FWD, cheap on gas, sporty

the only disadvantage is the back seat space, but its a coupe and the little back space and weight does pay off. besides i only worry about driving MYSELF to school.

i honestly LOVE the mitsubishi eclipse and just recently bought a 2009 last summer. the eclipse is my second car for i have recked my first car (08 mustang). if i ever have both cars at hand i will choose the eclipse over the stang. its more reasonable at price, small so its quick to clean, and cheap on gas. it has that sporty look without the sporty price. most people dont like the eclipse but i love it because its unique and different and im the type of trend-settler who likes unique and different.just in my town alone every mile carries at least about 4 mustangs. but when i drive my baby she make people turn heads!some people even talk to me at gas stations begging to learn more about the eclipse. i am 16 and my parents feels more comfortable of me driving my new car for they dont have to worry about me speeding down the highways or nothing. but dont fool yourself the eclipse do have enough power to pass a couple of vehicles in a few seconds if necessary. secondly this car is a fwd so it can get me through all the bad weather for when i go to school, more dependable than the rwd mustang. this is the PERFECT car for a teenager. Parents you will not find anything better than this! unless you want your teen to ride around in a off balance mercury or something. ;) so go ahead and make plans in getting a new exotic mitsubishi eclipse you will be satisfied.

Poor materials and design makes maintenance and repair a nightmare. You can't do anything yourself on the car because of how screwed up the engine compartment is. Parts and labor end up costing way too much.

DO NOT BUY A MITSUBISHI! I got my Eclipse used with 20k miles on it. For the first few years I really enjoyed it, it was a fun car. But as the miles have gone up I've had nothing but problems. The car eats alternators and batteries. The radiator busted and had to be replaced. The timing belt cost $900 to replace. The spark plugs have to be replaced by a mechanic because everything has to be taken off the engine to reach the rear 3, at a cost of over $600 (mostly labor). Something hit the underside of the car on the freeway and punctured the gas tank. It's bad enough that Mitsubishi is so cheap that they use a plastic gas tank with no protective shield. But the replacement will cost $1,700!!!

I've paid off the car, yet I feel upside down on it because the money I'm spending in repairs and maintenance adds up to more than the thing is worth.

I will never, ever consider buying a Mitsubishi car again. Ever.

Good gas mileage. I've gotton 25-27 mainly driving in the country. Looks great

interior plastic is cheap and i'm afraid to go too fast in fear of breaking something.

I've had my eclipse for about 3 months. So far it has been great. Although the heater core is partialy plugged up so the heat doesn't work great but it is ok.

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Power, price and design.

Need additional power socket and easy iPod connection.

I’m not a dealer and I did buy this new Mitsubishi 2009 Eclipse GT Spyder and I strongly recommend it.

I set out to buy a Honda 2000, as I have owned Acuras since 1992 and still own a 2004 Acura TL, or a BMW M4 roadster. Mitsubishi hadn’t really crossed my mind and I suspect that’s a result of poor marketing by the manufacturer. Edmunds website alerted me to the vehicle and therefore I included it on the list and thank God I did. The Edmunds review gave it a fair review but didn’t mention or emphasize all the features of the vehicle. Suggesting that the rear seat is small on a roadster is a foolish comment, there are no good rear seats in roadsters at this price point but the Eclipse is certainly one of the better ones and, I quote from Edmunds, “However, while the 2009 Spyder's styling and power help set it apart, its practicality pales when compared with other four-seat convertibles.” And then suggests that you look at the Sebring! Does anyone looking for a roadster look at Sebrings?

There is no doubt if you want the most power, lowest price for a roadster then the Mustang is without doubt the best out there but living in NJ, where we get snow occasionally, I wanted front wheel drive and so the Mustang was not an option.

Here are my criteria that were met by the Eclipse. The Eclipse numbers are in paretheses.

