2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT from North America - Comments

Power mirror switch blown twice. Covered under warranty.

Back hatch is badly designed, cheap, broken. Covered under warranty.

Grinding sound from 2nd gear, rough shifting at times. According to the dealer, linked to cold brushings. Research has shown this to be a common problem, solved with a change to synthetic MT fluid.

Glovebox lock cylinder fell out, first attempt. Replaced under warranty.

Speaker grille rattles in the back seats. No resolution.

Sunroof chitters/skips when going back. Needs lubrication, covered under the warranty.

Shake/chitter in the steering wheel at 70-80MPH. Problem from day 1 of ownership. Dealer blames 'hot spots' in the rotors (requires resurfacing). Badly handled issue.

Tires squeal excessively after 20000+ miles of wear. IMO, cheap OEM tires.

This car is a steal for the price, but suffers from an overall poor build quality and new-model faults. This Mitsubishi is not Honda, and it shows.

On the upside, the V6 is extremely quick and punches nicely in 3rd/4th gear.

Handling is disappointing (the turning radius is pathetic for a sport coupe/sports car). Speeds over 115+ handled with ease (friends have taken it to 130+ with no problem). I don't trust the car completely, due to the poor tires (absolutely terrible choice of rim/tire for this car) and the shake in the steering wheel.

Aesthetics are mixed. Ditch the ripples in the side of the car, and it would look really mean. Don't know quite what the designers were thinking, but it wasn't quite all together.

Bottom line - this car feels like it's *almost* there. Several minor flaws, overall build quality, and notoriously horrible service from Mitsu dealers make this an almost-there car. With a little more detail and thought, this could have been a superb racer with gorgeous style and handling. As it is, it's still a deal at i's sub-$25K pricetag, but a little work needs to be done by the owner to put it into top shape. Drive it and see if you like it. Expect the minor issues, and enjoy.

I have a 2001 Eclipse GT 5-speed with 20k miles and agree on the rear cargo cover, transmission and shakes.

My rear cargo cover broke off the frame, had it replaced.

The cover seems to made of really cheap material, some sort of partial wood or cardboard. My transmission does not like to shift from 1-2 and 2-3 and at times I have to double clutch. I will switch to synthetic and hope it helps.

As for the shakes, I get them when braking from high speeds (50mph+). I will bet it is the brakes, this is a known problem on Mitsubishi's.

Well I live in Beaumont, Tx. It rained real hard last night.

When I went to get in the car, the passanger side had water in it. It was not wet on the sides only on the floor, It seems like the water is coming in from the bottom of the car. Has anyone else had this problem.

Donna.

I have a 1997 mitsubishi galant it has the steering radius equal to a big rig I know it's a big car, but wow a ken worth can make a u turn faster than that car wow now that's pathetic.

Mike.

Has anyone else had a proplem with the head lights on 2000 and up eclipse's. my drivers side light dimmed out, but its not the bulb it has something to do with the electrictal and it isn't any fuse...I'm thinking a short in the wire?

Anyone have any ideas... Get back.

I have a 2001 Eclipse GT and yesterday transmission blew in middle of interstate. Dealer says it not covered under warranty as its over 5 years even though under 60000. I have around 50k miles on it. And its costing me 3-4 thousand to fix. Any ideas?

2000 GS Eclipse - Has anyone experienced a problem with the car randomly starting and not starting. When the engine light does not come on for the few seconds in the beginning of starting the car then we know it's not going to start. Acts like it's flooded or something. Finally got the engine light to stay on and they said it needed a new Idle Air COntrol Solenoid. We replaced and still that did not fix the problem.

The dim headlight happened to me. It was a melted wire.

The air conditioning died too, and this was also due to a melted wire...

The transmission also died at 4 years old. About 60k miles.

Banana1975@aol.com

I just got a 2006 Eclipse and I was wondering if anyone else was having the problem I am having... When I back up the brakes make a squealing noise like if I have dirt in them, but only when I back up and it doesn't do it all of the time, just most of the time.

2001 eclipse spyder

Melted right headlight plug twice in 4 months of ownership. Now up to four cracks in the dash. Any ideas on the cause of the melted plugs? Fuses are still good, but neither headlight, high or low beam will come on.

I have a 2001 eclipse GT, since I bought the car with 32,000 miles on it my passenger headlight was dim, I replace the bulb, but found that the wire had melted. Shortly after that both headlights and lowbeams wouldn't turn on. I found out that due to the fact that the wire had melted on the passenger side it shorted out the whole thing. I had to go to a junkyard to pull the plugs for both lights, my topcoat on my car is crappy and now my black car is spotted white. this is due to the fact that the manufacturer didn't put the right coating on when they were painting all mitsubishi on that year.

I have a 2000 GT Eclipse.. and ya.. I'm getting the shifting problem from 1-2 gear.. I was thinking I would get an aftermarket short shifter to solve the problem..

Also.. sometimes the car accelerates really fast when I floor it.. but other times it feels dull.. for some reason.. it only performs like the V6 that it should right after I fill up the gas tank.. Anyone know how to fix this problem??..

comments would be appreciated.. my email: norcalkiddo@hotmail.com

I have a 2000 Eclipse GT V6 5 speed. I have too had a few things wrong.

Wheels are bent from factory.

Shift points; first is too low of a gear.

Needs heavy duty clutch.

Auto roof sticks at times.

The horn and panic wiring had to rust.

Security goes off at times.

Clear coat was too thin.

Rotors bad from the start.

I replaced both wiring looms to the headlights to a heaver gauge. I put new silver stars for that brighter light. After I replaced wiring to headlamps, the low beams now seem dull. (Anyone had this problem?) Is there a relay that going bad?

Other than that, it's sporty, picks up from 2nd to third. Handles nicely around corners. Design like a Ferrari Testarossa, but still a Mitsubishi Eclipse.

I have a 92 Eclipse. The dash separates, but you know what, the car is 15 years old and I love it to death. It is the best car ever built, and that is all I will own, a Mitsubishi.

I have read all the reviews, and I only have a few of the problems everybody is complaining about. I bought a 2000 Eclipse GT brand new. I now have 120K miles on it and the only complaints I have are:

Bad thermostat from factory

Sunroof sticks

Trunk lock sticks

Factory rims were junk.

Other than those minor issues (except rims) the car still runs like its brand new. Maybe you guys don't know how to take care of a car.

I own a 2000 Eclipse GT with 119,500 miles on it and have had these problems -

1. Horrible noise from rotors when driving under 20mph

2. Melted headlight wires

3. Extremely rough shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd

4. Headboard as 3 large cracks

5. Glove box lock just fell out one day

6. When driving over 55+ the steering wheel shakes

7. When slowing down the steering wheel shakes

8. It's like there's a film under the headlight covers so I replaced the entire units with halogen

9. The rotors warp extremely fast.

I have taken care of this car as best to my ability. Oil change every 3,000 miles. Tires rotated every 3 months. Air filter cleaned or replaced when needed etc.