Used 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse Consumer Reviews
Used Eclipse for sale
Follow up from 2011 review / 2014 comments
overboost007, 02/09/2014
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS 2dr Hatchback (3.0L 6cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Ok my 2003 GTS Eclipse V6 currently has 119000 miles. received Duralast Gold brake pads since I purchased it and 2 oil changes Mobile 1 synthentic and thats it. Now the BAD. The Flywheel and clutch went. Replaced them at Don Herring Mitsubishi in Plano Texas Thanks JT. Then the ABS light came on. I'll go to Auto Zone and get the Code and fix it myself. So far the second best used car I have owned next to my old 1999 Honda Accord CPE V6. AGAIN I do not race. The only upgrade is an INJEN Intake system. Hopefully I can trade it in next year for a 2011 Dodge Charger or challenger. But my 2003 MITS GTS is one of the best reliable used cars you can buy hands down.
My 2003 Eclipse GTS
rmitch86, 04/15/2011
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS 2dr Hatchback (3.0L 6cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I owned a 2001 GS for a few years i inherited it from my parents when they traded up i loved it. When that car was rear ended and totalled in december i purchased a 2003 eclipse GTS gun metal grey. It has 74k and running great. My 01 got up to 212k and was running like a champ. Just do your sched maint. and keep an eye on problem areas. Both have been 5 speed and the feel of the clutch and the way the shifter pops into place is great. Very fun car to drive especially in the summer with the windows down and sunroof open. as long as you take car of the car and keep up with it the eclipse will treat you right. even stock its a head turner.
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse for sale near you
Showing 3 of 5 listings
- GTS 2dr HatchbackMSRP: $5,950576 mi away
- GT 2dr HatchbackMSRP: $3,495791 mi away
- GS 2dr HatchbackMSRP: $3,499837 mi away
See all 5 listings
Awesome
Ruben, 01/19/2010
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS 2dr Hatchback (2.4L 4cyl 4A)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I purchased my 03 Eclipse used with 35,000 miles in 2005. It currently has 115,000 miles. This car has been a blast to drive. It hasn't given me problems other than routine maintenance (brakes, tires, battery, belts). The sportronic transmission is awesome, although I don't use it as much. I am selling it now because I need a bigger vehicle. Will miss it for sure. Would buy a new eclipse again if the body style on newer eclipses are similar to the 00-05 models.
Underrated Car
kobo1d, 09/09/2009
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS 2dr Hatchback (3.0L 6cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I've had my Eclipse GTS Automatic for a little over 4 years and it has been a very nice car. Bought used, still under factory bumper-to-bumper warranty, I've driven it hard (currently at 67000 miles) and have had very little issues with it. The only problems with the car have been some electrical issues: The factory 6-CD player completely stopped working, refusing to play and making a horrible crunching sound constantly. Mitsubishi wanted $450 to fix it, so I just replaced it with an aftermarket setup. The switch for the passenger side window only rolls the window up, not down, so the passenger has to roll down their own window. Sunroof switch is touchy. And yes, the plastic scratches easy.
