Do you spend more time driving your DSM or fixing it?

[AWD Terror]

That's right... we often hear about the DSM that's down while undergoing upgrades or never-ending fixes. We rarely see the obvious posts saying "hey my car runs today". :D So which is it for you right now? ;)

[V8SpankR]

I need a few things like new struts but overall this race season has been very good. 40+ passes down the strip and no probs. My car has been running very consistent 13.5s-6s all season so knock on wood that everything goes well for the next two club events and the IDRC event on the 22nd.

[Misundaztood]

I drive a nt so yeah, I spend more time driving it than fixing anything.:)

[DRW]

I spend more time fixing than driving, but that's not a bad thing! I like working on my car. I usually do preventative stuff, like right now I'm rebuilding my turbo because it leaks some oil and has a bit too much shaft play, I'm not waiting until it blows smoke all over the neighborhood and coughs up bits of compressor wheel. Of course, it sucks when something breaks and I can't drive when I want to.

Plus I work at a bike shop that's only two miles away, so I usually ride my bike instead of driving.

[AWDjunkie]

This thread scares me:(

[lazerturbors]

definately more time fixing my dsm than driving, i dont think ive spent quite enough money yet though ive only got like 4 g's into a 1500 dollar car so far!! Yes the never ending money and mechanical struggle goes on but then when it does run its oh soo worth it all

[DRW]

My car is running pretty nice right now, but I have plans to work on it anyway! I went to the pick-n-pull today and grabbed a few minor items that should make my car a little easier to live with. IMHO, it's worth it.

[NOMIEZVR4]

my car has been under the knife this whole summer, next year i will make up for it in a big way..:)

[Cyndi]

At this point I spend more time fixing it, I need a new clutch and head gasket

[Downset]

I've been fixing the thing since I bought it.... Owned it almost 3 years now... I bet it hasn't ran for half of that.

[SpoolingWOT]

I spend more time driving my car because I am the one who works on it:D .

[Cyndi]

Originally posted by Downset
I've been fixing the thing since I bought it.... Owned it almost 3 years now... I bet it hasn't ran for half of that. the way my car is coming along it seems to be the same and mine is a n/t

[xyzzy72]

First it was driving it...now it's fixing it...because of all the driving! :P

[rookieupgrade1]

2 DSM's here.

The laser gets driven less than 20% of the time. The other 80 it lives in the shop.

The Talon is a perminant resident in the shop.

[acidikjuice]

well i'v owned my car (my 2G) for almost 14 months and to this date it has been down 4.5 (maybe alittle bit more) of those months. oh well, thats why a beater car is a must have mod when it comes to DSM's.

:D

[smither_t]

i know exactly what you all are talking about, even though i finally got my laser running correctly. a friend of mine bought a 92 2.0 turbo the first day of july and has driven it for 6 total days since then. he and i did a full rebuild and am putting the engine back in today.......i'm on lunch break right now......wish us luck.............

[white 2g awd]

i bought my eclipse in july of 2002....i've only put 1,000 miles on it since...i still have the sticker in the window for its first oil change that i got....if that tells ya how much i drive it....and how much time i'm fixing it...well, actually its in the shop now, i'm just about to tell them to fix anything and everything that is wrong or could possibly be wrong with it....when ever i drive it, i don't listen to my music, i listen to the car to try and tell when its going to break down before it does...:eek:

Dustin

[karnsatron]

I've had mine since January and so far it has been down a couple months in that time. One day while my wife was driving it, the oil decided it didn't like it on the inside of the engine anymore. It was down while I swapped to the 6 bolt. Other than that I've been too busy upgrading it to give it a chance to break. (cross my fingers)

[TalonOwner]

Spend more time driving it than fixing it, anyone ever notice that it's the 2.0 turbo's that seem to be down most compared to us N/A's(Non Turbo's).
Not Bashing just observing.:D

[scotthidley]

I managed to drive it 20 miles since October. Both of the last drives ended up with it taking piggy back on a flatbed. It should be back on the road by Saturday:)

Damn this pole is old. I probably voted driving, but now belong on fixing:P

[DRW]

Old thread, but my answer seems to change everytime it pops back up.

I started rebuilding the motor on my Talon last February, and it's still not done. For that car I've spent every weekend working on it with zero driving time. Ugh!

My Laser is the opposite since it's my daily driver and my commute is 70 miles per day. I work on it rarely, and when I do it's just a quick maintenance item that's finished within an hour or two. I just hope it doesn't break before the Talon is done. (Is there a 'cross your fingers for good luck' icon? I could use one here!)

[cdale]

In all honesty my Talon hasn't been down the extent that I can't drive it. I try and fix things before they even think of breaking... Knock on wood. It's making some funny noises now, but those will be fixed soon. I love driving the turbo 24/7. It's been a great daily drive for me.

[nukefission]

I drive my beater 150 miles a day, so pretty soon I'll catch up to the amount of time I've spent fixing it and my other DSM! :)

[talonted_one]

My car hasn't runt since feb of 03. :mad:

[toyotech360]

I drive a 91 GS 2.0 and every other weekend it's under the chopping block..... fixing somebody elses mistakes:mad: .

[DRW]

I need another option box to check off that says something like,"Not driving, Not fixing, just waiting for parts to show up"
cuz that's what I'm doing, just sitting here with my azz glued to the couch, logged on, munching spicyhot cheetos chased with Barq's while spewing BS all over the net waiting for that one last part to show up which is on backorder! (of course)

That's my vote.

[diambo4life]

I think I drive my AWD too much.:dunno: Almost ~30-35k in the last year alone.:eek: It's on jackstands right now-doing the yearly "maintenance" though.:rolleyes:

[acidikjuice]

my car still hasen't been driven since october when i posted, lol!

but i'v just been too busy latly, its killing me! i want to drive my car! :D i'v owned the T28 for over a year and have put 2 miles on it ...

