Is this astronomy inspired car a stellar deal? You can decide. This red 1991 Mitsubishi Eclipse for sale in Hazlet, New Jersey has no buy-it-now and no reserve with 68,985 miles. The listing party suggests contacting and making an offer. The price, $2,995 is actually one of the cheapest for the car in the number of listings it is on. Even the website for the dealer that has it, lists it higher. You can view the lower listing here on eBay.
Powering this machine is a 2.0 liter, dual overhead cam four-cylinder that from the factory was good for 135 horsepower. It is listed as an automatic transmission. By the pictures of the engine, it doesn’t look to have a turbo, so it is more than likely the GS trim level. This was the second year for the first generation Eclipse and the last year for pop up headlights. The remaining generation one cars and beyond all had fixed headlights.
The interior of this car is out of this world for its age. It is incredibly clean and according to the listing, never been smoked in. Styling cues of that era focused on angling the radio and climate controls towards the driver on the center console. The gray colored interior has a very lunar look. It might not be space-age technology like a Tesla, but it sure is a strong reminder of how cool the days were of analog and digital mixing.
This car would be a great first car for a young car enthusiast. While a car of this age might require some mechanical assistance and a deeper look into preventative maintenance, it might be something fun to do for that first-time car lover to accomplish on their own, or with parental guidance. That can also make memories and facilitate dreams as far as the moon in starting an automotive career, never to be eclipsed by anything else.
As I recall not only does this car have a timing belt, but it has an interference engine. And with 60,000 plus miles it soon may go BOOM.
I had a co worker that owned one of these. His engine went BOOM….
So change the timing belt? Seriously this is just normal maintenance on most modern (last 35 years or so) cars. Sorry if that scares you. Here’s a pushrod to make you feel safe again.
Even if you can’t change it yourself, a local shop quoted my $300 to do the belt on my daughter’s Hyundai, bet this would be about the same. Not exactly gonna break the bank.
I believe there was a Ford engine that had a timing belt AND a timing chain! lmao
The yr, motor & model escape me.
Best engine to git if you worry about belts or chains?
The 7 main bearing 230 or 250 or 292 chevy strait 6.
Those motors have NEITHER a timing belt OR timing chain!
I can tell you that it does. I have a ’91 Eagle Talon (Same Car), that I purchased NEW, and YES… It is recommended that you change out the timing belt every 55,000 miles or so. Still, with that said, a great little, fun-to-drive car! Still love it!
Posted is a picture of the car. Still in terrific shape like this Eclipse.
I used to have a Matchbox replica of this exact car — I obsessed over that toy. While I’d rather have a 1991 or ’92 Dodge Stealth R/T Twin Turbo these days (actual car, not the toy haha), there’s no doubt that the writer is right about this being a good entry-level collectible for a young enthusiast. At 135 horsepower, it definitely isn’t a turbo, as those had a 190 horsepower rating. Also, in this condition, a turbo would likely bring $5-7k more. Nonetheless, at 3 grand, you can’t go wrong.
A friend of mine had a convertible in excellent condition. When the clutch started slipping he decided to sell it after getting a quote to fix it. He literally couldn’t give it away.
Being stock and in that condition/mileage if it were optioned correctly (ie: a turbo AWD) it would be a $10-12k + car.
Nice to see it preserved I guess but they’re fairly lack lustre in NA, particularly auto, form.
I recall when these were a desirable car to own, but in recent years they seem impossible to sell in my neck of the woods… even in original condition. I see a similar thing with the Dodge Stealth, which was also a very desirable car in the day but now seemingly owners can’t give them away. Is there a Mitsubishi stigma?
I think it’s because they’re kind of a niche car. When they were new they were fairly revolutionary and (relatively) cheap to make big power with. On the used car market today there’s a lot more cars competing for attention to a would-be DSM buyer.
I had a modded ’95 in the early 2000’s, then a modded ’98 in the mid-late 2000’s.. When I wanted more I gave my head a shake and stopped throwing money at a potential time bomb and bought a used C5 Z06 – which had dropped in price dramatically and gave me comparable (or better) performance in a bone stock package.
