I'm paying more attention to this forum now that I "inherited" my daughters 03 GTS. First week I've been driving it, and its been great. No real problems, everything works. It sounds great, runs great and handles pretty good. It looks awesome, its comfortable, and cruises great on the highway. I do feel out of place being a 50 something dude, but what the heck.

All I read in this forum is problems...should I be losing sleep?

 

Well from lots of personal experience here it goes.

I have had 3 of them. first was a 2000 GS 5spd bought in 2001 with 48k. Second was a 2002 GT spyder 5spd bought in 2004 with 32k on it. and last and my current (at least untill tomorrow most likely) is a 2001 GT spyder auto sporty with 73k when I bought it.

The first one was broken early and often. I had it for 3 years. from 48k-103k The second day I had the car the clutch blew up. after that the at around 80k it tossed a rod threw the oil pan so a new motor went in then 5k later the timing belt shreaded and I had to pull the head off and have it rebuild due to the valves hitting the pistons. After that the car ran good for a while untill the intake manifold cracked so I replaced it myself and it cracked again so then I had the dealer replace it and sold the car. It then cracked twice more on the new owner. With that said let me tell you this car was beat when I got it obviously. It was not well taken care since you could tell someone never did regular oil changes since hte motor always knocked. The intake manifold part was due to an ebay intake that had a brocken support.

The Second was AWSOME. zero issues but I only owned it for 6 months and only had it from 32k-45k

The current started off great. I got it at 73k and currently has 93k Ive had it for a year and a half. The problem is now this one is seeming to fall apart in all kinds of odd ways. the suspension is all jacked up since the car vibrates after 45MPH and slight right turns. it feels like it is misfireing everynow and then even though it has just been tuned up. It also has a leaky roof (being a convertable) and the car seems in the last few weeks is getting worse now the blower motor cant of higher than 2 because it is broken and the intire car vibrates if it is on 3 or 4. I may be trading this one in this weekend for something along the lines of a Mountaineer or some other mid sized luxo SUV.

Basically if you keep up on them and not a hard driver they will be alright. They have alot of minor annoyences though. They are known for warped rotors often and cracked dashboards. Also motor mounts go bad alot. My current 3G I think is just an odd version for some weird reason.

Another thing is my sister has a 2002 GT auto sporty with around 100k on it and hers is 100% perfect and he had a major wreck and had it repaired in the past as well.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGg

oh well, in it till I can pay off some loans

(liking it now, anyway)

 

Like I said. Be good to them and they will last. A good friend of mine had a 2001 GT auto sporty spyder and he turbocharged it at 90k and the car lasted till around 160k at 300WHP or so which is 130more HP to the wheels over stock.

The issues I had with mine are no common at all. the one I have now is really an odd one.

The common issues are

Crack dashboards - My sisters suffers from this
Warpped Rotors - my first and current suffered from this
Bad motor mounts - My current suffers from this
soft rims (they can bend easy) - My current has two replaced rims
Clogged or leaky Heater cores - none of mine have had this but if your carpet is wet you know what it is
Side marker red lights in the rear die OFTEN - all of mine have gone threw a hand ful of these and most owners dont even know theres are out ,and chances are they may be.
Fog lights in the 00-02s die - my 00 had this as well as my sisters 02
Sunroof can get stuck - My 00 had this happen
Rivets holding the intake snorkel down break and cause the intake to suck onto the hood when you floor it - my 02 had this issue
Center speaker blows out - all of them do this best solution by an upgrade or do what I did and just unplug it
Headlights get fogged up - only my 00 had this


Here is a link to all of them and the fixes people have found. http://www.club3g.com/forum/problem-...-problems.html just look at hte bad heater core pics and pray that doesnt happen to you since it looks like a royal pain in the *****

http://www.club3g.com/forum/problem-...s-recalls.html all the recall

 

What do I have to do to be good to it?

 

Do regular maintanence on time. Dont royally beat on the car and dont run 87 octane fuel alot

 

Well, I got alittle buzz on last nite (little, dont worry!) and had to give it small stomp once...that car gets up and moves! I won't do it again (!?)

OK, in for an oil change and lube today.

 

Im not saying dont floor it. Just dont leave the car cruising at high RPMs for no reason and dont power shift it or launch it. These eclipses were made to be daily drivers were as the older gens were made more as a tuner go fast kind of car.

 

i was surprised how it got up and went tho. Generally I am using it as a commuter/highway car....its very comfrotable. But that growling exaust (not sure its stock or not) and that good pickup.....its tough to stay out of it, but I'll try

 

Yea they are peppy cars. They have a nice exhaust note with the stock exhaust. The v6 is a little but of a get up and go type car. You can drive it everyday as you would any other car and it should run just fine. Getting on the gas every now and then is not a real issue unless it is all the damn time