[dmoto92]

50 - 50 now days. . .

[jetfixer]

I bought mne, drove it 4 months, then it got robbed. Whole Intake assembly, UICP, all inside gauges, etc. Took me a year to buy parts/rebuild. Ran for two months, blew head gasket. Sat for past year or so, added way too many parts at once, but it seemed to work out. For me I've driven only six months out of almost four years.

[silvercoupe97]

70% driving, 5% upgrading, 20% looking for stuff to upgrade, 5% wondering where to go. I'm doing a, one step at a time upgrade so I can enjoy what I have and enjoy what's been upgraded/replaced.

[NOMIEZVR4]

Driving..I purchased it last year drove over 10k miles already! Thank God, she is so reliable

[4g63punk]

Wow I dont see how you all can just be down all the time.. i mean i have quite a few mods to my 2.0 turbo.. and well i have not hardly ever been down...

[92LaserRSturbo]

havent drove it in months...nuff said.

[Djwired]

50 - 50 now days. . .
same

[MarkTsiDSM]

i spend a month on the road, then she goes in the garage for about a week at a time for mods, maintanance and various other hack jobs. same goes for the winter. which equates to roughly 40 weeks on the road 12 weeks off.

i'll say 80% driven 20% worked on. thats my final answer regis

[The_EE]

Driving. It spent 25 hours down when I was learning how to do a turbo swap. It spent 2 weeks down as I learned how to drop a transmission in the rain/snow at night after 12 hour work days. I have had it since june of 2005 and its gained 12000 miles since then. Its treated me well because I have treated it well. I dont beat on it, I rarely get on it, I normally dont put more then 10 psi on it during daily driving ( thats hard to do sometimes because it boosts like a mofo ). If I do get on it hard, its to pass someone and that generally takes a small 3 second mash of the gas to do and I have gained 20-30 feet or 10-15mph on them in no time.

[Chicago_DSM]

Ya...No big deal that this is a 3 year old thread...

The car has been unregistered/uninsured for a long time, and now that it's finally almost legal to drive, eek, the radiator starts pouring out coolant...

So, I wanna say 50-50, but I would be lying...

[MarkTsiDSM]

when it breaks, and you fix it, you earn the right to beat the hell out of it till it breaks again. isnt that how dsm's work?

[smokethis]

HECK YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! ^ My daily driven nt has never broke down and my 91 turbo has no motor or tranny in it right now because of the broken shift forks and motor rebuild. Gonna kick butt when its done though! :-)

[punisher]

Driving....Mine still broke a lot, but I knew what I was doing and fixed it.

[DSM_Fo_Life]

Driving. I only put 100 or so miles a week.

[ralliartist]

still working some bugs out on mine. but it should be up and running soon. so far tho, I've spent a lot of time fixing/upgrading.

[scrapin_frame]

well i have owned the car since october 05 and so far have put about 90 miles on it. its just one thing after another... right now i am trying to fix boost leaks as i am maxing out my injectors and my maf, and i really shouldnt be at this point

[araknid01]

i dont spend any time fixing the dsm .. spend most of my time upgrading it.. my dsm is hardly ever broken knocks on wood

[mikeg]

What the hell are you guys doing to your cars I spend most of my time if not 95% of my time with my car driving it. never breaks just needs more mods

[Boorail85]

well.. in the past, I have spent more time fixing! Between my 91 GSX and 90 Laser RS.. I went through two Engines, a Transmission, numerous axles, two turbo's, radiator, alternator, couple of batteries, set of injectors, and a timing issue.. not to mention normal crap like leaks, starting issues, etc..

however, im pleased to say I haven't had any real problems with the Talon. I had to spend some times adjusting the idle.. and last night was the first time I had to work on the car. The bolt for the coolant pipe was missing, and the pipe came out of the damn block!

[92fwricer]

not too many problems. usually when the problems occur though, the downtime is longer than 1 day. I drive it more than fix it though.

[chaddycakes]

What the hell are you guys doing to your cars I spend most of my time if not 95% of my time with my car driving it. never breaks just needs more mods

If you had a turbo charged 4g63 with moderate mods you would know.:)

[Darksurfr]

by far much more time driving it. its my DD so it better me more driving.

[95orangeGSX]

I bought a 95 GSX about 3 weeks ago and have only drove it probably 50 miles since. I started to replace the struts and during the process the struts turned into the wheel hub, then the hub turned into the ball joint, then the ball joint turned into the ABS sensor, and if that wasnt enough the water pump decided to take a leak all over. So I would have to go with fixing it.

[fiveSFE]

ive had my 92 laser for almost a year now. it is pretty modded, yeah some small things go wrong wit it-radiator, alternator, nothing i couldnt fix really quick.

id say its really only been down for 3 months since ive had it, due to me gettin in an accident with it, and waiting for other parts for her.

[T_K]

um, I got my TSI about two months ago, supposedly nothing wrong with it. Sure, but two weeks, or 25% of the time I've had it, it's been down. It's eaten just a grand in repairs so far and it still needs a non-grinding tranny, new lifters and maybe other head stuff, and it's getting close to the 120K maintenance point so it'll soon need all those belts and pulleys. And it needs new rear pads, rotors and hubs.

and it's so stock...

oh well.

at least it runs. :)

[sotired90rs]

Free 90 laser RS Turbo= 15,000.00 investment in a car worth 500.00 kelly bluebook. but, when it runs, it's worth every penney.

[TsiTripp]

i love my dsm but there is always something going wrong with it

[dsm475]

i get about 2 week out of my dsm before it breaks agein.

[newzim88]

i love my car too, but i have had for two years and have driven about 2500 miles...finally got it running now but i seem to have misplaced 70-90hp and i cant find it.