There’s a lot more affordable go-fast options then there once was…
The same goes here in Mexico.
There are Eclipses for sale all over the place and for very little money.
I don’t know why they made so many convertibles as automatics, but there are a lot for sale here.
The GS (base trim) of the 2G Eclipse was a really popular rental car in convertible conducive areas (seriously). They were powered by the Neon 420A motor so would have kept the tourists out of trouble.
i’d jump on it if it was a manual.
and a turbo.
and all wheel drive.
and didn’t have those f’ing choke-you-out auto seatbelts.
My last semester of college I had a ’91 TSi, AWD Eagle Talon (same car, Eagle nameplate) in ’94. After having it a month, I took it to a dealer to have the coolant temp sensor replaced and they took it out for a ‘test drive’ and totaled it.
The dealership gave me a aqua green Hyundai Accent as a loaner until the insurance check cleared. I ended up keeping it until the summer came around – even though I bought a ’92 TSi, AWD Eagle Talon to replace the first one about 2 weeks later. You wouldn’t believe how I abused that Accent. I was a little upset about what had happened and took it out on that car.
Must be a trend (although mine didn’t get wrecked).. I had dropped it off to get new tires installed and went to grab a bite with a buddy while they were doing the job… ah forgot my wallet in the car… turned around to grab it.
As we pull back in my ‘95 TSi AWD was mid- screaming 4 wheel drift in the parking lot across the road.
At least it was still on the old tires!
I really want this car, circa 1994, high school parking lot. Now, not so much.
However, it would be great to see at a car show. Accessorize it with a big CD wallet, cheap perfume, a coconut air freshener, and an Incredible Universe uniform wadded up in the back seat.
I had a ’91 similar to this, except manual, bought new. The electric blue was unlike any other color out there. It was a fun car to drive, nice revver.
Mine suffered a broken timing belt and killed the engine just a lick over 50K. I figured that I was screwed, and then found out it came with a 60K warranty – saved! The invoice that I received after the repair had no $$ listed, but the parts list was 3 pages long. Sold it to my sister who never had a single issue with it.
The automatic in this one kills all the fun.
I had a ’91 similar to this, except manual, bought new. The electric blue was unlike any other color out there. It was a fun car to drive, nice revver.
Mine suffered a broken timing belt and killed the engine just a lick over 50K. I figured that I was screwed, and then found out it came with a 60K warranty – saved! The invoice that I received after the repair had no $$ listed, but the parts list was 3 pages long. Sold it to my sister who never had a single issue with it.
The automatic in this one kills all the fun.
I really don’t understand why i dont see these cars anymore in the states! They used to be all OVER the place! I even rented one like this at Orlando airport! Mitz must have been a BIG player back then!!
Did eclipses, talons, lasers have rust issues? The 3000gt didn’t. In the early 90’s i think they only had 2 computers – 1 for optional auto trans, & 1 for engine, if no antilock brakes. I would think the popups lites are as reliable as those on the 3000gt (very). & nice shiny $7 glass headlites hide underneath that never yellow, fog or scratch or dim.
The overwhelming majority of these got modified beyond the point of return during the Fast N Furious craze. Most frequently, the turbo versions with AWD /manual trans. Being a non-turbo automatic is why we see this example here now. It was (thankfully) spared. It’s nearly impossible to find a TSI model that hasn’t been modded- I search nationwide on a daily basis….
This would be a perfect car for my daughter… I am very tempted. I had a ’91 GS-T. I loved that car. Loved the Vette too. The Escort GT was…umm, forgettable… comfortable car, terrible drivetrain.
I worked on tons of these when I was a Mitsu tech!
I worked two summers in 1994-1995 @ a Chrysler Plymouth Jeep Eagle dealership. Sold some of the Talon / Laser variants of these. The non-turbo auto hatchbacks were pure dogs. Terrible performance off the line, compromised seating position, crap switch gear and that terrible auto seat belt. The 5-speed variants were at least tolerable if you wound the piss out of them. The turbo’s were definitely fun but the lag made them hairy to drive well.