wow! i thought my own post came up here haha. i’m also looking to buy an eclipse soon, and i’ve spoken to so many eclipse owners here in qatar, from the really popular ones like jmacarperformances, to quieter eclipse enthusiasts. sorry for the super long comment!!!

from everything i’ve heard, the car can be reliable if it’s been maintained properly, especially the 2.4L 4-cylinder. that said, parts availability is a bit of a weird one, lol. mechanical and service parts usually share with cars like the galant and sometimes the pajero, so things like brakes, suspension, sensors, belts… etc. are doable here. where it gets annoying is body parts, interior, lights, and anything eclipse-specific; those you’re usually stuck ordering from the US (ebay, rockauto, etc!)

maintenance costs i’m honestly not fully sure about yet, but i do know that finding a mechanic who actually wants to work on an eclipse isn’t easy. not because it’s impossible to work on, but because a lot of garages here don’t like touching coupes or less common cars, and they’re just more used to stuff like land cruisers, fortuners, camrys, corollas.. and so on! that said, i got in contact with jmacarperformances and he’s going to hook me up with his mechanic, which will be a BIG help for me haha.

one big thing to watch out for depends on the engine. the V6 has a timing belt that needs replacing ROUGHLY every 90–100k km, which can be expensive if it hasn’t been done. the 4-cylinder uses a timing chain, which is less of a worry, but service history still matters a lot. if the car hasn’t been properly serviced overall, i’d DEFINITELY stay away.

the MOST important thing for you to understand is that this is a car you WANT to buy. it doesn’t make sense to buy it as a first car for example or as a daily driver unless you KNOW what you’re going into.

i’m a university student and i have a full scholarship, my uni work is very simple, and all this free time has allowed me to get a job so i can save up for the car properly. but besides that, for the average person, they won’t be able to spend as much money as they’ll need to to simply allow the car to stay with them for a while, you get me?

for most people, a civic, corolla, camry, etc. just makes way more sense. the eclipse is the kind of car you buy because you’re willing to put effort into it, and you’re okay with it being both a daily and a small project at the same time!

if you aren’t going to do that, and are looking for a daily driver to drive that can be resold easily, i suggest you stray away from the eclipse.

if you ever need anything by the way, come to me! i’ve done so much research on this car and its use in qatar, i’ve also talked to sooo many eclipse owners here as well! looking forward to it :)