[ZiPZopJ]

fixing it big time. but when i get it in road worthy state it runs like a raped ape.LOL. i hate the trans in the auto 90 GS's. they suck. its like there made of glass. thats the only problem ive been having this month in trans issues. and i just replaced the trans about 5 months ago with a working 40,000 mile trans and this one is slipping and revving up high when i acc fast . only does it really bad when the engine warms up. then i had it stick in 4th and couldnt get it out of 4th. then had it sit and it worked good. its like when it warms up it getting crappy on me. probley the heat expanding the bands or gears making them not line up or connect. anyone else have or had this problem?

[zachab242]

Never have any probs with mine.....167000......

[boosted92dsm]

Driving it thank god. My days off does consist of me spending about 3 or 4 hours on the dizzum.

[94talonwip]

yea my dsm is so unreliable that carry a 3 drawer craftsman toolbox in the hatch. I carry nearly every tool i own stuffed in the craftsman box and a toolbag. I also have a big 1,000,000 candlelight flashlight. Gas Can. I remember one time my clutch springs literally exploded out of my pressure plate and i pulled over on 33 and had my gf come bring me a clutch kit from autozone. I pulled the tranny and replaced the clutch on the side of the freeway in 4 hours. Lol The shit we do to keep ouur cars on the road. I might just break down and buy a Honda. Lol

[goshawty]

MY eclipse has been very good to me (knock on wood) and has never left me stranded, I definatly drive it more than I fix it but Im not pushing huge hp numbers.

[mikey001015]

i have owned my car for 1 year and have driven it almost 3k miles. it mainly sits due to modding and fixing little problems. main problem i have though now is just my master cylinder going out.

[4SFED4]

The daily DSM(93 Talon), I have only had to do maintenance for the last year and half. It has been very reliable, like any 13 sec car should be.

My 91 Talon is under repair/reconstuction more often than drivable. I spend 4 times longer working on it than driving it. It may be hard for some others to understand, but when it is running, its worth it :)

Unfortunately the EVO is still in the body shop. For the price it is getting repaired for, I can wait.

[Kouryou]

Love driving it daily!...she is down for about an hour or two on the weekend to tweak or turn a wrench then right back on the road. She'll need a clutch soon and I'll have to get the suspension installed sometime but that's just a few hours downtime then she'll be down putting rubber to asphalt again. I for one love these easy to work on DSMs!

British cars are escaped mental patients wandering around in public, DSMs are just that kid with the mohawk who scares old people.

[jreese86]

I spend more time fixing it, but that's because I bought it cheap with a few problems, and because I don't daily drive it.

[dsm_roller]

So far more time driving it (got it 2 years ago, smog is due). I think the HG is going out. Gonna start doing the internals now!

[Flow-Bro]

fixing it

[mario_97gst]

:P fixing it, I dont drive it that much because im afraid something else gets busted while driving it lol

[Tokenboy]

I spend more time fixing it do to my own stupidity of maintaining it and not seeing problems ahead of time before it gets over blown. But I dont make the same mistakes twice.lol now I just need a new engine.

[Vargs55]

I dont drive it alot but havent had much trouble with it since i got it. No heat makes it hard to drive in the winter and in the rain. 140k and going strong.

[kronus]

Driving it, but this whole tranny problem may change that... ::sigh::

[empie1]

Definitly fixing it. Crankwalk is a bitch!

[foxgst]

FUCK DSMMMMM. I spend waaay too much time fixing it.

[mantis118]

Mine isnt my daily driver. THANK GOD!!! but my b3000 has 73000 and still goin with no problems. Ive had my talon for two months have been working on it since ive owned it. But thats ok because when it runs it is well worth it. Lookin forward to seeing 10 second passes on the board.

[motocrzed]

depends on how fast you want to go.

[JAD3D]

I've had my Latest dsm for about a month. 2 weeks of driving, and about 4 not driving...

[Gordian79]

Ive been driving my car for about 2 months with no problems.I dont beat on it unless i have to.B4 that it was a nightmare.I had to correct alot of PO issues.

[BostinSwifty38]

Suprisingly, I am quite lucky! I drive my DSM more then fixing it! I think the only bad thing this year I had was the HG. a day later it was fixed, running, tuned and out beating the piss out of it! Now, I'm going to re-do the hg, new head, timing, and bigger turbo, smim, -an fuel system, etc. So, I hope the luck stays with me this coming season, and year.

-A. Swift

[vr4u2nv]

well i've owned my galant vr-4 for about 10 days now. And so far i havent driven it much at all. Maybe about 20 mins total. I bought a car with 100 problems and JNZ tuning is going over the car and helping me put it back together. The idiot built this car so sloppy and didnt know what he was doin. So im fixxing alot of the problems and fixxing so something he left out but when its done it'll be sweet. I absolutely love the car. And i've never really driven it. So im hoping for the best and cant wait to get it on the road and mod it even further.

[youn_C]

I dont have my car yet....But im hoping to get a 2g GSX, and a question. Are you guys using the stock engines or 4g63s?

[KJS1820]

4g63 is what comes in 89-94 eclipses, 95-99 turbo eclipses and evo 8 and evo 9 :) I beat mine almost everyday! Some say I am nuts but I enjoy driving my 97 gsx more that my cobra or supra :)

[johnnytsi]

everything that could possibly break, has already broke and been fixed.. . . .

At least once :o

[ezekiel888]

Its a close race, but so far its been $3800 for the car, and about 1 - 1.5 grand fixing broken crap. It would have been a lot more, but i got lucky. My 18 inch rims came with my car, and my brother works for a tire company, which means... free SUMITOMO tires all around :)

[KyleGST]

tranny was the biggest hole in my wallet

[GermanCars]

Hi everybody,
I'm new in this forum!!! I always loved German Cars but I love the power of the DSMs. I wanted to know, when people say that they brake all the time and you always have to fix it. Is it the motor that has a lot of problems or it's all the other parts. Is the motor solid?
Thank you everybody!!!

[1gawd4g63]

um, i usually replace all suspension components, brakes, gaskets, seals, timing belt, drive belts, axle boots, all maintence before driving them, and spend a whole lot more time driving than fixing. You just have to know how to maintain one of these cars properly.

[redtalontsi]

I put fixing it not because it doesn't run, but because it doesn't run the way I want it to. I can drive it, but I spend more time tuning it than driving it tuned so... This always leads to me taking things apart and replacing things trying to narrow down the problem so it seems like it is always being fixed.

[moosethebelgian]

For the first few years.. driving it.. but lately it's been horrid, so I'd say fixing it.. two trannys in the past year, my panels are rusting (I'm slowly replacing them or fixing them), and my engine pretty much blew up last night, my mom has been driving her to work.. alternator belt went, water pump proceeded not to work, car over heated, hoses blew, then the car started on fire... after inspection and tearing everything out.. we discovered the block was cracked.. and pretty much nothing was that "fixable"... so I got a new-ish engine going in today 2.0L DOHC ... 60k miles, but it's dirtier than my old engine.

[1whitegst]

*knock on wood* only driving so far

my dsm has been a peach

[Night_Rider]

Mine is still running today. Got it when I was 18 years old. Now Im 22 I only had one problem. Crack piston on number 4 due to running too lean and low octane and got that taken care of. If you take good care of it sure it will take good care of you.

[Saad]

damn, this is a pretty even split. Glad im of the driving it bunch :)

[the_skin_eater]

Ive driven my car 4 miles since Ive owned it.....Im pulling the engine out next weekend.

Sooooo....Id have to say more time fixing......

[ChitownGST]

I've had mine for almost 5 years, and it's only had one summer where it was down. So... you could say I drive the hell out of mine. If DSMs are maintained at not beat to shit all the time, they'll treat you just fine.

[bumpndatrunkdsm]

I bought my 95 GST for $6000 dollars. I'm making small payments

and I've spent more on repairs then payments.

[bumpndatrunkdsm]

But don't get me wrong...

Everytime I get on that turbo (evo III 16G), It's all well worth it.

[ckeins]

fortunately i'm driving it. but it isn't modded that much. still running the good old 14b. :)

[1gcrazy]

i've owned my car for almost a year and have never driven it... Sad huh

[Chris Musgrove]

I've owned my for 6 months and have been down for the past 3 months.

[4g64fiero]

1g-fixing it. I've had two 4g63 1g cars and theyre always down 9 months out of the year.
2-g n/a. I put in oil, its great. 420a are pretty reliable imo.

[magna]

I have not driven my DSM yet. Owned it for 2 months. I pushed it around and stuff. No driving yet. soon...

[HOT97ECLIPSEGSX]

Ha ha...well I "fixed" my car today upgrading my ic piping and bov while there was about 4-5 inches of snow and slush all over the parking lot at my apartment complex with no jack...is that a dsm'er or what lol :rolleyes: Damn head gasket is leaking and just had it rebuilt for the second time...both times for my motor growing legs and walking :tat:

[1990 Dsm Gsx]

My 1g Gsx - More time fixing it than driving it
My 1g N/t - More time Driving it that fixing it. :)

Works out Nicely.

[1gawd4g63]

there must be some bad mechanics on here, or some bad drivers. How could you possibly work on your car more than driving it? IT is virtually impossible. Unless you are just break things all the time from being stupid, or just have no clue how to work on them. I have had a at least 10 dsm's for dd's, and they are some of the more reliable cars that i have owned. I take very good care of my cars, and keep them well maintained. MY hood only opens up for upgrades, and maintnence.

You buy an old car, don't expect that old worn out motor to put up with abuse. Overhaul it off the bat, with new rings, bearings if the ones in the motor are worn, new gaskets, inspect oil pump, new water pump, and timing components. New clutch if old one is worn too bad, or upgrade if you plan on making more power down the road. IF the tranny grinds, first try syncromesh, as well as a new fork and pivot ball. IF that doesn't help new syncro's for you. Can be done for under 200 dollors.

New axle boots, new ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, brakes, any work suspension components, new wheel bearings if seals are bad. Replace all belts and hoses.

IMPORTANT. Maks sure you have correct fuel mods before adding a bigger turbo. And no knock, keep your motor from knocking, and it will last a long time, if you change the oil, and use synthetic, and don't overrev the hell out of it.

AWD GUYS. don't, what ever you do dump the clutch. That is not how you launch an awd, there is a technique that involves slipping it to launch the car. Axles don't break from normal pulls, usually only people dumping the clutch.

USe good gas.

again no knock. egt's guages are good also, keep them under 1,650 if you don't want to melt pistons.

Keep tires with the same outside diamter tread on awd cars. There is a minimal margin for error.

[1gawd4g63]

there must be some bad mechanics on here, or some bad drivers. How could you possibly work on your car more than driving it? IT is virtually impossible. Unless you are just break things all the time from being stupid, or just have no clue how to work on them. I have had a at least 10 dsm's for dd's, and they are some of the more reliable cars that i have owned. I take very good care of my cars, and keep them well maintained. MY hood only opens up for upgrades, and maintnence.

You buy an old car, don't expect that old worn out motor to put up with abuse. Overhaul it off the bat, with new rings, bearings if the ones in the motor are worn, new gaskets, inspect oil pump, new water pump, and timing components. New clutch if old one is worn too bad, or upgrade if you plan on making more power down the road. IF the tranny grinds, first try syncromesh, as well as a new fork and pivot ball. IF that doesn't help new syncro's for you. Can be done for under 200 dollors.

New axle boots, new ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, brakes, any work suspension components, new wheel bearings if seals are bad. Replace all belts and hoses.

