & 152K miles. I did the routine maintenance, proactively replaced the water pump at 120K, and otherwise had just one actual mechanical repair (leaking gasket) & one other (replaced a blown speaker). Everything from the AC to the power windows & sunroof still worked.
I had no reason to expect it wouldn't be good for another 50-100K miles or even longer, but after 10 years I was simply ready for something else.
It was reliable enough that I bought another Mitsu - an Outlander - to replace it.
As to buying an Eclipse, first I wouldn't call any car purchase an investment unless it's a rare collectible. Cars are expenses. Second, it's hard to judge if $4K is reasonable without more information. Is that a 4 cyl or V6 model? MT or AT? What trim line and major options does it have? How many miles are already on it? Pricing can also vary across regions, so "third", what state/major city are you in/near?
If cost is a concern, you might also check in to what insurance will run. There was a discussion recently about how coupes can be more expensive to insure than their sedan counterparts.
Comments
thanks in advance
For that car with 71000 miles Edmunds lists the following TMVs by trim level:
RS--$6500
GS--$7000
GT--$8000
GTS--$9000
So depending on the trim level you got a pretty good deal.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
I'm not really good in cars.. and in fact I'm just about to buy my first car ever!
I've found this really nice looking eclipse and the guy wants to sell it for $5300 (maybe he will go down to 5000$)
Do you think it's the fair price for this car with such mileage? The car has also some extra music system and tri-tronic transmission..
thanks very much for any help!
MSRP $28823
Price paid $25891
I had them install the iPod connection for nothing and the vehicle came with Vredestein Ultrac tires on 19" TSW Croft rims included.
Minus $3000 cash back,
My price $22891
I purchased it from Braeger Mitsubishi and then transported to me for $525. The sale was smooth and the salesman ALWAYS called back when promised. Real nice guy and the company cared more about my satisfaction as a customer than the sale price of the car. He even offered to pick me up from the airport in Chicago and drive me back to Greenfield, WI.
Real-World Trade-In Values
Someone may be able to help you..
regards,
kyfdx
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At 60K & 120K there should have been a timing belt change.
There should probably, though I can't confirm, be a transmission fluid change in there somewhere (some trans are lifetime on their fluids; some aren't). Refer to the owners manual (hopefully the seller still has it) to confirm.
If it hasn't happened yet, around 140K might be time for a water pump replacement. This isn't a routine maintenance item but in general, 120-150K is a reasonable life expectancy. That said, if it hasn't been done it wouldn't keep me from buying; just something to consider as a possible future maintenance item.
As to the car itself & Mitsubishis in general, I don't see any problems. I'm a two-time Mitsu owner ('99 Galant and '10 Outlander) and like the brand. I've not had any reliability issues. My Galant, BTW, shares the engine (and platform and other components) with the Eclipse. I had 152K miles on the Galant when I sold it to buy the Outlander. Everything still worked just fine, but after over 10 years in one car I was simply ready for a change.
On the car specifically, look to see if it's had aftermarket engine modifications. If so, there's a higher chance that it's been driven hard. That wouldn't rule out buying it as long as the maintenance is done, but a driven-hard car + minimal maintenance would tell me to look elsewhere.
A week ago I purchased my second Eclipse (traded in a 2001 Eclipse RS w/auto transmission and 89000 miles for 2009 Eclipse GS w/auto trans and 20,400).
Nothing was wrong with the 2001. In the last year I put in a new battery and put on four new tires. After driving the 2001 for 9 years, I was at the point where I was ready for something new. The 2009 is a great ride. It's quite a looker. The dash and dials are so retro European. I can see myself keeping it as long as the 2001.
With my trade in, the bottom line on the 2009 Eclipse was 14,000.00 What kind of deal did I get?
I've never had a pleasure car that spent time in storage, but off the top of my head I'd say some things to consider are resting the car on jack stands to prevent the tires from getting flat spots, running out as much gas as you can before storing/gas stabilizers, whether or not to drain the oil when you store it so you start the summer season with a fresh change, whether or not to use a cover, and surface protectants (tires, ragtop, upholstery).
I had the '99 for 10.5 years & 152K miles. I did the routine maintenance, proactively replaced the water pump at 120K, and otherwise had just one actual mechanical repair (leaking gasket) & one other (replaced a blown speaker). Everything from the AC to the power windows & sunroof still worked.
I had no reason to expect it wouldn't be good for another 50-100K miles or even longer, but after 10 years I was simply ready for something else.
It was reliable enough that I bought another Mitsu - an Outlander - to replace it.
As to buying an Eclipse, first I wouldn't call any car purchase an investment unless it's a rare collectible. Cars are expenses. Second, it's hard to judge if $4K is reasonable without more information. Is that a 4 cyl or V6 model? MT or AT? What trim line and major options does it have? How many miles are already on it? Pricing can also vary across regions, so "third", what state/major city are you in/near?
If cost is a concern, you might also check in to what insurance will run. There was a discussion recently about how coupes can be more expensive to insure than their sedan counterparts.