50k update (long)
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 643
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From: Golden, CO
50k update (long)
Well, I just passed 50,000 miles on my '03 Evo last night. This is been by far the best car I've ever owned. Here's my story:
It all started when my '02 Sentra SE-R Spec-V got totalled by an SUV. Pretty sure they were going to total it, so I began scheming on how to get an Evo in my hands. Hence my first run-in with evom.net, and I began reading about problems, mods, etc. and knew about the clutch/brake wearing issues so I knew to go easy on those parts from day 1. Found out pretty fast I wouldn't be able to afford to mod this car as turbo and n/a cars aren't even in the same modding ballpark. I modded the Spec-V pretty good, and learned my lessons there.
So I decided that the Evo would stay stock. On 1/27/04 I drove her off the showroom floor with 4 miles on the clock. First thing I came across was the suspension clunk, took it in for that and they found nothing (of course) and I still get the clunk to this day with no ill effects. The only other time she's seen a shop was for the 30k mile service, that's it. It's never had an alignment and still drives straight as an arrow with many pothole hits even. Every start has cranked right up, she's never stalled or given me any real mechanical problems.
I drive 54 miles each day roundtrip to work, which I figured out is now costing me $6 a day in gas. It's mostly highway cruising at about 55-60 mph so prime for good mpg and low wear. I average 25-27 mpg with a high of 30mpg so far. However on this 50,000 mile tank I stand a good chance of matching or beating that. I'm still on the stock clutch, stock brakes (rotors and pads), the only thing that's been changed is the fluids and air filter. I've never launched her, she's never seen a track, and rarely race hard.
Here's a list of all the annoyances (but have yet to fail or cause any reason to take it in):
1) Clutch smell (maybe) - I've smelled this every time I shut the car off since day 1. 50k miles later the clutch still grabs fine and still smells to this day. In stop/go traffic, it definitely gets mushy but never slips or gives up.
2) Synchros - my 1-2 shift and 2-3 shift have always been kinda notchy. In warm weather it's pretty much butter smooth now, but in cold weather it acts up frequently, so it's probably just the fluid. It took until almost 10k miles for the tranny to get smooth. So all you with less than that, just give it time. I've grinded 1-2 pretty bad a couple of times too, but so far everything's still together.
3) Interior - how many rattles/creaks can I get? Sheesh. Oh well, turn the radio up
Major creaks are mostly the rear window and the sunroof on cold days. Rattles include center console, something in the dash, door panels.
4) Paint - the hood is done. More chips than that touchup paint can handle. I live in an apartment w/no wash bay so it costs me a good penny every time to wash it. And with driving 54 miles just for work on rural CO highways (with 3 quarries on my route w/all their trucks) I take a lot of rocks. I've pretty much given up on the exterior, it's a losing battle with a daily driver in CO.
None of these have any hindering affects on driving or the performance, and none of them are anything you could really "fix", it's just all part of the character of the car. It still drives like it did the day I got it.
Outstanding "issues":
1) Glass - windshield is hosed (#4 above). 1 LARGE crack, 3 small cracks, and enough chips to make the windshield look like it's got mist on it in direct sunlight.
2) Belt/tensioner/pully squeak - this one is fairly new, on cold days when the engine is cold, I get this squeaking coming from somewhere in the accessory belt. It's not the belt squeak like a loose belt, but more like a pully or something squeaking. In a few minutes when it warms up, it goes away. And it never does this on warm mornings. So I may try to get it in by the time 60k comes around.
That's about it. I've babied this car since I drove it off the lot. Don't get me wrong, I've had fun with it, but I've learned what she likes and doesn't like. I've been on canyon runs that have covered the entire car in brake dust and to this day they stop as well as when I got it and don't make any noise. So my real advice is, just take care of it. Don't do stupid mods, always warm her up and cool her down, just basic common sense stuff here. Sorry I wrote so much but I figure maybe someone can learn from me or at least know that these cars will last no problem with the proper care.
It all started when my '02 Sentra SE-R Spec-V got totalled by an SUV. Pretty sure they were going to total it, so I began scheming on how to get an Evo in my hands. Hence my first run-in with evom.net, and I began reading about problems, mods, etc. and knew about the clutch/brake wearing issues so I knew to go easy on those parts from day 1. Found out pretty fast I wouldn't be able to afford to mod this car as turbo and n/a cars aren't even in the same modding ballpark. I modded the Spec-V pretty good, and learned my lessons there.
