Hey guys, I have been a long time JDM fan and finally have the opportunity to pick up a car for fun and not for work. I ended up buying a Silverado a few years ago for trucking up into the mountains and for less than ideal weather conditions for work. I now work 1.1 miles from my house and 7 miles to the factory for once weekly checkups. Basically saying, I don't want my big truck for driving in the city since I've collected more small dings in the last 3 months of city driving than the entire 3 years prior.

I recently found a 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart at a local used car dealership with 126k on the clock and is coming in on trade in the next 1-2 days. The guy at the dealership tried throwing me a ridiculous number (9k), I immediately turned around walked away. He came running after me, "That's what I'll put for an asking price, I could probably do better." I worked for 6 years in a dealership, I know the tactic. I agreed to come back and test drive it to see if I want it.

All of that boils down to two things I need to know before the test drive and the negotiation.
1) What should I look for with the transmission while shifting to know if the SST has been beaten? Engine same question?

2) Any major issues you've seen once these cars break 100k?

Thanks for anything you can tell me.

see if they have a record of all of the fluid changes. When you shift the transmission feel for quick aggressive shifts in sport mode. Otherwise when you buy turbo cars you are taking a risk that the previous owner didn't take care of it like he should have. I would have the dealerhip change ALL of the fluids including rear diff, transfer case, engine oil, transmission etc.

The weakest link on this car is the transmission following the ACD Pump.

yeah people have issues with tranny, timing belt stretch, cracked exhaust manifolds, and ACD pump failures. I'm lucky enough to not have any of these problems....im almost at 100k. If you take care of it, it will take care of you.

Agreed-


I've been doing all the maintenance and I'm about to hit 150,000 miles.

If my 2015 can get to the 150K miles the same way I would be very happy.
Im very scared of the SST.