IMPORTANT. Maks sure you have correct fuel mods before adding a bigger turbo. And no knock, keep your motor from knocking, and it will last a long time, if you change the oil, and use synthetic, and don't overrev the hell out of it.

AWD GUYS. don't, what ever you do dump the clutch. That is not how you launch an awd, there is a technique that involves slipping it to launch the car. Axles don't break from normal pulls, usually only people dumping the clutch.

USe good gas.

again no knock. egt's guages are good also, keep them under 1,650 if you don't want to melt pistons.

Keep tires with the same outside diamter tread on awd cars. There is a minimal margin for error.

[1sick91tsi]

for every 3 months of driving, im fixing about the other 9, lol what do you want when it gets hammerd all the time.

[Arkady]

I like working on my DSM!!!

[YesMrYang]

I've been one of the fortunate ones who've had a charmed DSM ownership.

I bought my first dsm for 500 bucks, fixed it up, and have enjoyed every mile I've gotten out of her. But AC would be nice. :)

[projecTSI]

I definitely spend more time fixing/building my tsi than driving it

[dsm_talon77901]

91 AWD TSi- More time fixing it than driving it

[MarkTsiDSM]

As a good friend it's my duty that every time someone i know gets a dsm, i wont let them drive it until they at least put a new timing belt on it.

[turbotalon1g]

Quality parts and maintenance is important. These cars are like girls they always want attention. GIve it to them and they keep inline.

[larc]

The never ending fixes and mods. Someone needs to come up with a modding vaccine :D

[chowda633]

Always fixing! I got the dam thing on the road after 3 drivetrain issues in a month then the T case goes, then the fuel line breaks the next day, then the turbo, then the whole dam bottom end! It never ends lol.

[turbo_red4g63]

I think it is about 50/50

[Simpleman1]

I drive my car to work (46 miles round trip) everyday with no problem.:)

[redtalon5speed]

You have to define fixing :P Im fixin to make it faster all the time!

[T_K]

For this year I've spent at least 100 hours working on my TSI and have driven it maybe three hours max.

[Jk's97DSM]

Driving. My 2G since I bought it last year has only been down for a couple of months most when I am on a det or deployment. 352whp on a stock 7bolt with a rough tune.

[Burntz]

I'm about to buy my first dsm, (92 laser awd), but before I buy it, we're putting on a different head, pulling the oil pan, and retiming it.

Preview of whats to come? Probably :P

[GDNF2ET]

When I first bought it , it went from one bad mechanic to another....I finally found a great dsm mechanic, replaced about everything the others had bugered up..Its like a new car now that runs great...If I would have found him sooner, I would be thousands ahead right now..If I've had it 5 years, its been driveable for 3....

[silvawolfe]

I use mine as a work car and rarely have problems with it. PM PM PM keeps it running, and I beat the crap out of it.

[1gnasty]

my 1g never gave me any problems i spec the same from my vr4

[doorknob329]

i drive mine more than i fix it, but i drive alot tho

[95_eclipse_gs-t]

Well i actually i havnt driven the 1g yet, cos it isnt running so i definitly spend more time fixing it but hopefully not for long!

[EASTcoastGST]

Drive it baby, for now that is. Im sure the time will come were it will be worked on more then driven.

[AWD_DSM]

Something is always going wrong on mine. So I am working on it more than driving it right now. But I am doing a complete rebuild right now so hopefully this wont be true as soon as I am done.

[Wraith]

I have a RS I drive daily and I swear I just can't kill it. My pride and joy GSX on the other hand.....

[lazylaser]

:D working on it

[Red1991TSI]

I definately spend more time driving it. Since it is my daily driver.:rolleyes:

Most of the time I spend working on my car is restoration, cleaning and looking over maintenance stuff. Not something I REALLY need to do but do so for enjoyment.

45,000 miles driven, bought the car bone stock for $2250. Best bang for the buck cost per miled compared to new. And I can still hand most car owners their ass on the street.:banana:

[SHFTQIKR]

Just bought mine and had to put in a new computer, and need a new head:mad: . We'll see after that much is done. Looking forward to it.:)

[DSMGates]

Still working on my laser trying to get it ready for the summer:)

[szl98gst]

have the car sit there all the time

[Phase1GSX]

Def. more fixing it :wall:

[mr16g]

driving it. in the 3,000 miles i have put on it, the only problems is a leaky cv boot, and a thermostate. i dont know why everyone is so unreliable, well im only running 15 psi. but mine has been sitting without startup for 3 years,and with a new afc and turbo, she is alive, mahaahhah

[XFADE]

Well 3 dsm in the last 4.5 years. Only done 20,000 on all 3. But the last one has been on purpose.

[T_K]

Mine goes like this after the new engine:

- drive a little
- fix little shit
- drive some more
- tune a little, fix little shit
- drive longer distances, feel confident
- tune some more, car feels good
- put new turbo, fmic etc, car is back to 0...
- drive a little
- fix little shit, tune a little

since the "tuning" and "fixing" takes parts only nights or weekends it gets spread out so I rarely drive it. But I had two weeks of consistent driving when I had no other daily driver. Then I got this ~200K Camry and was actually happy I am not driving the Talon - not putting miles wear and tear.

[partemisio]

Not so much fixing it any more but putting it together. My car has been sitting for two years for a few reasons. Now I have to put on the intercooler, exhaust manifold, turbo, tune it, and some small things (put on wideband). And then it will be ready to run. I can't wait. I hope to have it together by next weekend. I just have to get motivated

[92fwdMITSU]

Car has been on jackstands for the past 18 months. First start was last week and I'm having some issues but hopefully she'll be running strong soon enough so I can start driving it. I have a lot of time to make up for :D

[vw2dsm]

stupid 1.8l never acts right (grumble grumble grumble) gonna swap it for a 2.0l!

[UVA637]

Driving it.
Only goes down for maintenance, which is only for about a day or two at most.

[turbolover]

So far fixing it.:rolleyes:
Hopefully that will change.

