Faults:

Rear seat seams tore near the headrests. Problem fixed by sewing them back together.

Transmission is beginning to catch sometimes; will sometimes not shift into 3rd gear without some effort.

General Comments:

The first thing you notice about the Eagle Summit ES Sedan is that its styling is rather advanced for its age. If you didn't know that the car was no longer being produced, you might be fooled into thinking it's a later model auto than it really is. It really isn't a bad looking car for a 1993 economy sedan.

The tires could stand to be larger. Handling is not great but is probably on par with other economy vehicles of its size. The transmission has been a problem since day one; it occassionally slips or does not shift properly.

Above 55 or 60 mph, cabin noise is increased significantly and the engine sounds like its racing a bit too hard. (It's impossible to really tell though, as this car does not have a tachometer).

The Summit gets good gas mileage and has so far been fairly reliable. It would make a good first car for a teenager who has a limited amount of money to spend. I got mine as a hand-me-down from my grandmother in 1999; hence the insanely low mileage.

Faults:

When I first bought the car (used) there was a rattling noise coming from under the car, but I drove the car right from the dealer to my friend who is a mechanic and he cut off a loose covering that wasn't needed and what was causing the rattle.

The coolant was leaking when I first bought it, but my friend ran a whole inspection and fixed the timing belt, which was loose, and the coolant hole. So now there are no problems mechanically.

The two headrests on the two back seats had seams fraying, a problem I've noticed on nearly every Summit I've seen on the Internet. I had the seams sewed so now it looks as good as new!

General Comments:

This car is extremely well built and the previous owner took excellent care of this car (the same care I give my car, not quite as good though ;) )

The car gets loud at a certain speed, so cabin noise is higher than midsize or large sedans, but it's not that big of an issue.

The interior of the car is very nice for an economy subcompact sedan. It's very neat and clean looking, and very well maintained. The rear seating is spacious for a subcompact, and the trunk is huge.

Acceleration is one of the only major downsides to this car. Accelerating from a stop is ridiculously slow, and a little embarrassing when the old Buick behind you passes you because you aren't quite going fast enough yet! However, the car will easily accelerate once it gets to somewhere around 30-40 MPH.

The car handles very well for its size with one exception. It doesn't take corners very well, a result of it's very small tires, something I wish were larger because the car would look even better if they were larger. It also would greatly improve cornering. But on the road it stays in the lane and it is incredibly easy to park, due to its smaller size, so squeezing in parking spots between two Escalades isn't a problem!

The overall design of the car is very advanced for the year this car was made. In 1993 many American sedans as well as European and Japanese were still very boxy. This was the first year Mitsubishi started making the new generation of the Summits/Colts/Mirages, before that it was an ugly hatchback design. Many people I know due to the overall look of the car and the excellent quality swore the car couldn't be older than a 1996. That's a wonderful complement, since you're getting an early 90s car that looks like it came out 3-4 years later. The spoiler on the back is a very nice touch, and it just adds a sporty look to the car.