2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS

I purchased my 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS in October of 2000. I took the car home for around $30k after everything was said and done. (Loan.) After much thought, I stuck with the GS automatic because all of the GT's on the lot were manual. I did, however, get a sportronic.

The 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse is a 4 cylinder. You won't beat everyone at every stoplight, but the sportronic helps a lot. You simply shove the gear shift to the right and shift gears yourself by pressing it up or down. The car will also shift it itself while in sporty mode if you take too long to.

It claims to seat 4 people. Yeah, 2 in the front, 2 in the back. My boyfriend is a larger boy and we do both fit comfortably in the front seat together. I wouldn't recommend buying this car if you are luging around people in the backseat every day. 10 days after purchasing my Eclipse, I found out I was pregnant. My son is now 19 months old and I have adjusted to using the car seat in the Eclipse. It wasn't easy at first, but as soon as he got into a car seat, rather than a carrier, it got a lot easier. My boyfriend has found his own way to put our son in his carseat. I however pretty much squat in the back seat floor board to buckle him in. This, though, causes lots of problems if we go somewhere as a family in the Eclipse. My boyfriend has to drive. He's way too tall to be sitting in the passenger seat when you are unable to put it all the way back.

The sun and sound system also was an option on my car. I must say, the sound system sounds GREAT for being stock. The center speaker and the two tweaters are definently a nice bonus. I have since added my own system, but still kept the stock reciever. I really like it.

I live on a street off of a main busy road. Lots of times while turning left out of the street, I have to stop in the middle turning lane and wait until the other side is clear. This causes a problem because there are A LOT of blind spots in the Eclipse. I am only 5'3, and I think that has some to do with it. And if you have a passenger in the passenger seat, it makes it A LOT harder. You will be constantly asking the passenger to move their head, or is it clear?

I don't know if this is a flaw in the car or not. I have heard of problems with the GT rims, but I have a GS. My boyfriend hit a pothole in my car one day that came out of no where and bent my rim very badly. It's expensive to get one of those replaced, and that's going with an used rim.

If you plan on driving long distances, I wouldn't recommend this car. Where as it might seem comfy for the driver, after about 4 hours, my back starts to really hurt. Not to mention how my passengers feel.

The trunk actually has a lot of room. If you lay down the two back seats you get even more room. But I am able to carry alot more stuff in this than I could in my 1996 Pontiac Sunfire. Just to mention some things I have carried with me, my boyfriend, and my son (in a carseat) is: a toddler bed, an artifical tree, etc.

I'm not too keen on the ceiling interior being a tan color, while the rest of the interior is a gray/black. You get used to it though.

I haven't had ANY problems with my car except general ones. Like, a flat tire, and a bent rim. I consider this car VERY reliable. I have over 30k miles on it. I have *never* taken it to the dealership for any problems except a recall and when I wanted more screws for my license plate.

Overall, I LOVE this car. My boyfriend is wanting to get a 2004 WRX but I really don't want to have to part with this car if I don't have too.