Over the weekend I picked up an 39k 06' EB lancer evo which looked good (interior was a 9 out of 10), sounded good, and ran good. I was told the only mods that had been on the car was a GFB stealth BOV and an un-nameable TBE.

They told me it was on stock clutch and had never had the boost turned up. They said it had never been in a wreck, which carfax verified. They said the tires were good. For the most part everything checked out short of a compression and vaccuum line check. Then I got home and checked it the next day (it was a 10 hour drive round trip to get the car).

What I found was that the driver side rear quarter had been tagged by something. I didn't catch it when I examined the car because it had rained before hand and stirred up a light dust on the panel and the only thing that gave it away was some wet sanding marks. It's only a 8inch by 4inch rectangle long on the panel. It was only really noticable when I popped out the jack and felt the metal behind it. But sure enough I could see that something had been beat out and seamed together.

Next was the alignment. The front tires were medium on tread and checked out fine. The rear looked good from the outside, but I didn't check the inside of the tires like I did on the front which was my very big bad. They are bald on the inside.

While I was checking this I came across straight pipe instead of a cat under the vehicle. So I started searching the car and came across a hole cut out in the cubby under the cd deck. This tells me he had gauges on it, which makes me think that he was running a boost control of some sort.

This all would of been somewhat ok if the guy would have ANSWERED OR RETURNED MY CALLS. But he hasn't. So this has got me on high alert. I have already planned out a complete check over on the car and realignment. It's not that bad of stuff to find on the car, but the fact I don't know what has been done to it and was lied too has got me on edge.

In the end a lot of this is on me. I misjudged his character and didn't check every inch of the car like I originally planned to. He didn't look like he needed the money and was upfront on the scratches and car wear. So I took a strangers word.

When I sold my 350z, I tried to be honest to the point I was almost belittling the car. I wanted the buyer to know everything they were getting into so I would not have to worry about them coming back thinking I had screwed them. I'm really starting to think I just need to be an a**-hole on cars, because it seems to not to be paying off to be nice.

Sorry about the rant, I'm just irritated that I have a possible mystery car on hand. I'll feel better once I know what I'm against.

 

Yea man some people are shady. Nothing you can do but fully inspect the car yourself. Get the bugs worked out and you'll be happy with it I'm sure.

GL

 

That is really unfortunate. Being honest is the way to be. My brother bought a bug eye wrx once about 4 years ago for 10,000 and I drove it home for him while he followed. That car was a piece of .... We gave the father and son a certified check. They took advantage of my brother and my wife looked up lemon laws for our state (CT). Long story short we called him the next day and told him to either fix the problems or give the money back. H edecided to give the money back. We told the dad when we picked up the check that my brother really wanted to keep the car but it was acting erratic and smoking from under the hood. Point is if you feel that the car is solid keep it, if not check the lemon laws for buying a motor vehicle in his state and call him to return the car. This wasen't a 1,000 car I assume. There are laws protecting us buyers from private people, even if he wrote "as is". Also, never buy a beat up Subie lol!! Hope that helped.

 

Sucks man.....One good thing is you should be able to fix most of that just sucks it's with your own $$. I wouldn't trust taking it back to them. