[KnuttyBunny]

Hi guys!!! HUGE fan of the GT eclipse and misunderstood by all my car friends here lol, so glad to have found this forum!

So this lady had it listed on marketplace for 7500 for 5 months, but it didn't sell because she listed it as a regular eclipse. It looked so good I messaged her and just asked if it happened to be the gt, and it did and it's also a standard.

With semi-low miles. The unicorn. The one I've been looking for ever since I made the terrible decision of trading my 08 GT. (Was too broke to replace the clutch atm & stupid).

She marked it down to 5k obo. She has no clue what she has. It's in great condition as far as I can tell/the pics show, and she says it runs perfectly, no leaks, solid clutch, the body has one little dent and one little spot where the paint is peeling. She lives out in the country and her family has several other cars and she says she almost never drives it because she doesn't want to tear it up. I have a lot of experience dealing with people in general and dealing with people on marketplace which is a nightmare, and I feel pretty good about this seller.

So a few things I would like some opinions on from people who actually know this car...

I know the basics and I owned one for 3 years so I know what it should feel, sound and drive like, but I'm no mechanic. I've watched several YouTube videos on what to look for when buying a used car from a private party and all that. Even if this car needs a little work I'm still going to buy it, I will just offer her a little less. Because she could have easily sold that for $7,500 and it would probably sell on a lot for upwards of 9k these days.

So with the mileage on it I asked her if she knew if the timing belt had been done yet and she didn't know so I would say that's a big fat no, haven't looked at the Carfax yet but you know how those things go. So I know I'm going to be paying anywhere from $700 to 1100 in this area for a timing belt water pump job (oem only of course, I want to put another hundred thousand miles on this thing at least). Do you think offering $4,500 if everything else is as advertised is insulting at all? It did say 5K OBO and I'm going to have to turn around and put that kind of money in it. She still owes a little on it and just wanted rid of it so I think in this situation it's not lowballing, even though 5K is a great price to begin with. Thoughts?

And besides the usual that goes without saying for buying any used car, what are the major red flags you would look for with this particular one?

Also, how complicated of a job is the timing belt for this car? Because a major garage here quoted me 1100 but a small time like Bob's Garage-type place that a lot of people recommended (these are the types of places I've used my whole life and never had an issue) said he wasn't sure how long it would take because he "hadn't done it on one of the newer eclipses before" but he said they charge $80 an hour plus parts. That's insanely low these days for labor but he comes highly recommended. Would you go with that guy? Like what are the chances of him messing it up and my engine blowing if he had never done one before I guess is my question? I highly doubt little garages like that warranty anything or would rebuild a 5-6k engine.

I'll be trying to do everything I can to baby this thing, I've been working two full-time jobs to save for it and I am not a rich person by any means. I'm in a place now that this will be my second car so I can take my time. I'm completely happy with the thing stock.

Sorry that was so long-winded, thanks to anyone who listened!

 

[Sabertooth^2]

Honestly it sounds like you know what to look for already. And the worst she'll say is no to your offer.

The timing job on a 6G75 is a lot more annoying than the 4G6 series engines. You need to make sure tension between the cams is pretty high. What I do is back it off half a tooth because it goes together wrong very easily if you don't, then advance the forward cam until it hits the timing mark. Then I repeat that on the crank pulley, and all is well.

It's a tighter space on the GT than GS, and the water pump is worse to replace (and a fair number of people skip lubricating the O ring and pinch it, causing leaks). But it's not like it's an engine out job. About 1.5h for belt alone (assuming the serpentine belts cause a bit of greif), 2.5h for belt and pump for someone with practice. 4.5h would be reasonable for a shop with no experience if the car isn't really rusty.

 

[KnuttyBunny]

Yeah I've read a lot on this forum already and have a good bit of experience with the car, but you guys know EVERYTHING about it it seems like! And thanks for the info, I don't really care how long he takes if he's only charging $80 an hour and does it right. I just didn't know if that was the type of thing that could be screwed up fairly easily.

 

[Sabertooth^2]

Yeah I've read a lot on this forum already and have a good bit of experience with the car, but you guys know EVERYTHING about it it seems like! And thanks for the info, I don't really care how long he takes if he's only charging $80 an hour and does it right. I just didn't know if that was the type of thing that could be screwed up fairly easily.

Yeah, very easily. But you'll generally throw a check engine light and traction control light after going full throttle to redline if the belt tension isn't set right, and leak coolant if the pump is wrong

 

[KnuttyBunny]

Would you let that guy do the job having not done it before? It just sucks that he is literally half the price of the other places but I'll do what I need to do to get it done right.

 

[Sabertooth^2]

I don't know him, it comes down to level of care. It's not a particularly extensive job to do, just comes down to care.

 

[SolarYellow]

low miles. The unicorn. The one I've been looking for

That's exactly how i felt finding my Solar 09 with 29k on it.

 

[KnuttyBunny]

Well my heart just got shattered when I saw the carfax report with....

Eight. Previous. Owners.

That means eight different people basically traded this thing in after about 10,000 mi. I don't know if there could be a bigger red flag. At the same time, how the hell did this car get to 100,000 miles if something is that wrong with it? The Carfax didn't say anything else.

My logical mind says I would be the dumbest person alive to even consider buying this car. But I'm going to talk to her in the morning and see just how far down she'll go. Then I'm going to go look at it with my OBD2 if she'll come way way down on the price. She lives two and a half hours away.

What would you do? What would the price have to be for you to take a chance on a car with eight previous owners?

 

[Sabertooth^2]

It's not a red flag to me because it's a sports car. People buy them as a second fun car, then realize they can't afford a second fun car. Or buy it as a daily, then it's not practical for them.