My first officially owned car, totally worth it
Term, 04/06/2016
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT 2dr Hatchback (3.0L 6cyl 4A)
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
The 2003 GT Eclipse is great! I recently traded it in for a brand new Mazda3 which is also fantastic, but I often find myself missing the Eclipse even though my Mazda3 is fully loaded and is very fun to drive itself! The car drove extremely well but certainly was not meant to be tuned as it wasn't fast and the engine was.... interesting to work on to say the least. That's certainly not saying that it was not fast enough to pass other cars with ease when called upon. She was an absolute head turner, I powder coated the stock rims black and put limo tint on the windows which REALLY made her stand out from the crowd. When I had the sunroof flipped out, she was one of the sportiest cars on the road. I didn't have the leather interior but it was still perfect with how Mitsubishi laid everything out. The sound package that came with her was fantastic and I never needed to touch it as it was spot on. I did, however, swap the head unit with something more modern (bluetooth). Mechanically, this car was partially sound. Downsides were replacing wearing parts such as the timing belt (yes, it has a timing belt in the v6) and maintaining the suspension which became a headache near the end of my ownership. The cruise control solenoid failed near the end too, which left the "Cruise" light on and the actual unit unusable. Another issue that apparently a lot of Mitsu's have is the engine burning and leaking oil, which at 139,000 miles on mine was a serious problem, every gasket on the engine was leaking oil (head gasket, valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, and even the main rear seal which was NOT WORTH IT TO FIX AT ALL). I did a lot of the maintenance work on it myself such as replacing a cracked radiator which resulted from road debris, the front bumper which a truck backing out of a parking spot poked a hole into with their hitch, replacing spark plugs and cleaning the intake. I can't say my knees didn't take a beating from doing this work as a result of the v6, but at the end of the day it was easy and Mitsubishi designed this car to be easy to maintain and allowed me to cut my teeth on car maintenance for the first time. It had very slight rust issues but that's easy to overlook because it only affected specific parts of the car. I love this car and would recommend it to anyone. I enjoyed it and still really miss her, wish that I could have kept her but the dealer gave me a trade-in offer that I couldn't pass up. I hope if anyone ever owns my car in the future, they can fix her up properly and give her a garage that I always wish I could have provided. :)
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
Reliable and Fun to Drive
Chris, 12/30/2017
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS 2dr Hatchback (2.4L 4cyl 4A)
2 of 3 people found this review helpful
I bought this car brand new in 2003 and as a first time buyer I didn't do my homework before hand. This car might look fast but the acceleration is slow it did a little better when in sportronic shift mode. The interior was small especially the backseat and the materials didn't look quality made. I did like the exterior look of the car and I got quite a few compliments on it. I have to admit I had fun driving it and did a lot of road trips. It's also very reliable for the 8 years that I owned this car I put over 150K miles with no issues. Would I ever buy an eclipse again probably not and I can see why Mitsubishi no longer makes them.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
Beneathe the Silver Lining
NJJ, 10/01/2003
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT 2dr Hatchback (3.0L 6cyl 4A)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
The new eclipse is a cloud of deceit without the silver lining. Coolant system with poor circulation, and very poor quality engine components. Wait until you go through a winter with snowy, salty roads and watch your engine compartment rust out. If you make it to 36,000 miles your transmission is likely to start giving coast down clunks and clicking noises. Poor quality rims dent easily on 2002 models. Intake and exhaust systems are inefficiently designed, negatively effecting performance. Beautiful car from the exterior, after a year looks like a rusty '78 Dodge Dart. Dealerships talk their way around fixing problems and the car still sells.
Close to perfect (for me)
Payback_56, 11/08/2003
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT 2dr Hatchback (3.0L 6cyl 4A)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
The car iteself is great, has a great feel to it, good handling, tight on turns. Able to handle speed well Came with side of steering column busted, but they were fast to fix it, excellent service.
2002 Eclipse GT Never Lets Me Down
Joe Hussar, 09/27/2003
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT 2dr Hatchback (3.0L 6cyl 4A)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
This is my second Eclipse. Previously I owned a 1st gen GS. After 245,000 miles I finally traded for the 2002 GT. The vehicle is a smoother and quieter ride but has more muscle than even a non turbo 3000GT. It remains a head turner even though some of the girls are younger than permissible by law. The black leather interior with silver exterior is beyond awesome. For the money, nothing beats an Eclipse. Mitsu builds cars with integrity and of course, unique trend setting style. Why spend more? You won't get more!
Great cars even used if you take care of it
overboost007, 10/16/2012
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS 2dr Hatchback (3.0L 6cyl 5M)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
OK people lesson I am 6ft 8in tall, 260 lbs, I formally drove a 1999 Honda Accord EX CPE V6 with 248,000. Now I have a 2003 Mitsubishi clipse GTS 5 speed manual that had 98,000 on it when I bought it. The previous owner took great care of it. I went through it hard. I am just a DIY guy that knows car. This car was a good buy because of how it was taken care of. The dealers can clean it up but I know brakes, fuel systems, intake, transmission & engine. It is not rocket science. Research on line and make a good choice. The car runs great I will upgrade the brakes to what I like an just maintain it until I am ready to by a newer vehicle