I found a diamond in the rough sitting in the back corner of a car lot not too long ago, a 1998 spyder. The issue is, it's not even a sale car. The lot purchased the car after it was impounded in a drug raid, and it has been sitting for nearly a year. The car has been broken into a few times since its arrival on the lot, so it is missing the entire sound system, speakers and all, it lacks in tail lights, air intake, fuel lines and the passenger door handle ($16 off ebay) AND.. sitting on 14" steels because the 17" ENKEI rims were taken as well. The salesman at the lot said it was purchased for $7000 and they still owe $4500(which I doubt) but come January it should be payed off. What price should I try for? Limited with funds, I was thinking about $250, and someone else said $350. What do you guys think it's worth? Any help would be welcome, even tips on parts for sale. Thanks.

 

i'd say 400 tops...its not really in run-able condition

 

yea i'd say about 400, sittin on rims, missing all of that stuff... if it's been settin for so long how is the body, the top, and is there any rust underneath it??

 

Well I took a look and the body is in good condition, the only rust I found was on those rims. I just cant believe, that thing came stock with 16"s and it's siting on 14"s. But yea, thanks for the estimate. The only things I really have to worry about immediately is the running parts. Fuel lines, air intake and lights. My father (who hates foreign cars, by the way) saw the car and agreed it was worth the time money and work, and even decided to take this up as his project. He was looking for a classic muscle, but he liked the Mits. So long as I can have it running, he's willing to help make it a work of art. In fact, he found the MAF on that model matches where he got the competition MAF for his van.. and probably already sunk the $150 for it.

 

well the rs's come with 14's, so it'll sit on 14's just fine... does it have tires? or is it just sitting on the rims themselves?? and also can you throw up some pictures???

 

is this a GS or a GS-t. Because to me that would be the deciding factor on whats worth trying to fix. Because if its just a GS, those are dime a dozen. And with the ammount of crap you have to go through to get it in running condition and looking nice its not really worth it, IMO

 

It is a GS-T I believe, it's been a while since I've taken a look at it. And even if it's only a GS, it still works for me. I'm 18 and found my favorite car sitting, needing the work I know I can do. Even if it is a common model, I can still make it one of a kind. And to put it on the road only requires the tail lights, air intake and fuel lines. Total that comes to $153.82 which I know sounds wrong, but you just gotta know where to look. You don't have to drop $10,000 into a car to make it good, you just have to know what you're doing. Beyond that, get the competition MAF, bodykit, 17" enkei w/ rubber, interior, 15" subs, catback, stainless headers, carbon fiber mirrors, in-dash DVD w/ navigation,NOS purge,custom paint,etc.. I'm lookin at about $2684.19 total. Including the price of the car. Okay so I won't have all the high-end brands but if it does the same thing, I'm cool with that. Compare that to the cars running and looking exactly the same for at least $8,000 and that's an estimate given to me by someone who already put that much into their eclipse, with more to go. That sounds more than worth it to me. But thanks for your input, Engineer, Now I wanna trick it out even more than before.

 

just so you know most of the Non turbo eclipses willmostly go below 5 or 4k. So basically you can get one that is running and in really good condition for about 4k. Maybe even less. Im not trying to tell you what to do. Just letting you know some facts. And believe me when i say this, you may think the body of the car is all you care about now and just knowing youown an eclipse is enough but your tastes will ALWAYS change no matter what. Eventually youll either not like the way your car came out or just get tired of it. And if you get the NT youll want more power. Its just natural for people who mods cars to want more power. And the NT is not a good base to start with for power at all. So basically here is my suggestion, take it however you want:

Buy the car and fix it up. Now youll have a good running car for a really good price. The most i would do is some small stuff just to make it your own. Ya know like some of the stuff you mentioned. But i would try and not spend alot of money on it. This is just speaking from experience.

 

I say you stick about 15 grand in it, maybe more and if we have to overnight parts from japan! Really though if its a GS-T buy it. Even though it needs a lot of work it could be a great car. If your really getting it that cheap swap it to AWD. Yes its possible and much easier to do on spyders than hardtop gst's. Then it would be a monster.....I see big future for this car!

 

i agree with TE... thats exactly what happened to my car... it was a slow rs that i put a TON of work into, i had it for about two years and got tired of it and got a gsx... if it's a nt then i wouldnt plan on puttin a bunch of money into it