Most of you know the story of me and my son Chris. Anyway, he is staying out of trouble, but not really moving forward with life on the path I would prefer. Still no college, but he did get a job. He no longer lives with me, in fact he moved out of state. The Mazda MX6 father and son project gave us about 20,000 miles and then died a sad and mysterious death. I decided to pony up the money for a replacement car he could rely on.

I was never going to get him a new car, as that would be more like a reward than a gift. I tried to find something under 5K, but in the end I went over the budget. I actually listened to him and what he said he wanted instead of shoving something down his throat. But in the end, I am at peace with the decision.

I bought him a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS. (He would have been happy with a 95 to 97 car, but I wanted something that would last.) This is the 4 cyl non turbo, entry level car. It had only 42K on it and it looks and runs sweet. It has 154 hp in a 2900 pound car and I think that is plenty of power for his second car. Happily, he thinks so too. I got a good deal on it (under 7K) and he is quite happy with it. If you have a teen or early 20 something who you are buying a car for, take a look at the Mitsu. Chris is already planning on some mild mods and he has agreed to go to at least one autocross with it. He says he wants to go on some of our S2000 meets too. Maybe this will be the new Father-son project car.

 

[QUOTE=Legal Bill,Feb 27 2005, 09:30 PM] I actually listened to him and what he said he wanted instead of shoving something down his throat.

 

Bill I feel kind of bad saying this as I don't want to ruin your thread but I feel I should share my experiences with the Eclipse. My sister had one that she bought at only a year old and when she hit about 40k miles she started having problems with it. She called me one day and said that she had to have the car towed because the harmonic balancer fell off. Needless to say I thought she was mistaken as this is something that normally you can't get off an engine even when you want to but she was right and it was the H.B. that fell off. I did some research on the internet and found out all about what is called the "walking crankshaft'. She got the engine fixed and then about 10k miles later the transmission went. All this with less than 50K miles and she was easy on the car and did all the required maintenance and from the research I did on the internet and talking to other owners these were common problems that Mitsubishi never resolved. In any event I hope your son has better luck with his.

 

Different engine I think. This is a third gen 2000 MY car. I haven't heard any complaints about the engine in the Mitsu forums, except for the guys who do the aftermarket turbos.

 

My sister had the N/A engine.

 

Does she have a 3rd gen? What year is it? When I was shopping for these cars I had a very hard time finding one with under 100k on the odometer.

 

Her's was a 98 or 99 IIRC she dosen't have it anymore the tranny let go in N.J. when she was on a trip so she gave up on it at that point.

 

Sounds like she got a lemon. this was the only complaint I could find regarding the harmonic balancer. It was for a 1991 car.

http://www.mitsubishisucks.com/cars/compla.../78/782378.html

In any event, she had a 2nd gen car. I couldn't even find a second gen with under 100K on the clock so I'm not sure how prevelant this problem was. Sorry for your sisters problems, but i don't think it applies to all Mitsubishis.

 

I am thinking of getting a Volvo station wagon for my son who will be going to college in a year or so. I wonder what the maintenance cost will be on a used Volvo wagon. I've never owned a Volvo but I heard it is a reliable car. I don't think college kids would be tempted to drive fast or wild in a station wagon. Also, he can carry all his stuff with him.

 

Every kid and parent is different. My son would have no respect for a Volvo wagon and he would neglect the maintenance and abuse the car. Also, living in the northeast, I decided to get my son front drivers for his first few cars. Depending on how old the Volvo is, it may be rear drive only.