Need Advice: Thinking about buying this car...

I agree with what JayS said… the unreliability factor comes from tools that buy an older DSM that needs maintenance but instead of spending their money there, they go right into go fast parts and then bitch when their timing belt/radiator/ brake pads/ etc etc… break. For reliability, nothing is going to beat a honda or a toyota, but the Eclipse N/T should be ok. But he should realize that it does have 100K+ miles so maintenance work is just around the corner.