So I decided that the Evo would stay stock. On 1/27/04 I drove her off the showroom floor with 4 miles on the clock. First thing I came across was the suspension clunk, took it in for that and they found nothing (of course) and I still get the clunk to this day with no ill effects. The only other time she's seen a shop was for the 30k mile service, that's it. It's never had an alignment and still drives straight as an arrow with many pothole hits even. Every start has cranked right up, she's never stalled or given me any real mechanical problems.
I drive 54 miles each day roundtrip to work, which I figured out is now costing me $6 a day in gas. It's mostly highway cruising at about 55-60 mph so prime for good mpg and low wear. I average 25-27 mpg with a high of 30mpg so far. However on this 50,000 mile tank I stand a good chance of matching or beating that. I'm still on the stock clutch, stock brakes (rotors and pads), the only thing that's been changed is the fluids and air filter. I've never launched her, she's never seen a track, and rarely race hard.
Here's a list of all the annoyances (but have yet to fail or cause any reason to take it in):
1) Clutch smell (maybe) - I've smelled this every time I shut the car off since day 1. 50k miles later the clutch still grabs fine and still smells to this day. In stop/go traffic, it definitely gets mushy but never slips or gives up.
2) Synchros - my 1-2 shift and 2-3 shift have always been kinda notchy. In warm weather it's pretty much butter smooth now, but in cold weather it acts up frequently, so it's probably just the fluid. It took until almost 10k miles for the tranny to get smooth. So all you with less than that, just give it time. I've grinded 1-2 pretty bad a couple of times too, but so far everything's still together.
3) Interior - how many rattles/creaks can I get? Sheesh. Oh well, turn the radio up
Major creaks are mostly the rear window and the sunroof on cold days. Rattles include center console, something in the dash, door panels.4) Paint - the hood is done. More chips than that touchup paint can handle. I live in an apartment w/no wash bay so it costs me a good penny every time to wash it. And with driving 54 miles just for work on rural CO highways (with 3 quarries on my route w/all their trucks) I take a lot of rocks. I've pretty much given up on the exterior, it's a losing battle with a daily driver in CO.
None of these have any hindering affects on driving or the performance, and none of them are anything you could really "fix", it's just all part of the character of the car. It still drives like it did the day I got it.
Outstanding "issues":
1) Glass - windshield is hosed (#4 above). 1 LARGE crack, 3 small cracks, and enough chips to make the windshield look like it's got mist on it in direct sunlight.
2) Belt/tensioner/pully squeak - this one is fairly new, on cold days when the engine is cold, I get this squeaking coming from somewhere in the accessory belt. It's not the belt squeak like a loose belt, but more like a pully or something squeaking. In a few minutes when it warms up, it goes away. And it never does this on warm mornings. So I may try to get it in by the time 60k comes around.
That's about it. I've babied this car since I drove it off the lot. Don't get me wrong, I've had fun with it, but I've learned what she likes and doesn't like. I've been on canyon runs that have covered the entire car in brake dust and to this day they stop as well as when I got it and don't make any noise. So my real advice is, just take care of it. Don't do stupid mods, always warm her up and cool her down, just basic common sense stuff here. Sorry I wrote so much but I figure maybe someone can learn from me or at least know that these cars will last no problem with the proper care.
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Joined: May 2006
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From: Jersey
this is a good post!
glad u havnt had many problems yet with the evo, makes me less worried about my car in the long run, being that i only have 168 miles on it, i do feel that notch u mentioned in the trans but only in 1st to 2nd. and i drive about that aswell. so far i love the car and similar to you i dont plan on tracking the car, but instead putting on roofracks and hitting the slopes with my buddys
glad u havnt had many problems yet with the evo, makes me less worried about my car in the long run, being that i only have 168 miles on it, i do feel that notch u mentioned in the trans but only in 1st to 2nd. and i drive about that aswell. so far i love the car and similar to you i dont plan on tracking the car, but instead putting on roofracks and hitting the slopes with my buddys
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 643
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From: Golden, CO
Nah, I still have fun with it Evo #1. I just can't afford to race it and blow thru tires and brakes and stuff like that. I can't afford to be replacing clutches, so launching is out. I also got 3 tickets last year (tailgating, stop sign, speeding) so that taught me a lesson as well and I don't drive nearly as fast. Yeah I'd love to take it to a track and really see what it'll do, but all that costs money, so that pretty much drives my driving style, what I can afford to replace.
As far as the "problems" go, yeah I think I'm right on par with most of the '03s, but not as bad as some. I've never had to have the brakes replaced, clutch adjusted, none of that stuff. None of mine have made me take it to a shop, I just chalk it up to the "character" like I said.