[SilverHBGSX]

First it was all drive, drive, drive then break, break, break. Now it's finally driven as a daily driver for 7 months with no major problems.

[noname7198]

I havn't had any problems with mine, but I've only had it for a month and a half.

[beating4g63s]

first dsm was down for 18 months and the entire time only got to drive it maybe 30 full mins of actual fun driving then sold it while it wasn't running

second dsm bought about a week ago havn't really messed with it but simple ground problem and starter iss but also have two spare 6 bolt motors ready to go in if I do have any problems.

[aflawinhumanity]

I've owned it since april 07 and she's been broke since may.

[dannyrampage]

i have mine for maybe 1.2 year finaly got around she running bu still working on it im a truck driver so tine is not on my side

[primo3911]

3 Years and 40k miles of reliability for me. My head gasket finally let go on me after numerous track passes and abuse.

[FirstTurbo]

Out of the 4 months I have own my laser I have gotton to drive it 5 days :( I hope some day to get a full week of use out of it

[GS4U2NV]

Driving...got my 97 Eclipse Gs back in June of 1999 & have put over 75,000 miles on it myself. Its had over 30,00 when I bought it. I figure Ill replace the engine & turbo it when the orginal one goes!!

[Talon-Mike6]

This is a scary thread...Are DSM really that unreliable ? I had mine for a month:oil leak from oil pump area,new clutch, TC. This is a bad pattern for a month. My mazda before this never needed a drop of oil, it only asked for gas, once a month.

[T_K]

Mostly modded and badly maintained cars break down.

Apart from that, the general rule is, these cars are:
1) Old
2) Cheap
3) Fast

1+2+3 = will break down a lot if not maintained religiously.

[thegchild04]

I blame a lot of it on the drivers of these broken cars lol

[thegchild04]

Retard + GSX with/100,000 miles + T3/T4 50trim = retard talking shit about DSM’s and there reliability

[Talon-Mike6]

Retard + GSX with/100,000 miles + T3/T4 50trim = retard talking shit about DSM’s and there reliability
Was that referred to me? I beg your pardon. I scanned through this thread and 50% of the posts said that their cars spend more time being fixed than driven.That is why I asked about DSM reliability. My car is barely touched for the record; it doesn't even have a boost controller. Everything is stock besides intake, even the exhaust is original. And it is babied like all of my cars; I drive at 60 on the freeway.

[Corn]

Dont Lie You Live In The Bay Area, Cops Do 85mph There Lol Jke.

[thetad]

Definately more time working on it for now :wall: In the middle of a 6 bolt swap because I threw bits of my piston and rod all over highway 50 4 weeks ago. but it is getting done right while im doing it. the last part I need before dropping it in comes tomorrow, so I am stoked. Then I don't think I will do much for a while except for turbo and downpipe, and maybe a new intercooler.

[1timehondalover]

I didn't see an option for saving money TO fix it. I took a year to rebuild the motor, buy the turbo and fuel set-up. Then I toast my tranny 127 miles into the break-in.
Back to saving.

[Corn]

ouch that sucks to hear. Was the trans stock? I'm currently buying a slew of parts for my dsm. I hope to have a very nice quick car by this time next yr. Just bought a 6bolt with low compression for my builder motor for 75 bucks, woot!

[brygst]

97 GST 126,000 Mi. daily driver very reliable never broke down.
My Mods:
dejon fmic & pipig, 1g bov, k&n intake, voo doo IV mbc, jdm evo III o2 housing, 3" ss TBE no cat, short trow shifter, fp big T28, pte 550cc injectors, walbro 190 + re-wire, turbo timer s-afc neo, logger, innovate wideband, boost guage, 95 eprom socketed w/stage III chip

[dsmersam661]

My car runs good when it runs, but when things start going wrong, they really go wrong for me.

[gstfemme]

I've had my car for the past 1.5 months and it's currently sitting in my driveway because it's not driveable. It's just one problem after another. Goodbye to saving money...

[1timehondalover]

ouch that sucks to hear. Was the trans stock? I'm currently buying a slew of parts for my dsm. I hope to have a very nice quick car by this time next yr. Just bought a 6bolt with low compression for my builder motor for 75 bucks, woot!
Yeah, the tranny was old and loose. I fully expected it to happen, just not this soon.

[panedawg]

I have owned my dsm for 3 months and drove it for 5 days all togther and had to replace the turbo, tranny, transfer case, engine, and exhaust manifold not to mention the 10 oil/coolant lines i had to replace. although when it ran its great but i do spent much more time fixing than driving.

[Lina]

I bought my car May 2004, ran great. Maybe 5 months later, woke up to find it on jacks, stripped, hood open, wheel-less, bashed window. Insurance tried to frame me...*rolls eyes*. It went on for about 8 months, till I finally pieced it back together. Not too long after that, it crankwalked & sat around for about 6 months till I could afford to drop a 1G in there. Tranny & brakes were done. Will be going back to the shop for a bigger turbo. Its only been running half the time, but I can't blame it all on the dsm itself.

[sittingduck]

Hands down it's fixing the bastard! but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel when there wont be anything left to fix!!!

[lazylaser]

Wait.
You mean I can drive this car? (don't tell my jack stands they'll be lonely)

J/k its been my daily driver For the last 52,000 miles,

I just got really good at working on it in parking lots.

[turbo4g63t]

I spend far more time driving my car. I put about 40 miles a day on my eclipse. I have only had to take it apart twice in the past year. Back in Feb. i put the big 16g in which only took 4 hours, and in june I had JNZ put a new ACT 2600 clutch. Other than that, the longest my car ever sat apart in the past 4 years was when i was waiting on a part to be shipped to me and that only took 4 days.

[Jp90Talon]

Hands down it's fixing the bastard! but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel when there wont be anything left to fix!!!



