Hi, I am looking to sell my SC300 and pick up a 97+ gst or gsx as a daily driver. Now I have heard all the horror stories about crankwalk and DSM's beings P.O.S., but obviously if a car is not maintained it will be a P.O.S. How many here would think the car would be fine if maintenance is kept up to date?

 

Had one, it's fine daily, I even drive it on snow, rain, icy, fog, everything.

Crankwalk's a big problem, but not as big as minor problems that will plague the car... I mean things like oil leaks, driveshaft seal leaks, squeaks here and there, it's fine if you know the car well and fix anything that affects driving...

Of course there'll be times of horror, I've tried going back to the dealership 6? or was it 8? times in 2 weeks, twice was towed there.

Biggest known problems should be the tranny and crankwalk, but mine have no problems at all with either. So it's a hit or miss, but I've been told that if the car's high mileage, it'll have less chance of crankwalk (if it's still on the stock 7 bolt engine) as if it's gonna happen, it would've happened already... btw, mine's a 97 tsi awd (GSX), with 136xxx miles.

Also, if it's got a 6 bolt engine already, it should be fine and free of crankwalk.

 

I would not say that they are a POS but as aforementioned, they do have the crank walk issue. My friend's good friend got crankwalk on his car at about 60k miles and after dealer services to fix it, they only guarateed it for 6 months if I am remembering correct. But I dont think he had a problem after, though he didnt own it for much over a year after that... I think this was only a problem for manual cars and did not affect automatics. I know my cousin's '97 GS-T has like 150K on it and never had an issue with it, nor has it had any other major mechanical issues.

 

Had one as a daily before, and it was alright. That said, I'd rather keep the '97 SC...

 

Main reason I want to get rid of the SC is because of winter. Chicago winters suck, last winter driving the was terrible even when there was under a inch on the ground. Also the SC is a pretty boring car.

 

did you have snow tires?

 

noonly regular all seasons

 

Get snow tires. Even an awd system will not do well if you dont have snow tires.

AWD/4WD system will help you accelerate in snow. That's the advantage. But if you need to stop, the AWD wont do any better than the rwd system.

 

Incorrect. Most of the standard Subaru AWD systems with all season tires are superb in snow. The exceptions, of course, are the WRX and STi with hi-perf summer tires. I went through 9 inches of snow last winter with no wheelspin at all, and 5-6 inches of sleet/ice and only a small amount of sliding with my Outback.

Generally true. You need to give yourself room to stop no matter what kind of drive layout you have. Even with ABS, you don't necessarily stop quicker on slick roads.....just with more steering control and without sliding.



Back to the Mitsus. I'm not sure I would trust either a used GS-T or GS-X. I remember test-driving them in 1995 when they were brand-new. For the mid-1990's they were fast, and would definitely get out of their own way....the FWD, Turbo GS-T, of course, more so than the AWD Turbo GS-X, with its added weight and drag. But IMO they were rather poorly built, had squeaks, rattles, and second-rate paint jobs, and quickly established poor reliability records with Consumer Reports. Of course they were bought by a class of people that often drive their cars pretty hard and don't take proper care of them, but even so, I haven't been impressed with the condition of many of the used ones I saw either. A friend of mine bought a used GS-X several years ago (I was not there at the time to check it over for him), and while the car was genarally in OK running condition, a number of the accessories, like radio *****, wiper arms, fan speeds, etc..... did not work right. Mitsubishi engines, in general, are also known to start having upper-block problems like valve stems, head gaskets, etc.....starting around 80,000 miles or so. Turbos, of course, only add to the engine stresses and deterioration accumulated over time.

Then, of course, you have the winter question. The GS-X, of course, will go through light snow better than some RWD cars, but here, GSteg's comments come into play....with this car you DO need snow tires, or at least better-than-factory tires for winter conditions because the car, like many high-performance coupes, came standard with hi-perf dry-pavement tires, and the low ground clearance limits its ability to go though deep snow. Of course, the GS-T and GS-X were not meant to be Jeep Wranglers or Land Rovers when it comes to ground clearance, but it is just something to take into consideration...that's all.

 

I decided to keep my SC300.

 

Glad to hear you decided to keep the SC. I'll have some snow tires and 17" OEM chrome GS 5spoke wheels for sale soon if you want them.

 

^^^ how much are you looking to sell them for?

 

PM sent, sc300STED

 

mmarshall, I guess I should have rewritten that statement.

AWD works best when you have snow tires. I would still take an AWD system with all-season over RWD with equivalent tires, but if there were to ever be snow around here, I'd put on snow tires. It's just a safety precaution for me.

 

If you are in sunny L.A., most of the time you don't need AWD, except in the winter heavy rains where AWD can be useful, but snow and ice in the winter are not that far away.....up in the mountains just north of the region.