1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse Reviews - Page 5 of 11

The power steering belt snapped about two months after I got the car.

The brakes are squeaky lately.

Something broke under the undercarriage, I'm not sure what it was. It was scraping against the ground for about forty miles until I was able to do anything about it. I was told it was the muffler cover.

Although this is my second car I have owned, it is not the second I have driven. It is the best car I have ever driven.

It seems to handle very well.

Its pretty fast and I was able to beat a dodge neon, but I lost to a Ford F-350.

Girls love looking at my car, and guys love looking under the hood explaining what to do with it.

The engine runs great, but I had problems with the convertible top frame. I had to replace the arms that were bent & the middle cross-member of the frame. There is an update to the cross-member return that I purchased. Total cost of top frame parts was about $400.00.

The radio was shot & the speakers were blown out & had to be replaced. It was easy to replace both.

The front of the car is low & the paint was scraped due to pulling too close to parking stops.

I bought this as a second vehicle & I love the way it looks & handles.

Red & black seat covers improved the interior looks.

Altezza taillights brighted up the rear end.

The seats could be a little more comfortable.

This is the Eclipse Spyder soft top.

Had the car less than a week and the convertible frame rubbed a hole through the top. Dealer had the car in the shop a week to replace the top.

Then came the oil leaks. Dealer replaced the valve cover gasket, oil pump and a plethora of other parts they could begin to list. The oil leak went away.

FM side of the Infinity stereo became intermittent, then quit. Factory 10 CD changer went nuts and died.

Door arm rest switches (controls for power windows, door locks, window locks, etc.) fell inside door. Found the plastic mounting posts were disintegrating. Ordered up a replacement door armrest and installed it. Side view mirror joy stick adjustment mounts, both sides (inside car) cracking.

We are now in the 6th year of ownership. Recently replaced the top and headliner. The side link bars in the soft top frame bent (poor design) and pulled the staples out of the front bar of the soft top. Damaged the headliner, too. $1000 job ($750 to Kee Tops in N.C. and $250 to a local upholstery shop to install)

Wife said front brakes making noise (just replaced 2 years ago). Pulled right front wheel - rotor and pads shot. Same for left side. Could not pull the rotor off using the recommended T bar type puller (rust between the hub and rotor) and ended up using an axle puller - which pulled the hub bearings apart. This could have been prevented with 10 cents worth of Permatex Anti Seize. ($350 for parts - rotors, hub/bearing assembly, pads (years 95-98 are sealed and not repairable).

And one more thing - since it is a soft top, when it rains and you open the drivers side door, the water drips in on the seat. Keep some towels handy.

The car handles well, but you feel every bump in the road. A low rider, like my 'Vette.

We paid just over $25K for the car new, but I would not own another one if they gave it to me. Poor engineering, flawed OEM parts.

Re: The soft top side link bars - poor design. Mitsubishi wants $165 each for the same thing to replace the damaged ones. I found an aftermarket reseller on e-bay selling an improved design - $100 for the pair. 1 hour of work in my driveway to install.