You will soon realize they are like GF's....
-tempermental
-always want more $
-and unreliable

[dsmer4ever]

Fixing it.:(

[jordan080303]

My 1.8L has primarily been the DD for the last 2 months, so far I've only had to fix a few little things. *Fingers Crossed*

[jordan080303]

Wait.
You mean I can drive this car? (don't tell my jack stands they'll be lonely)

J/k its been my daily driver For the last 52,000 miles,

I just got really good at working on it in parking lots.

Ha. This reminded me. My serpentine belt broke on me the 2nd week I owned the car (11/07), and I was stuck in Meijer's parking lot to fix the problem the best I could. I needed new tools anyway...

[snooopy365]

I car was down twice.

first: engine swap (a week)
second: bolting on the turbo while it starts to snow... no way to get it done the same week.
and a few weekend (FMIC, exhaust etc.)

so in 5 years dsm 2 weeks off the streets!

right now there is noway that thing can break, have no second vehicle ;)

[highpsi4]

Lately for me it has been all work and no play.:wall:

[Ryno2Fifty]

I drive it a lot...and when I do fix it, it's usually to get more familiar with the car. :D

[TsiLuver]

In the past between all of them its been about 50/50.

[z24frank]

Unfortuanatly I have yet to really drive one of my dsm's.My first one got stolen and my new one i just bought has a bad head.

[JBOstrander]

I've had my DSM for about 3 months now. I have yet to drive it :-(. Bought it knowing the timing had jumped, the harmonic damper was blown to bits, and the valves were bent. Deciced to make it a project. So far about 3700 $ into a 1000 $ car and still counting. Hopefully It'll be on the road soon :-)

[corsair231]

I've had my DSM for about 3 months now. I have yet to drive it :-(. Hopefully It'll be on the road soon :-)


Ditto, I drove mine about 30 yards to get it onto the trailer to bring it home. I haven't cranked it since it got here, but barring further complications I hope to have it back together by the end of this week and on the road at the first of next month.

[knives83]

I'm going to go with tsiluver, and it's been about 50\50.
I bought mine and two weeks in the balance belt went and jumped the timeing. needless to say that took a while. since then it's been good then bad then good then . . .
Now I have a vacuum leak that needs to get fixed, yay.
talons will always be a work in progress as far as I can tell.

[iaian mcconvill]

i have owned 3 1st gens. my first dsm was 5 years ago. i have about 6 months driving any of em. spent maybe 4 or 5 grand on a 800 dollar car.....i love every minute of it!!!! great gas milage over the years tho

[Black_ bullet]

Dsm break according to how you drive them and according to maintenance...

Once you replace all the old stuff then drive it in accordance to your mods and what your car can handle, then theres no reason to break down.... ;)

[Black_ bullet]

Dsm break according to how you drive and maintain them . Dont worry about what everyone else is doing with their dsms..

Once you replace all the old stuff then drive it in accordance to YOUR mods and what YOUR car can handle, then theres no reason to break down... Drive it how you built it.... ;)

[Black_ bullet]

Dsm break according to how you drive and maintain them . Dont worry about how hard everyone else is racing their dsms especially if this is a daily driver, know your own cars limitations..

Once you replace all the old stuff then drive it in accordance to YOUR mods and what YOUR car can handle, then theres no reason to break down... Drive it how you built it.... ;)

[Black_ bullet]

Can a moderator delete post 182 and 183... Forgot you cant edit your own posts on DsmTalk :rolleyes: and i was hitting quote this whole time.

[Vinman]

So far I have owned 4 DSM's. I get them for cheap less then 1000.
And end up fixing them up and then selling them...My latest project is a 91 Galant VR4. This one I'm going to keep.

[93GSX5SPD]

In the months my cars on the road I'd have to say I spend more time driving it than fixing it. It only breaks down for things like shoot out just to remind me that I still have a dsm.:)

[Zero4g]

I've owned mine for a lil over 2 yrs and its been waiting to see the road for the last year and a half, mostly do to lack of funds but none the less i've only driven the car for about 6months total

[Quirk]

Fixing it for now.

[dalonesoldier]

I drive mine more, But do spend alot of time under the hood,Just because i want to, It`s just relaxing i guess?

[UnsafeAtAnySpd]

I picked up my Talon 15 March and have driven it maybe 4 days since then.

[Rally59]

runs but i needs alot of work very soon

[96dsmgst]

I used to drive my dsm more then fix it... then I started upgrading... haha I probably could own a nice Ferrari at this point... at least it feels like that. :/

[Ralph99GST]

Got mine running but with a few problems. I'm working on getting those fixed before she hits the road. :)

[n0rthendtr00per]

Had it for two years and I've driven about 6 months out of it.

[knoop8]

well lets see i purchased my 1990 eagle talon on my birthday(april 29) got it home took a corner my axle falls out of my tranny.... get it fixed starter quits i still have yet to drive it again... i want my car!!!

[Vinman]

Depends on how you look at it. Been working on this VR4 for 6 months now. It was a shell and I restored it and put a few goodies on it. First test drive the oil stub locked up and bent 12/16 valves. Fixed that (600.00). Got it started the second time and the nut inside my tranny back off and tried to go through the casing. Got tranny fixed with all new speed syncro's. Then my crank pully nut tried to back out. luckly I caught it when crank was 1/2 way off. Got it all fixed now. Just need to put more miles on it. Only has 500 miles on motor.

[blue91]

I have owned my 91 AWD since June 2001. Total driveable time owned= 3 or 4 months. I'll just start driving it again, something else will poop the bed, and the car will sit for half a year. I'm currently waiting to pull the head for gassing into the cooling system. Two reasons it's not being done yet; don't feel like putting any money into it, and my growing disgust with not enjoying the car for longer than two minutes at a time.