1. It had to have decent horse power and that meant for me at least 250 HP. (265)
2. I wanted space enough for a golf bag in the trunk and possibly one behind the driver seats. (Both golf bags fit, one in the trunk and one in the back seat)
3. Safety, I wanted side air bags. (Eclipse has two)
4. Price was not an issue but value for money was. ($30,500 for this car is incredible)
5. Engine size was important as I wanted to keep this for a long time and figured that the bigger engine would be taxed less and last longer. (3.8 V6)
6. A/C had to be included. Driving on a hot rainy day in summer is no fun with the hood up and no A/C. (Included in the Eclipse)
7. A warranty that was as good as I could get. (5 years/60,000 mile bumper to bumper, 100,000 mile on drive train. That’s some warranty).
8. It had to look cool. Sebrings and Solaras just don’t do it for me but I did look at the A4 and Saab 9-3.
9. A powered roof system and a solid tonneau shelf was critical. I didn’t want those vinyl bag things. (The roof system is incredible, 20 secs to open or close and a fully sealed solid shelf tonneau when the roof is down).
10. A spare tire was necessary. Note the Solstice doesn’t have one but does have a puncture repair system. (The Eclipse has a doughnut tire in the trunk).

These were the important features I had on my list. I think the car looks very cool but that’s always a personal and objective issue. The radio is more than adequate even though you need to install a cable for iPod use. It drives incredibly well and has great acceleration very similar to my Acura TL with similar steering performance as they are both FWD. We have had adults in the back seat and it was OK for short journeys. The Driver and passenger front seats are great and have huge amounts of leg room. It was amazing how much room was in this car. It was possible to talk and be heard with the roof down at high speeds especially with the windows up. I would prefer a speedo with every ten MPH marked for ease of viewing in speed restricted areas but that was a small issue. Rear window viewing is restricted but you learn to use your wing mirrors more efficiently and I would have liked an additional power outlet. Using steering wheel controls took a little getting used to as they are at the back of the steering wheel but once you are used to it, it is easy to operate. A very useful remote tire pressure gauge and warning system is included and an anti theft device is installed.

This is a great car for the money. The “Germans” are great cars but by the time you add in some basic features you quickly get to well over $40K.

Here’s a summary of what I looked at.

1. BMW M4 3.0L 215HP 2 Seater
Good trunk space no back seat. Power roof.
List $38K $36K Typical

2. Saab 9-3 2.0L 210HP 2+2 seater
Good trunk space and rear seats
List $44.6K $44.6K Typical

3. Mitsubishi Eclipse GT 3.8L 265 HP 2+2 seater
Good trunk space. Takes a golf bag. Power roof.
List $30.5K $30.5K Typical

4. Pontiac Solstice GXP 2.0L 260 HP 2 seater
Poor trunk space and manual roof
List $31.4K $31K Typical

5. Ford Mustang 4.6L 300HP 2+2 seater
Can squeeze a golf bag into the trunk. Can use bag seat also.
List $33K $32.4K Typical

6. Mazda Miata 2.0L 158HP 2 Seater
trunk space is OK but no rear seat space at all
$28.4K $27K Typical

Honda S2000 2.2L 237HP 2 Seater
Trunk space limited no rear seat space
List $35K $32K Typical

Toyota Camry Solara 3.3L 210HP 4 seater
Space was more than adequate but this is no roadster.
List $32.5K $30K Typical

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good gas mileage
fun to drive, lots of pickup
not too expensive
seems to last a while with routine maintence

crappy factory radio
BAD BAD paint

I bought a preowned eclipse back in 2002 and must say I've been very happy with it. Up until the last few months all I've had is basic wear and tear problems. A few months ago I did have to fix the transmission and replace the original clutch but the car does have over 150000 miles so I knew it was only a matter of time. One problem I will say is from what I've read on similar review boards is that all Eclipses with darker paint (mine is black) the paint starts to fade and chip off so you see the silverish undercoat. I've heard this is a factory defect, but luckily for me my father has a friend who does body work on the side so I won't have to pay the thousands to paint it somewhere else. I think no matter what type of car you buy it's always a crapshoot whether it's gonna last 150000 miles or start to fall apart at 30000 miles. I've also never experienced any problems with the interior of the car, dash is fine, sunroof is fine, though I will say the factory radio is a piece of crap. All in all I must say I've been very happy with this purchase.

Engine, brakes & overall value. Decent 26+ mpg considering big V6.

Intermittant electrical problem with steering controls for the CD/Radio. Tires squeal at first sign of any hard corning. Body/paint work maybe a little fragile.