My TT had ~15, 2 of my 3 Eclipses had ~10 (third, I didn't ever register for the road, was a parts car). TT in fairness had 270k km. Eclipses had 130k km, 145k km, and 145k km.

 

[KnuttyBunny]

I went back and forth with that thinking but she won't budge on the price at all even though she listed it OBO. If it wasn't two and a half hours away from me I would just go check it out anyway, but I have a feeling she'll come back to me after still not selling it listing it as a regular eclipse for 5K.

 

[SolarYellow]

What would you do? What would the price have to be for you to take a chance on a car with eight previous owners?

i would pass, and basically pay more later, to get a better one

 

[Lightrebel]

Would you let that guy do the job having not done it before? It just sucks that he is literally half the price of the other places but I'll do what I need to do to get it done right.

I just did the timing belt and water pump job myself, it wasn't too bad you just have to follow the steps and you are good, setting the tension on the auto tensioner was a pain but totally doable at home. Its been about 3k miles and I have not had any issues with coolant leaking this far and the car runs like a top. I say go for it, 8 previous owners is a lot though, my car had alot of previous owners and the trans went out 5k miles after buying it and the dealer didn't think to tell me the body welds on the car leaked water but I love this car so I guess just weigh your options.

 

[Waynerwats]

My car has 3 owners if you check the car fax. I am the 1st and the 3rd owners. My mom got a loan to make my final $5k payment. She is considered the 2nd owner. It has been in my possession its whole life. As saber said there are many different reasons why someone might not hold onto a vehicle.

As for the timing belt. the 6g72 was in dodge caravans from 88 to 2000. if someone did a belt on one of those its basically the same thing. Different body, different chassis, basically the same engine.

 

[KnuttyBunny]

It's weird, my dad asked a mechanic he knew and he said he wanted no part of that job. My brother is a mechanic and he said it's a really hard job. I know I've read on here that there's not much room to work on that engine but I don't know why everyone acts scared to do it.

A couple owners is one thing, eight was just completely shocking to me. This car was never expensive to begin with so I can't imagine anyone wanting rid of it within 10,000 mi let alone eight different people. And it will haunt me for a long time because it could have been absolutely fine but it's just too big of a risk for someone who has a track record of completely terrible luck with cars. I do have a feeling she's going to come back to me later down the line because nobody is spending 5K on a regular eclipse like she has it listed lol. At that point I think I will probably make the two and a half hour drive to at least check it out because I see myself spending more than twice this on basically the same car in a few years. They're not going to get cheaper.

 

[KnuttyBunny]

I just did the timing belt and water pump job myself, it wasn't too bad you just have to follow the steps and you are good, setting the tension on the auto tensioner was a pain but totally doable at home. Its been about 3k miles and I have not had any issues with coolant leaking this far and the car runs like a top. I say go for it, 8 previous owners is a lot though, my car had alot of previous owners and the trans went out 5k miles after buying it and the dealer didn't think to tell me the body welds on the car leaked water but I love this car so I guess just weigh your options.

That's where I'm at with it, I'm so completely torn. I have extremely bad luck with vehicles and I'm still upside down on an Evo that I got screwed over with. But I know exactly what I want and this car has absolutely all of it. There are only like four for sale in the whole country (on sites like AutoTrader and CarGurus anyway, nothing much more I can find on marketplace either) and they are all 2006 to 2008 with way more mileage for way more money. I'm not a mechanic and I don't have one handy is the biggest issue here.

The transmission went out on an eclipse? A manual? That would be really surprising to me. Is that an expensive job on this car?

 

[KnuttyBunny]

That's exactly how i felt finding my Solar 09 with 29k on it.

i would pass, and basically pay more later, to get a better one

That's most likely what I'll do. It just hurts knowing that I'm probably going to pay twice as much for the same exact thing. I just don't know if I can take the risk.

 

[Waynerwats]

If you are worried about the amount of owners and you have the car fax, dig into the sales to all 8 owners. IF it shows a bunch of auction sales to dealers and then resales from those dealers it might mean you have a car that had a string of repos. People in over their heads on car payments. That isnt a big deal if it wasn't trashed pre-repo. The first 3 owners (if not repoed) could have been 2 year leases. End of their leases they traded out of it instead of purchasing. The last i knew, most dealers would re-lease a car until base warranty is out. Some would go farther if the customers credit was approved for one.

I would be more worried about the fact that you dont have a mechanic that would work on it if something would go wrong. Timing belt isn't a super hard job if you do your research, make a plan of attack, and then pay attention to what you are doing and you take your time. These cars only have a SOHC engine. it would be much worse if it was a DOHC engine.

 

[Sabertooth^2]

It's perfectly in the territory for changing hands in my mind. Buy it as a second car because it's cheap enough that most people can afford it. Realize you can't have two cars reasonably and it just sits around. Sell it.

A lot of mechanics won't touch these. But honestly, they're pretty basic. Anyone who will work on a Jeep and not these is probably just going by scary stories from others who don't know either. I did an exhaust on a B8 Audi S5 4.2L last week. That was a 2.5 day job between me and a mechanic with no shortage of tools. Official way to do it is to pull the trans and engine. ~40h job. So we still beat book time doing it in place. Now THOSE are something I can see people being afraid of doing a timing job on.

But two cam gears, a crank gear, water pump pulley, and a tensioner? Come on.

 

[KnuttyBunny]

I guess the whole issue here is I'm not a mechanic. I was quoted $1100 for one of the bigger shops around here to do it. I was willing to pay that if the car was good but panicked when I saw eight owners in 100,000 miles.

I think you guys have convinced me to give it another chance if she comes back around a little lower. Never know till I actually look at the car.

 

[scott.campbell.1991]

8 owners really isn't that bad for a 14 year old car. In the last 14 years I've had 9 different cars lol I just can't make up my mind on what I want to drive