Matthelm474

Hey, selling my Evo x and going to a IX. I know general things to look for but is there anything specific or should be cautious of? Just looking for some input from experienced Evo 8/9 owners since all I really know is the 4b11 at this point.

Moksha

Ive had my 9 for a little over a month now i love every minute of it. Even selling my Gsxr to add to race car funds haha. Things i would say to look out(my experience) would be clutch pedal issues/anomalies. I bought mine with a really sensative, super stiff clutch, and found out the pedal bracket was snapped in half and the mounting tabs needed rewelded.. Thanks to a insanely stiff ACT clutch.. Shes all fixed now and shifts fine. So watch out for that...

And then the normal stuff. Check fluids, carfax, etc. And when you get a 9 be sure to change your diff /transfer case/tranny fluid because most likely they havent been up kept. Thats my 2 cents.

Good luck fellow coloradan, look forward to see ya at bandimere/pikes peak

Hotsauce101

iTrader: (4)

Bring it to a specialized Evo shop:

Here are some **** you or the shop can do
- Compress/leak down test
- Have them go over the suspension/body
- Maybe look into the tune? (If it has one)
- Boost leak test
- Turbo inspection (checking for shaft play)
- Spark plug inspection (see if the engines running healthy)
- inspect fluids (Oil, transfercase, diff, and tranmission)

Try to find out where it was tuned or had the majority of the work done..... if not ask the seller for receipts and invoices.

There a **** ton of things to do.... its just how far you want to go into inspecting the car.

One of the things I do on every car, is checking the rear quarter panel for rust. I had a bad experience with rusted fender lip on my G35 Coupe when I went to roll the fenders.... lets just say bacon fenders haha. Snow + Salt = Body killer.

I was lucky with my Evo IX i picked up back in December. My tuner for my old Evo X was the person that built the bottom end of the engine and he was also the one that tuned it. I brought it over to him and he told me the car is healthy and was recently rebuilt and tuned. I went ahead and bought the car and did a compression test the following night. I trusted my tuner so that's why I didn't do the compression test before buying it.

One thing you will notice is the drive train noise. 1st gear whines like a *****, sometimes 2nd at low speeds. Also you can hear drive train noise around 55-65 mph. Also... lifter tick....terrible noise but normal.

Another thing you will notice going from the X to the IX is the car is more simple and more of a raw feeling. No fast key, no bluetooth, no rock ford fox gate sound system.... basically all of the luxuries from the X will be gone. I only miss 2 things from the X.... Fast key system and the sound system.

Have fun looking for an Evo... take your time and don't rush on buying. I still remember the excitement I had when I test drove the IX. I was cheesing the whole time. So was my friend haha.

bluepeartype-s

iTrader: (17)

I had a X and went back to an VIII. Definitely like the VIII more than the X. This was a list I went through when I was looking. I know there are more things to consider but, it was a start at the time.


Exterior:

· Title clean?
· Damage underthe car/ structural?
· Rust(exterior and engine bay)?
· Taillightswork?
· Blinkers?
· Catalyticconverter?
· Dents
· Caliper andRotor condition?
· Brakes squeak?
· Damage toCarbon fiber spoiler
· Tirecondition


Interior:

· Seatcondition
· Smoker?
· Does thecar..smell?
· Rips, tears,stains?
· Fading
· SES lights/errorcodes?


Engine Bay:

· Itemsmissing?
· Stock partsincluded?
· Last oilChange?
· Condition ofthe block?
· Leaks?
· Timing beltchanged?


Services/issueswith the car:

· Recordscurrent? Carfax?
· Do they havereceipts of work done to the car?
· Key fobs? Howmany?
· Soundsinterior/exterior when turned on?
· Shift easy?
· Grind ingears? Slipping?
· Whining from transfer case?

Matthelm474

Really appreciate the input guys! I'll keep all of that in mind! Going to go pick one up tomorrow!

kaj

iTrader: (60)

common stuff:
look under the bumpers for signs of body work (especially frame extensions)
give the paint a good once over to look for signs of a respray.
check the carfax
look underneath for rust/corrosion
listen for t-case whine.
do a compression check. i do one on EVERY car i own.
if you can get it on a lift, that's a bonus.
make sure it doesn't grind any gears

there may be a few more things i check, but that's off the top of my head.

Jonno99

let the owner take you for a drive and give him encouragement to give it heaps, then you'll see how its been treated, its an old trick

booosted

iTrader: (1)

Gonna go check out an Evo 8 with 62k miles for about $13K. Plan on doing a compression check etc, but trying to find out the regular numbers anywhere from 150-175?

iin10ded

Good advice here. Compression / leakdown are key for these cars to gauge motor health. PPI by an evo specialist will be worth its weight in gold. I would only buy a car with a documented service history.

I bought my 9 a year ago. It's my 31st car in 20 years of driving. Like all of them, it's really about who you buy from. Buy a car that's been well looked after, owned by an intelligent, well funded, responsible adult. That can look like many things, but you can tell when a car has been well maintained, If you can't, hire a professional to do it for you.

IME, spending a little more up front for a super clean, well maintained car usually means saving a lot more down the road [oz of prevention = pound of cure and all that].

LI_NY8

Good Info !

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

That's a tough one for a stock evo trans. I don't think I've driven one that didn't crunch going into third gear lol

kaj

iTrader: (60)

i'm one of the lucky few. my 6spd shifts great.

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

I've never driven an MR...lol. I've read they do shift better. I would probably brake the 6 speed if I had one. I'm hard on parts lol

kaj

iTrader: (60)

you're not the first person that has mentioned that. i keep reading the 6spd is better for DDing. i wasn't sure if they meant feel or the gearing. maybe both.
i've done Time Attack, Autox, and tried a drag strip once. i think i had an issue getting into gear one time, but i think that was my foot moving too fast LOL.
125k miles and shifts without issue.
not to say i don't plan on a Shep rebuild as soon as i can.
as for the 5spd, i've considered that. a friend of mine has sent 2 of them to FFTEC for rebuilds. both turned out to have cracked cases (internal webbing, i believe it was). so, i don't really wanna blow money on a used 5SPD and have that happen to me.
plus i REALLY don't want to get rid of the 6psd.

huzzle101

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for this info, I'm out there looking for an evolution 9 mr but some prices i can't afford and then some have too much miles, is too much miles a problem or does that depend on the owner, i can't find many in FL and i have never bought a car out of state before and then I'm getting financed so that makes it even harder.