Already owned a 93 Honda Prelude si when I purchased Eclipse. The Eclipse feels bigger, mainly wider, & obviously stronger engine performance. The Honda beats Eclipse in handling being much more nimble & tighter round the corners. The Eclipse sways more round corners, although it still a very acceptable GT feel. However, the oem tires squeal at the first sign of any agressive cornering, well before they should. Hopefully aftermarket tires will kill the premature squeal. Brakes are fab, even with the oem tires. Gearbox is a little notchy & slow but very solid quality feel.
Only warranty issue I have had is an intermittant electrical problem with the left channel up/dwn control on the steering wheel for the stereo control...it wrongly adjusts the volume and/or adjusts the channel/track select in the wrong direction. Dealer replaced left control but it's still faulty on many occassions of use. They also upgraded the ECU firmware as part of a recall on damaged warm up cats. I'm also not too impressed by the integrity of the body/paint work. My Honda seems to withstand front stone chips to better degree on the front hood area.

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-Very fast
-Ungodly amount of aftermarket parts
-Blast to drive with the top down on a sunny day
-Attention getter
-Gas milage for a turbo'd convertible

-Reliability
-Mitsubishi customer service
-Crankwalking
-Horrible alternator
-Terrible in snow or rain
-Once one thing breakings, its a damn waterfall one thing after another
-Transmission needs replacing at 80k when with non-aggressive driving
-Engine crankwalks around 100k-120k depending on driving style
-WAY to small intercooler
-Turbo lag boosting at 15psi

This car is great to look at and drive when it works. I bought this car with 80K on it. The first month was a living hell. I replaced the engine mounts, water pump, timing belt, alternator, turbo, and transmission. After the $6000 I dropped in the first month, I thought it would be a decent car now.....WRONG. Within 3 weeks of having all these repairs done, I ended up replacing the engine due to "crankwalking" You DSM people know about this. That cost me $5000. The alternator sucks! I replaced it three times within a period of one year. Multiple belt replacements. Good thing about this car is that its VERY fast and has MANY MANY aftermarket parts. Everything from custom turbo kits to door spill neons to NOS packages. Thats all this car has going for it. I have spent well over $16,000 on this car. $14,000 of that was just to keep the car running. I had an Alpine DVD player, Evo 3 16G turbo, and 17" chrome rims. The Reliability on this car is possibly even worse than a 1993 Ford Taurus with 150k on it. I have never been so scared to wake up and go to work because I didn't know if my car would start. Sure, it gets attention. Sure, you can beat a Honda Civic with it. But come on with all the time and money you will spend on this car, it ain't worth it. I could probably afford a Mercedes by now if it wasn't for this car

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the choice to be in auto or manual decent accel

belts start to sqeak after 35000 miles and drop top has mech problems

its a great car but has more downs than ups

6 disc CD changer, moon roof, cruise control

Transmission has problems, car doesn't run as well when the air conditioning is on, cup holder is in an awkward spot.. if what is in there is too tall, it's difficult to shift.

3 weeks after I purchased this car, it was in the shop with transmission problems. I had trouble shifting into 2nd gear, and when it would go into 2nd, it would grind. It was in the shop for 2 weeks, the master and slave cylinders were changed and I was told there was nothing else wrong with it. It doesn't grind anymore, but still doesn't shift right. Sometimes it will try to stall on me between 1st and 2nd gears, at around 15 mph... I need a 1 1/2 gear! :) If I could go back 7 months, I would have kept looking for another car.

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1997 Ford Escort, 1991 Ford Escort, 1988 Ford Escort, 1987 Plymouth Turismo, 1980 Buick Skylark, 1984 Chevrolet Celebrity, 1981 Buick Century

Great gas mileage, LOVE the way it looks, drives pretty quietly, easily upgradeable power.

Minor defects, the usual stuff you'd expect from a car this old and with this many miles on it.

I traded my 2000 Dodge Neon in for this car because the Neon started falling apart about a year after I bought it brand new. I got my Eclipse and fell completely in love with it. It's not a new car, around 140,000 miles now, but I've yet to have any major problems with it. The stock speakers were blown when I got it, the sunroof started rattling and leaked for awhile but I tightened some screws on it and haven't had a problem since. It does have a little quirk where it can pop out of reverse for some reason, no idea why but I've heard it's a common problem. Overall, million times happier with this car than the brand new Neon I bought in 2000. It looks better, rides better, and I'm not worried it's going to leave me on the side of the road.

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