Been around Turbo Dodges a long time, but never one of these... Got a possible trade going (much less than challenge money)?
Guy claims it needs and alternator and a Mass air flow sensor, otherwise a good looking car.
Is the whole something to avoid? Is the crank just made for walking, and that's what it will do?
Or can this be good cheap fun?
If you see this, don't buy it.
In for answers. This will likely be my next project car as well.
All I'm gonna say is I'd hold out for a GSX myself. I've been told they changed the thrust bearing design in like 1997 and improved the crank walk situation. Apparently what commonly gets misdiagnosed as crank walk is actually missing bellhousing bolt. Not that it matters a whole lot because both situations destroy the main bearings and crank.
General Good Idea: defeat the clutch interlock switch in a manual car so that your pressure plate isn't dry-grinding your crankshaft against your thrust bearing when starting the engine.
The problem with most of them is they got beat to you know what. Good news is that if it's just a MAF those are cheap. take your code reader and see if it took out the cat or O2 sensor.
They are pretty tough cars, but not as tough as the first gen ones. Crankwalk problem is way overblown, if they were gonna go they already would have, its almost a 20 year old car. If you worry about it, grab the crank pulley through the wheelwell and give it a pull, if you feel movement, thats bad. I had 30-40 DSMs, only had one with crankwalk (95 TSi AWD auto) and it was still not so bad the car couldnt be driven daily.
Interior pieces on the 2G cars are pretty fragile, missing stuff can be hard to find because they are pretty thin on the ground any more. 2nd gear is weak from people bangin gears, strut towers rust out on 2Gs driven in winter. Alternator and MAF can be sourced from many similar era mitsubishis or should be cheap enough to get online, I used to sell 2G MAFs with pigtails for around $40. Do a boost leak test and read the VFAQ completely. http://www.vfaq.com/index-main.html
Things to note when checking it out, don't look directly at it unless you have those special glasses on.
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/d/1995-mitsubishi-eclipse-gsx/6278680593.html
I've always liked the first and second generation styling. The above example I'd pay $500 max for. I don't care what inherent value it might have that's all it would be worth to me. 
In reply to nutherjrfan:
That's good because every Eclipse built after 1999 is literally just a Chrysler Sebring.
These cars are actually very solid despite their reputation. Wear items and rubber parts would need to be gone through like any other 20 year old car, but the drivetrains are very reliable. Change all of the cooling hoses at once, or you will be chasing them one at a time as they pop. Crankwalk should be almost a non issue. Very few cars had it back when they were new- and they haven't been new in a long time. And I think the 95's and 96's were the majority if not all of the cases.
There was a ball joint recall so check that out. Other than that, they had an excellent suspension design.
The AWD cars get all the glory, but in many cases a FWD car can be faster around a road course.
That's good because every Eclipse built after 1999 is literally just a Chrysler Sebring.
Well, by the same logic so are the 95-99s. Mopar had their stretch dsm's (Sebring, Avenger) concurrently with the 2g dsm cars. I have owned a 2g Eclipse and an Avenger and preferred the Avenger other than the fact that you had to roll your own boost. Never been a fan of Sebring coupe styling in either generation. But either way the mopar variants were stretched dsm's in my book and the eclipse was never a shortened sebring. 
Random opinion: The sebring coupe would be not-quite-irrelevant to me if it had come with the Mivec 3.8 from the 4th gen eclipse. That poor orphan motor never got a fair shake because the only things they put it in in America were not well regarded by enthusiasts.
I've raced an Eclipse with the Chrysler 420A. Superb handling and stopping...especially with bolt on 3000GT front brakes.
The engines don't last in endurance dancing. Oiling problems despite throwing every trick in the book at it short of a dry sump.
Dunno why. It's a Neon engine with the intake and exhaust sides swapped on the head. I suspect the 420A has an issue with oil pooling in the head, but can't prove it.
So is the Alternator regulated by the computer in the same (sometimes not so reliable) fashion as the Sebring? I had an issue once with a 97 Sebring vert. Changed the alternator and thought I fixed it. It was great for weeks and then all the sudden spiked in voltage. Before shut it down it visibly fried the PCM. Tried a couple PCM's from both the yard and reman ones that said they would work/programable. Nothing.. Local shop was even no help. The car was dead it would kick into security mode and didn't want to play. Ended up taking one last try and there was the PCM and another module I found at a pick and pull yard. That did the trick... Ran fine after that..
Is this something to watch for with this one with a reported dead alternator also?
I always liked the looks of the Avenger... A turbo AWD one would be interesting.
Easily the cheapest way to go fast. 1g's are a better platform but the 2g's supposedly handle better. Look out for strut tower rust and check the engine like said. DSM's get a bad rap because of poor maintenance when cars are making way over 2x the factory power levels
In reply to Vigo:
the 95-99 cars got boost and AWD which made up for the sebring-ness. Yes I will admit that at one time I wanted to get a 2g dsm era V6 Sebring coupe and add boost.
2g's have a much better suspension. I owned a 98 Eclipse with the basic Tein coilover setup and it was fun. Wish i had that setup on my Avenger before i got rid of it.
Yes I will admit that at one time I wanted to get a 2g dsm era V6 Sebring coupe and add boost.
I knew of a guy here in Texas with 3.0 bottom end swap and a centrifugal sc on a Sebring coupe. As sebring coupes go it was pretty sweet.
Late to the party but... Yes. The crankwalk thing is damn near a joke at this point. It rarely happens since the ones that did/would crankwalk already have. Besides, the 98 has the split thrust block which greatly reduced the issue.
Rust. Rear wheel wells rust bad along with the strut towers. If you have both the car may have much more structural rot. I had to scrap another 2g recently because it was farrr gone.
Cheap. God these cars are cheap. Facebook parts groups sell parts at an alarmingly cheap price. Same with Craigslist.
I need some serious HELP!!!! I have a 1998 2 door manual eclipse just have some MAJOR issues ig with the control module I get this car was partnered with Chrysler for a bit or something like that and the exterior might be Mitsubishi but the engine and so forth Chrysler I sent some photos to a dealership to see how much they would charge me for tests ig a HEFTY $$$ ive put in a decent amount of money and I don't mind putting in more but many of my friends have taken their bmw to a dealership and makes it worse. Rn I've so far bought 2-3 control modules and have had mechanics try to fix it. Ive switched mechanics 2 times already and gonna be a 3rd because this guy fried the one we just got it. Brand new too. So more money down the drain. Anyone down to mentor me or let me know how or where is a good place to go.
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