Thinking of buying...

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 will mostly 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 you own 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

Yea I realize, a NT isn't as fast. But at less than $500 it's still a good base. I was looking not too long ago, this guy is selling the engine and tranny to the supra he totaled. The supra got about 320 horsepower. Twin Turbo. I already like where this is going. This is why I said before that I don't mind what model it is, Whether it's a gs, gs-t or even  an rs. it's still the base, no matter what I put in or take out, the body is still the same. If I were equipped for cette work, I would definitely overhaul the engine compartment and outfit it for the supra block, since I know it's not a match for mounting. But not even going that far, I know I won't be putting that extent of work into it, I'm not worried about having the fastest import around. I've always wanted an eclipse, and I've always wanted one that was one of a kind. I can do that. ANd if I get bored with it, there's a completely different project that if anyone remember's my old posts, would definitely find interesting.

I finally got to upload the pics of the eclipse. You can see from here what's a big issue, what isn't. I had mistaken before, I thought it was the fuel lines that were gone, it was the plugs and wires. Bad memory, so sue me. Tell me what people think.
 
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n57/jase051306/DSCF0894.jpg
 
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n57/jase051306/DSCF0895.jpg
 
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n57/jase051306/DSCF0897.jpg
 
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n57/jase051306/DSCF0898.jpg
 
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n57/jase051306/DSCF0899.jpg
 
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n57/jase051306/DSCF0905.jpg
 
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n57/jase051306/DSCF0907.jpg
 
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n57/jase051306/DSCF0916.jpg

That car looks a lot like mine!  Except mine has the 16" wheels-it's a GS non-turbo, and I bought it in April '07 with 80k miles for $2500.  It does need some minor engine work (oil pan leak, I want to replace the headgasket, timing belt, water pump, tensioner, valve cover gasket, valve stem seals, etc.).
 
I'd say if you can get it for $400, and put some "sweat equity" into it, you'd have a decent car!

So, jdr, how much overall did you put into your car? Base price, repairs and any aftermarket done. Just curious.

quote:

ORIGINAL: 3000gt16

So, jdr, how much overall did you put into your car? Base price, repairs and any aftermarket done. Just curious.

 
$2500 was my purchase price, and I haven't spent anything else other than routine oil changes and a set of spark plugs.  It already had the wheels on it and was actually in great shape.  It could use a new headliner, but that's low on the list.   I've put 10,000 miles on her since April and drive around 70 miles round trip a day to work and back approximately 4 days a week (I work a 12 hr. shift, so one week we work 5 days and the next week we work 2 days).  This car gets between 28-30 mpg on every tank of gas (much better than my 12 mpg Dodge Ram  LOL).
 
I don't really plan on doing any mods other than maybe upgrading my speakers-I'm using a Pioneer deck that I had in another vehicle.  I did add my Sirius receiver as well from my Ram.
 
So, $2500 is what I've got in it to this point.  I'm guessing after I do the head gasket, timing belt, water pump, tensioner, valve seals, valve gasket, and all the other related seals, I'll have maybe another $200-$300 max because I plan on doing this job myself.
 
I love this little car-and although it's slow-it's fun to drive and I have been happy thus far!  Someday I'd like to buy a 2nd Gen. GSX!

Well, I finally went to get more information on the eclipse.. GS non-turbo.. they're tryin to give me more **** again. When I first started looking at the car, I was told they owed $4500 on it after purchasing the car for about $7000. The car only has a blue book value of at most $3350. They told me to come back in January and see how far along they are in paying it off. I went there today and they said it could be another YEAR, maybe more, until it's payed off. He said the only way I could buy it right now is for the nearly $4000 they owe on it still. What do you think, are they jerking my chain here? And if anyone else knows of a 2nd generation eclipse even in worse condition than this, for $500 or less please let me know.

I would never pay that much for that car.  Go to dsmtrader.com, there is always someone on there trying to sell a gs or rs for dirt cheap.

Thanks for the site, but everyone there seems to have already done cars for at least $8000.Even the 1st generations are goin for a considerable price.

Just keep looking, i have seen rs and gs 2nd gen eclipses on there for as low as 2,000 in good condition.

It honestly sounds to me like the dealer IS yanking your chain-I wouldn't go back there because they KNOW that you want it badly, and they feel that when someone gets emotionally attached to a vehicle, they can pretty much name the price.
 
Keep looking, I'm sure that you'll find a better deal down the road!  IMO, the dealer will NEVER get anywhere near that price for the shape that car is in.

. . . and another thing, I highly doubt they ever paid $7000 for it in the first place!!! 

Exactly, you don't buy a car for double the book value. Someone woulda been fired. And first I was told it was siezed in a drug raid, then that it was a trade in. Drug raid would mean they got it at an auction, and they don't finance at auctions. Trade in, the car wouldn't even have $1500 trade in value BEFORE all the parts got stolen, due to their lack of security. That was what interested me about it, it was still  sound vehicle, but it was half gone. I don't want a nice car, I want a beaten eclipse, one thats missing the exhaust system, has 3 colors paint, and is sitting on 3 steels and a donut. That's the best kinda project. Anyone got friends who abused their 2nd gen?