As far as the "problems" go, yeah I think I'm right on par with most of the '03s, but not as bad as some. I've never had to have the brakes replaced, clutch adjusted, none of that stuff. None of mine have made me take it to a shop, I just chalk it up to the "character" like I said.
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Nice post, sounds about like my experience although I've only got 22k on the clock.
Here's a suggestion for the suspension clunk, mine had it and it drove me nuts.
Jack up the front end of the car and look (or run your hand) into the lower spring perch (where the spring sits), mine was full of sand, gravel and rocks all the way up to the bottom coil of the springs.
I took mine to the car wash, jacked it up and rinsed all of that crap out of there and it hasn't made a sound for two months.
On small bumps (low or high speed) a rock would end up getting jammed between the coils and then either crushed or shot out.
Just my $.02
Here's a suggestion for the suspension clunk, mine had it and it drove me nuts.
Jack up the front end of the car and look (or run your hand) into the lower spring perch (where the spring sits), mine was full of sand, gravel and rocks all the way up to the bottom coil of the springs.
I took mine to the car wash, jacked it up and rinsed all of that crap out of there and it hasn't made a sound for two months.
On small bumps (low or high speed) a rock would end up getting jammed between the coils and then either crushed or shot out.
Just my $.02
Thread Starter
Evolved Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 643
Likes: 1
From: Golden, CO
Hey thanks 96, I'll have to try that. Because it seems to be getting a little worse and my car is dirtier than ever, and with all the crap on the roads out here I'm sure it's super dirty.
To all you saying I haven't had fun with the car or I should have bought a Camry, why? Colorado is a plethora of back canyon roads and twisties. That's where I do my fun. Just because I haven't modded it or taken it to a track? Pshhh. I have fun driving this car every single day. This car is an amazing machine stock, you guys know that, and I appreciate it that way. Like I said before, I learned my lessons with modding, and I take great solice in the fact that I know nothing's changed, I have no mods to blame for the next weird noise, etc.
This is why I made this post, so that more people could see this side of Evo drivers. The stockers, the daily drivers, the work horses of the crowd. Not all of us can afford to mod and keep replacing parts time and again. I posted this to show the positives of a plain old Evo and what you can get out of it by just taking care of it.
To all you saying I haven't had fun with the car or I should have bought a Camry, why? Colorado is a plethora of back canyon roads and twisties. That's where I do my fun. Just because I haven't modded it or taken it to a track? Pshhh. I have fun driving this car every single day. This car is an amazing machine stock, you guys know that, and I appreciate it that way. Like I said before, I learned my lessons with modding, and I take great solice in the fact that I know nothing's changed, I have no mods to blame for the next weird noise, etc.
This is why I made this post, so that more people could see this side of Evo drivers. The stockers, the daily drivers, the work horses of the crowd. Not all of us can afford to mod and keep replacing parts time and again. I posted this to show the positives of a plain old Evo and what you can get out of it by just taking care of it.
Last edited by oak2207; May 9, 2006 at 12:23 PM.
Oak,
Good write up. I agree with your approach, take care of the car and it will last quite a while. I have 60,002 miles on the clock today. I am mostly stock, I drive 82 miles a day round trip. No REAL issues to speak of. Some annoyances though but nothing that would spoil my enjoyment of the car. I have been to the track 3 times. It's not that bad on your car. I don't drive like a madman but it is fun to see what your car can do. As you go more, you get a better feel for it. Even with 60K miles and minor track time I am still on the stock clutch and brakes.
Good write up. I agree with your approach, take care of the car and it will last quite a while. I have 60,002 miles on the clock today. I am mostly stock, I drive 82 miles a day round trip. No REAL issues to speak of. Some annoyances though but nothing that would spoil my enjoyment of the car. I have been to the track 3 times. It's not that bad on your car. I don't drive like a madman but it is fun to see what your car can do. As you go more, you get a better feel for it. Even with 60K miles and minor track time I am still on the stock clutch and brakes.
Originally Posted by oak2207
To all you saying I haven't had fun with the car or I should have bought a Camry, why? Colorado is a plethora of back canyon roads and twisties. That's where I do my fun.
I drive 56 miles a day and 6.8 miles each way is a mountain with a lot of good corners, areas where you can see way ahead to make sure there are no nimrods, deer, fallen trees etc.
The car handles awesome, by far the best I've ever driven over choppy, off camber turns or corners with dips in them.
I will never track the car or run it at the drags (I did a ton of that when I was younger), no launches but I definitely enjoy the torque and power curve this thing has.
Props to Mitsu for bringing this thing over
