Hi everyone!

I just bought my first car a few weeks ago and I got myself a Lancer Ralliart 2006. Unfortunately, I'm totally new in the car world and I tend to trust people, so problems were right around the corner.

Here are my questions.

1- I have the SRS red light on at all times. The previous owner told me it didn't matter much and the airbag never deployed but actually, the garage I went to, to the change my windshield/solenoid gas valve (I think? The car was stalling after getting fuel, the garage told me it was because the valve stayed open, and I had to change it), told me that it wouldn't deploy because the light was on. So, what can I do with it? How much would it cost?

2- The car is dropped 2 inches on the front and 1.5 inches on the rear. At the moment, sometimes when I turn left, my left front wheel makes contact with the fender and makes a scratching noise. However, it doesn't do it when I turn right. Is there a reason why the tire touches the fender only on the left side? Is the car unbalanced or unaligned? It currently has cut springs, so should I buy coilovers to fix this issue? I've looked around and it seems like coilovers are about 1200$ CAD + the time for my garage to install them...
Also, I live in Quebec and we get a lot of snow during winter, so I'm wondering if, the fact that the car is really low, it will damage the car or something.

3- The passenger seat belt light is on at all times, why is that? Even if there is someone wearing its seat belt or nobody.

4- I currently have the stock spoiler with the brake light, I'm looking to get an EVO spoiler as I like the way it looks. I heard that, since the EVO spoiler doesn't have a brake light, I'd have to get a brake light installed in the back of the car. Is it true? Because I've seen a Lancer with an EVO spoiler without the added brake light a couple of days ago.

5- I looked online for the EVO spoiler and found one for 170$ US + 109$ shipping to my location. I went to a Mitsubishi dealer and they sell them for 500$. Why is there such a big difference in price?

6- Is it easy to uninstall the stock spoiler and install the EVO spoiler considering I'm not really good with cars? I had a look at my stock spoiler and it simply looks bolted, so my guess is that it's easy to change, but I want to ask first so I don't break anything.


Sorry for all these questions, I'm really noob but I'm trying to learn!
Thanks for your help.

 

1. the SRS system is faulted, this is also why you have problem number 3. pretty sure only the dealer can test and reset the system because of liability. not entirely sure.


2. $1200 isn't that bad, considering new struts, mounts and springs would cost probably $8-900.


3.


4. having a 3rd brake light I'm pretty sure is federal law...just because you saw someone without one, doesn't make it legal...speeding for example, not legal, lots of people do it, and if you only do 10km/h over the limit, you will NEVER get pulled over.


5. the spoiler you found is either A. USED, or B. NOT OEM, in other words a knock-off. I'm surprised they quoted you $500, I figured they would be much more, unless it doesn't come painted, it's definitely not the carbon fiber version, lol.


6. uninstalling the spoiler is easy, but I'm pretty sure installing an Evo wing requires drilling...you don't need to know car mechanics to do this...carpentry would be the more useful skill.


7. learn to do some of your own maintenance, and you won't pay for the car three times before it ends up in the scrap yard.


8. in the "car world", don't trust people...

 

1) What Crans said

2) 1200 isnt bad for coilovers if you have it. If not a set of Tien S.Tech springs or OEM springs would make for a better ride. Im not a fan of cut springs...

3) What Crans said

4) Having a 3rd brake light is the law in most places. I got lucky Kentucky doesnt have that law. But I travel out of my state a lot so I ordered the 3rd brake light from an evo from a member on here. The car is already designed to have a 3rd light installed on the deck in the rear window. You just have to remove the deck and cut out a place for the light to be installed. Pretty easy to see how it works once the deck is out.

5) I paid around $300 for my carbon fiber Evo VIII spoiler including shipping used from another member from this forum. I then took it to a body shop to have the side panels painted to match my car. Totalled out being about $450-ish

6) Removing the stock spoiler is simple. Pop the trunk and there are a bolt and a nut on each side that you remove. Disconnect the light and carefully pull it all out. Installation of the Evo wing requires drilling a hole on each side. See the pics in the links.

Underside

Topside

7) Again Crans is right. Doing your own work not only saves you money, it saves you the bull**** from shops, it helps you to learn more about your machine and how it works giving you more intimate knowledge of when something is wrong, and is MUCH more rewarding.

8) Yea that too... IDK how many times I have heard bull crap from people who heard something somewhere or misread something and take it for the 100% truth across the board on every model of car regardless of its design... Then again I have also made the mistake of repeating stupid things in the past. Now that Ive learned a bit more, Ive learned to have an open mind and keep my mouth shut unless I have experience in what I am talking about. Learning how things work for yourself will help tremendously!

9) Welcome to the RA family!