rgar

iTrader: (1)

I was looking at buying an evo 8(03, 04 with relatively high mileage). When a friend found a evo 9(WW) with 17k miles at a dealer only auction. Was thinking about bidding on it when it came up with frame damage.

The history says it was in an accident, then repo'd, then put up for auction and then listed as with frame damage. My friend at the dealer says it's probably just from being moved incorrectly and that if it had happened during the accident it would of been listed as being frame damaged then, not at the end of the list of incidents. He's looking into it on monday and will get back to me then.

I only got to drive the car through 2nd gear, but it seemed fine( I have a friend I trust who will be able to go look at it again this coming monday and do a bit better testing it). It also looks like a virgin IX. As far as I can tell it's been completely unmodified, there's not even the tell-tale signs of extra gauges and none of the signs in the "questions about buying an evo sticky thread".

My main concerns are this.

With any frame damage, small or not, resale value of the car seems basically shot. What would you all expect to pay for a 9 with frame damage or would you all just not accept it at all?

Any tips or tricks for telling how bad the frame damage was\is?

What type of possible problems should I expect from frame damage? How will it affect driving? Also can't you put it on a machine that fixes the frame and if so, why does it matter after that?

Other then the frame damage I thought I'd found a diamond in the rough.

Thanks for any helpfull suggestions or advice.

thatsMR2u

iTrader: (19)

alignments will be very hard to get right, was it frame damage from the rear? look for trunk, panels not matching, to really tell you would have to put it on a frame machine and try to pull it, but i would stay away- there was reason why the first owner got rid of it

gsrboi80

iTrader: (38)

You need to have the car checked by a reliable source. If there is any frame damage it should be pretty easily found.

Once a unibody cars frame is tweaked it really becomes not worth it to fix as its so hard to get it right again

I wouldnt buy it with any intension of a resale as you stated. Likely the car has a salvage title anyway. But hey if you want a cheap race car go for it.

I'd say about 10k would be a decent buy if the car is repairable

gsrboi80

iTrader: (38)

Any pics of said EVO IX

Kuba23

iTrader: (4)

Just buy it and part it out.... i wouldnt be driving an evo with previous frame damage it may seem fine at low speeds but soon as you hit 80+ its gonna fell like its going in two directions... STAY AWAY from it unless u want to part the car out and like the person above said 10 grand is at most I would pay 8-10 for it ....

good luck

blk03evolution8

iTrader: (1)

as long as you get it on a good frame shop and it checks out good! you will be good to go with minimal to no problems with it!

sblvro

iTrader: (2)

if it was done professionally by a shop with experience in repairing frame damage, it should be okay. lift the car and see the undercarriage for any bent frames, poor welding joints, rust, etc.

evo4life400

iTrader: (11)

id say if you plan on reselling it dont pick it up because it will be a biatch to sell and you will not get much for it but if you are gonna keep and it drives fine and a frame shop checks it out let it rip!!

RockmanX

iTrader: (78)

i was always told if a car has frame damage even if it was repaired its always gonna be weak at that point of the car. Never as strong as it was at that point. SO i would not buy the car unless its was dirty cheap like 7-9 grand max. so you can spend the rest of your money fixing the other problems that might go wrong with the car. If you dont want the headache avoid this like a virus but hey again its your money. Your the one thats gonna have to deal with it not us.

rgar

iTrader: (1)

Here are the pics asked for.

I spoke to the dealer again who looked into it a little more. He said it was hit in the rear left quarter panel. I know you can't see it in the pictures, but it looked fine. He said he's going to get it up on a lift and get a mechanic to look it over and take pics of the frame damage.


What are the chances of a little frame damage happening from being towed improperly. He said thats what he thinks it was, but that sounds iffy to me.

No idea how much they would want to let it go for. But I'm leaning towards just letting it go at this point. We'll see what happens on monday.

Thanks for the input everybody.

RockmanX

iTrader: (78)

you need to get pics of the other side. looks like its pushed in alitte on that side. Cant tell because of pics. Go there and take alook at it and find out how much he wants. Please dont post again until you find out the price and get pics of back of car other side of car and underneath would really help.

JMB8606

iTrader: (1)

a good way to tell if its been in accident and where it was hit is to open all doors, the trunk, and hood. there will be a vin sticker in the jams, on under the hood, trunk, and front fenders. Once you see one you will know what to look for.

big block ix

iTrader: (1)

+1^

detroit pistins

iTrader: (102)

Ya i would drive it and see how it feels on the highway. hopefuly there isn't any alligment issues.
and if it hasn't been moded then that's a great plus. another thing to check for is all the fender bolts, head bolts....etc see if u can notice any paint been chipped off due to turning the bolts (opening them and rebolting them) this should atleast give u an idea if they have been removed and put back in together for whatever reason.

also, check out the radiator fins that are facing the turbo, make sure that they haven't been bent or anything, if they are mainly clear than that's also a good sign that the previous owner didn't swap out the turbo and now he put it back to stock. u get my drift!
goodluck and keep us updated.

chad99evo

iTrader: (24)

if its real cheap and you want to use it for rally racing go for it, gut it, and race it!