[teamdsm95]

owned my for 3 and a half years its maybe been running for half of that currently down. not getting any spark, trying to pin point problem

[x97dsmx]

Built Turbo 420a 1997 RS running strong 85k miles now :)!!!!!

[Cherry95gst]

I drive mine more, But do spend alot of time under the hood,Just because i want to, It`s just relaxing i guess?

Ditto. Although mine has given me some grief but downtime is never really more than like a week.

[hellonwheels]

fixing it, but I love these cars so much it doesnt bother me. Id rather have a high maint. car than high maint. G/F, they both cost alot but one is alot more fun hands down.

[tsi2psi]

I spend more time fix them both. After I fix them, I take it around the block then back home and leave it parked for a couple of days until something breaks again. oh, I dont have the license so they stay parked.

[98gsxjeff]

My 98 GSX ran for about two years of beating it. The clutch blew and I let it sit so another 3 years. Its became a rusty pile and now I'm almost done with the first entire stage of mods. I will finally drive it again this summer I must!

[NY 95 TSI AWD]

Driving it. :)

[code]

Not necessarily fixing it, but modding it or changing setups. I go in spurts. I'll drive it for awhile and then ill get an itch and it will be down for a awhile.

[DSNY TALON]

Well the first 3 months I had it I drive it maybe 10 miles. My timing belt kept jumping. Found out it was the front balance shaft was locking up so I did the bs removal and I have been good for the last year and a half. So I drive more them I fix.

[streetilleagle]

The amount of man hours wrenching has my neighbors cheering me on. I bought my Talon mid Feb. of this year and love working on my car. There isn't a part in the engine i haven't touched. But she's running just needs tuning now. :cool:

[forcdndukshun]

In the last month I have replaced the alternator, battery, rear diff, rear axle, and the front, axle. Also re wired the rad fans and pulled the turbo and 02 housing so I could remove a stripped stud. Also replaced a ported and cracked evo 3 manifold. Oh and devised a way to make solid mounts is the rear subframe for the diff.

[MITSU93GSX]

I spend more time cleaning mine lol

[90awd4g63]

Seeing I've been deployed for almost 15months, I guess I would have to say I've been dreaming of my DSM. When I get back though, I'll be cramming all those new parts in.

[Dserge]

I spend more time cleaning mine lol

Haha agreed. I spent the most time cleaning mine for sure..I love spending all day cleaning it so I can take a cruise and turn heads.:D

[my96eclipse]

Right now it's not working, But that hasn't happened to often....

[DRW]

I spend way more time driving my Laser than working on it since it's my DD.
My Talon sits most of the time, so I guess the time is split 50/50.

[sireal]

fixing it for sure

[Sebba]

Seriously dude, quit post whoring. You are going to get in trouble.

[906bolt]

Definatly fixing

[CalypsoGST]

Does it count if I drive it even if its not running quite right and should be fixed?

[Ghettodsm91]

Does it count if I drive it even if its not running quite right and should be fixed?


NO! Reason=you are single handedly responsible for the reputation behind dsm's haha, no but serious fix that shizz, you are not a true dsm enthusiast unless you are almost obsessive compulsive about maintenance. True story, I've almost replaced my timing because I heard a loud tick from that area, turned out be my alt tensioner bracket but hey you never can be too safe!!!

[Moparismylife]

Id like to proudly say in the three years I have owned this car....20lbs and 18 shes never had a thing wrong.........knock on wood shes doing fine.

[need2fix]

In the past 7 months, I've driven the car for roughly a month. First turbo pops, then it gets cold (if it's less than 50* outside, she DOES NOT run), now waiting on a radiator, which somehow developed a hole during the turbo install :mad:

[Wtfeeezy]

I'd say driving! put 3,500 miles in 4 months. Probably cause it's all stock.

[Theo]

I bought my car last week for $750.00. The car didn't run when I picked it up. When you look at it from day one of ownership up until now, I have been fixing it 100% of the time.

That should change very soon. The last part I need to get it running is on the way. :D

[mobythevan]

I have put 47k on my car in the last 2.5 years. It has also required a lot of work, but for now I spend more time driving it.

[1Gand2G]

I certainly spend more time fixing my cars than driving them. But in all fairness, my laser is pretty much a project and i havent gotten around to fixing my talon yet.

[reboundicon]

As reliable as my dsms are, I think I actually spend more time fixing them than enjoying/driving them...but then again sometimes fixing them is enjoyable too!

[ibjamin01]

Lol ive had my car since November 2005 and maybe put at the most 10k miles on it. I guess that tells you what iv'e been doing on my spare time.

[bmxcolorado]

not really fixin but upgradin:P:P

[JayDSMer]

I bought my car 4 months ago, drove it for a month until the 3rd gear hub and slider in the transmission took a dump. Since then I've been fixing/upgrading. My roommate makes fun of me for having a broke DSM. :rolleyes:

[PandaTalon]

ive own mines for 2 weeks now, and i drove it for 2 days and its been broke ever since

[seajay2525]

Mine ran until I decided to do a 6-bolt swap. It's been so long since it ran, it's rusting where it sits.

[UPSJoKeR]

Mine ran until I decided to do a 6-bolt swap. It's been so long since it ran, it's rusting where it sits.

Why, what is the problem, I did a 6bolt swap in exactly 22 days, that includes building a bare shell that I purchased, and had time to do a 6 bolt swap.

[HHO Talon]

Yikes! I'm surprised at the close race.
Despite the time it has taken to get my talon going its in great shape and i have had many corners with her.

[oVaBoost]

I spend more time fixing it But when she run's it will run hard!

[wezzy785]

it is a weekend, car and I enjoy working on it

[DSMissed]

So far it has only left me stranded one time.. the OEM clutch I bought for it shattered. Other than that, it is broken down only when I say it will be broken down.

[Evo_This]

Well lets see...two cars:D, two years;), less than two weeks total of driving both....:eek: Sucks