Just bought Mitsubishi Eclipse basic RS for $24,000. Good Deal?

[Chris_Anders]

What do you guys think. I paid a total fo 24,000$ for a 2002 Eclipse RS 4cyl with basic everything, extended warenty, gap insurance, and road side assistance. Good deal or no? I'm loving the car, but I was wondering what I should expect in the next year or so regarding how well it holds together.

What did anybody pay for a similar model? Just curious. Happy driving.

 

[Philip Hamm]

What does it matter now? What was the invoice price? What % did you pay over invoice? I mean you've already signed the paperwork, bought the car, paid the price. It's not like you can go and ask for a refund on a new car. Maybe you should have asked for car buying tips before buying the car? Check out www.edmunds.com for lots of information on new cars.
And heck with it, you bought it, just enjoy it now!

And rent the movie "Suckers" before buying another one.

 

[Joel Mack]

Hmmm....

I drove a 2003 Eclipse GS, loaded, with the 4-spd SporTronic tranny a few weeks ago, and I believe the sticker on it was somewhere between $23K and $24K...

 

[Leo Hinze]

I'm with Philip on this one. With buying a car, better late than never does not apply. The odds are you got taken

You now own the car, concentrate on enjoying it!

 

[Justin Doring]

Not to be mean, but it's probably best to ask questions before you purchase something, as it's too late after the fact.

In answer to your question, $24,000 out the door sounds a bit high for an I4 Eclipse, even with everything you got, but if you're happy, that's all that matters. Enjoy your new car!

 

[AviTevet]

Yeah, you got sooooooo taken.
Just kidding... I actually don't know. If you really want to know find a mitsubishi forum and ask around. I would recommend against it

. Just drive it!

 

[John Garcia]

I just don't like those cars, so whatever you paid is too much. From DSM, it's the EVO or nothing.

For another $800 you could have had a WRX.

 

[Joel Mack]

For another $800 you could have had a WRX.

Bleah. They'd have to pay me $800 to take one. I know a lot of folk around here like them, but the WRX does absolutely zilch for me...

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I have a 96' mirage. It cost me $3250 and had 27,000 miles on it. So in my opinion: You misspent $21,750 that could have been better allocated towards a new Ducati S4 Monster, Sony Grand WEGA, or anything else really.
As long as I earn my money (if I win the lotto, sure, I'll take a cab to the Porsche dealer) I'll stick with used cars. You don't even get any reach-around when they bone you for $20,000+ on a new car. Just my $.02

 

[John Garcia]

The car I am driving right now is used also, and I paid $2300 cash for it. RWD, plenty of torque, easy to work on, and easy on insurance. Slapped on decent tires, KYB shocks/struts, Eibach springs, and the thing is a blast to drive daily. Nissan 240SX fastback - S13, KA24DE - 150HP, 155tq. It's an entertaining little daily driver. Can't beat it for the price.

Bleah. They'd have to pay me $800 to take one. I know a lot of folk around here like them, but the WRX does absolutely zilch for me...

I didn't say I liked the WRX...

But I'll take it over any DSM except the EVO.

 

[AjayM]

I sure hope that $24k is in Canadian money....

ECLIPSE RS INVOICE RETAIL

EC24-G Coupe 3D (5-Spd.) 16864.88 18087.00

Destination Charge 555.00 555.00

Total 17419.88 18642.00

There are no options on the car, just an extra freight charge to Alaska.

So, where did the extra $5358 go?

Andrew

 

[Yee-Ming]

**sob sob**
2 years ago I paid (or should I say bought on hire purchase over 7 years) a new plain vanilla Lancer 1.6 GLXi for S$90,000. That's in Singapore Dollars. The exchange rate today is about US$1 to S$1.8. You do the math...
Mind you, that was a reasonable price, Toyota Corollas were going for almost S$100K at the time. Cars are just sooooooo expensive here...

 

[Charles J P]

Well, I would take an eclipse over a WRX at this point. A search of the After Hours Lounge will reveal that I have asked for opinions about 5-10 different cars here trying to feel out what kind of new vehicle is right for me, and I eventually started asking questions at the two big subaru forums (i-club and clubwrx) about WRX reliability since it seems like lots of people are having transmission problems, check engine light problems, door/window/and seat rattles, etc. One of the mods over there was the first one to reply and said dont worry about it, subbies are built well. Then about a week later, I saw him posting in a thread called Top 10 things you wish the dealer would have told you. He was posting things like "the check engine light goes off every time the wind changes" and all other sorts of apperently well known and common problems. I was pretty dissapointed. I guess most of the people that own the WRX are willing to overlook quality for the sake of performance. I will probably be looking for a Honda, Toyota or maybe Mazda instead.
Be happy with the Mitsu, its a good car.
Speaking of bad car buying experience, I had a high-school friend who was looking to trade an old beat up Barretta for a newer used car. He was just looking on the lot and got suckered into buying that day. The Barretta had major engine problems and he was really surprised that they offered him $3500 for it. Then when he got his 95 Mazda MX-6 home, he found out he paid $6,000 over blue book!

and it turned out to be not that great of a car.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Well, I would take an eclipse over a WRX at this point. A search of the After Hours Lounge will reveal that I have asked for opinions about 5-10 different cars here trying to feel out what kind of new vehicle is right for me, and I eventually started asking questions at the two big subaru forums (i-club and clubwrx) about WRX reliability since it seems like lots of people are having transmission problems, check engine light problems, door/window/and seat rattles, etc. One of the mods over there was the first one to reply and said dont worry about it, subbies are built well. Then about a week later, I saw him posting in a thread called Top 10 things you wish the dealer would have told you. He was posting things like "the check engine light goes off every time the wind changes" and all other sorts of apperently well known and common problems. I was pretty dissapointed. I guess most of the people that own the WRX are willing to overlook quality for the sake of performance. I will probably be looking for a Honda, Toyota or maybe Mazda instead.

Charles, don't base your opinion on the WRX on the opinions of a few interne owners. Read surveys such as Consumer Reports where they have analysed many cars for reliability and determined base on statistically significant research. Scoobies are exceptionally well built cars.

 

[John Garcia]

First year of any model almost always has issues, it's almost a given that something will go wrong. It's just that you don't often hear about some of these "quiet" recalls unless you own one of the offending cars.

The engine in the current WRX should have no issues, as it is basically a carry over, and it is a very good engine. Not sure about the tranny. I know a few people who have Rexs, and they are happy in general with them. I drove it, and I was not impressed with it, as stated in the WRX vs Integra Type R post, so I didn't buy it.

I also agree with Philip, the people who are complaining about the WRX throwing codes an CELs, are also likely getting them because they are modifying their cars and many new engine management systems don't like mods.

I would never go so far as to say that Scoobies are unreliable or bad cars. I wouldn't even have gone to test drive the WRX if I felt that way.

 

[CharlesD]

Didn't consumer reports give the WRX an excellent rating?
The thing to remember about car-forums on the net is that people will go there to complain or to get help with a problem. They don't tend to post that they are not having problems....
For instance I have never posted on i-club about how I have never had a check engine light on my WRX, that the transmission has had no problems, that I don't have any paint problems, that my insurance rates are reasonable, that there are no rattling noises in my car, that the seats are comfortable etc. etc.

 

[CharlesD]

John,

This is the second model year for the current version of the WRX. It was sold in Europe, Japan, Australia etc for a year or so before becoming available in the US last spring.

 

[John Garcia]

I suppose that's true. Still not impressed with it. Hopefully the USDM version of the STi will live up to expectations.

 

[CharlesD]

John, what don't you like about it?

 

[Jared_B]

Don't believe anything you read on the internet!