I can't speak on one that old but I had a few heavily modified DSM's back in the day and they were pretty trouble free...very rarely had any issues. I think the issues you will have with them now is how badly most have been abused over the years.

 

Thats quite a bit of work, may want to consider another dd.

 

I wouldn't chance it if it's gonna be a DD. Sorry I don't recognize it. Looks clean but I wouldn't chance it. If it were totally stock with about 70k I'd consider it, but that may be because I still love DSMs.

 

I drove a 97 GSX to 110k with no trouble other than some noisy lifters. No crankwalk, no clutch trouble, just regular maintenance. It was modded to make it better, but not insane. Better intercooler, downpipe, exhaust, turbo timer, intake, springs, wheels, shocks, the normal stuff. I loved that car and wish I still had it, but I needed something a little bigger.

 

I am sure that there are some great Eclipse's out there, but the odds are against you...reliability is not their strong suit.

Friends with them just got fed up with all the issues and moved on, save the headache and go with one of Vanishing Boy's picks. Personally I would go with a completely unmodified WRX, they can be had in that range from the earlier years.

 

Modified GSX as a DD? Really depends on how the previous owner treated it. If he drove it hard there's going to be drivetrain problems, more in the axels and differential than transmission (shep stuff is pretty rock solid, which just means the other stuff breaks instead).

That one isn't really all that modified so provided it isn't abused should be relatively reliable compared with say a turboed B18 civic hatch. A lot of those mods are stupid, built internals on a 16g? Useless. Projectors, coil overs (depends on brand, assume they're junk since he doesn't list 'em). With DSM link the tuning can run the gamut of totally wrong to decent.

Basically, it really depends on the competence and driving habitats of the owner. If you decide to get it get it checked over by a reputable dsm tuner and pay for some dyno time imo. Good lucking convincing the owner to let you stick his car on a dyno tho.

 

Take that 10 grand you have, add another 2 grand on a high millage WRX and don't worry about things falling apart like you would have on that GSX. The 2 grand you spend extra covers the repair costs on the GSX