Should I purchase this car?

I'm thinking about buying a 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse 4 cylinder car. I really love how the car looks and this will be my first car ever buying. I will mostly be using it for commutes from my home to work and maybe 1 long trip a week. My friend mentioned that the car requires special fuel (i385 or something) because its a "racecar". He races cars and is an automotive engineer. This doesn't sound right to me because its a 4 cylinder automatic car and doesn't seem to me like it would need any special fuel. So is he right and is this a reliable car to get, i really don't want to buy an average looking Honda i wanted something that stands out and i really love this car.

Unfortunately, the 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse has an absolutely horrendous reliability record. It is simply a poor quality automobile. Keep shopping. BTW, your friend is an idiot.

DO NOT buy this car for more than $500… If it has been used as a "racecar" it is probably mechanically and / or structurally beat.

Go for it! It's a pretty good looking car, and you'll love driving it round.

Already sold thanks to your advertising

What on line service did your friend buy his automotive engineering degree through. That is NOT a race car. The "special fuel" he's referring to is E85 which is also known as gasohol. Some US makes also can use it. That doesn't mean you have to use it though it just means the car has been designed to use that as well as regular gasoline. Using the E85 instead of regular wll lower your gas mileage and your car's power response. As other's have stated the Mitsu has a less than glorius reliability rating and isn't really a good purchase option.

1.To be honest with you, the car is not reliable and is known for having many issues.
2.It is not a race car and it does NOT use E85 gas, unless someone spent the $1000+ to convert it to an E85 fuel car for more horsepower, which only a few people would ever consider doing. It uses regular gas (85-87 octane), unless you get the turbo version, which requires premium gas 91 octane or higher. Being that it is an automatic, I already know it is not the turbo version since the turbo only comes with a manual transmission. Also, E85 fuel is not available everywhere. It is very difficult finding E85 fuel. Some professional race car drivers convert their cars to E85 fuel for the extra power, but they lose the fuel efficiency. This is just an automatic Mitsubishi Eclipse.
3.I still think you should buy it if you can afford it. An unreliable car as a first car is a great learning tool. It will teach you what to do when you break down, what to keep in your trunk, what phone numbers to keep in your phone, etc. It teaches you to know what is wrong with a car just from hearing a sound. It teaches you how to work on your car and fix it. And it is a good looking iconic car.
4.The Mitsubishi Eclipse competed with the 98-04 Toyota Celica, 98-02 Honda Prelude, 93-97 Ford Probe, and 93-97 Mazda MX-6. These are much more reliable sporty coupes from that time. Yes even the Ford was reliable because it was a copy of the reliable Mazda MX-6.