vandal

i am currently looking for a vehicle, i have (for the meanwhile) stopped at 2 of them.
2004 eclipse 4cyl or
2004 RSX

does anyone in the forum own any of these?
or have heard of praises or their troubles?

thanks

Flick Montana

I reviewed both in 2004 and I can only recommend the RSX.

It is a plain car, a bit of a rough ride and noisy at higher speeds, but it's definitely more fun to drive. And it handles and brakes very well.

The Eclipse is ugly (in MY opinion, of course) and doesn't perform very well. It IS more comfortable, however. But check what model you get because, and I could be wrong here, the GTS model is the only one that comes with side airbags and anti-lock brakes.

I never owned one, so I can't tell you anything about longevity or how nice they are to own. Maybe someone else here will know more of that.

vandal

cool good to know...i was leaning towards the rsx to begin with
however i will add another potential car to my very short list - lancer ralliart 2004ish, this one i actually test drove back in the day...and i liked it

alasdairm

given that you are posting on a snowboard forum, i'm surprised that you aren't considering something with 4wd/awd?

alasdair

vandal

hehe...well i kind of am...its a long story. my other option is to finance at 0% and the only thing that fits my budget and preference would b the patriot, cuz for some unknown reason almost no other manufacturer makes manuals, unless you are paying 40k +

Flick Montana

If you're looking for a great awd vehicle, you might consider a '95 Subaru RS. You can get them cheap and they were great cars. They were sort of like a little brother to the WRX. If you can afford a WRX, they are sort of like the Lancer you were looking at, but a lot more comfortable. Lancers perform a little better, but they are painfully poor rides.

Phr34k

when you said RSX, did you mean the base model or the Type-S? i own a 2004 RSX-S. it's a very fun car, but it's got a few known transmission issues present for some of them. those issues aren't really problematic even if you have them though and are avoidable most of the time, so don't let that play too big a factor on which car you go with. i don't know much about Eclipses and have never driven one, so i can't really have a say in that.

Flick's got a point in suggesting a Subaru. a WRX isn't crazy expensive or anything, is 4WD, and is just as fun as both the RSX and Eclipse, if not more. RS would be a great little car if you don't have a lotta money to blow. Imprezas are really nice

snowjeeper

jeep wrangler That's what I just bought last winter, it's great in the snow.

vandal

well thats the thing that my budget is roughly 10k
also, my intent is to learn about the mechanics of a car, so im pretty much looking for the base models (except for the lancer ralliart) so that i can add upgrades as i go...

Flick Montana

A year ago or so I found an excellent condition '95 Subaru 2.5 RS with 60k miles for $6k. I should have bought it and I kick myself now. They are great little cars.

Depending on what kind of driving you do, you might consider something like a Forrester, too. Now THOSE are great all around Subarus. Great snow performance and not boring to drive. I'm starting to sound like a Subaru salesman.

EDIT: Meant Subaru Outback, not Forester.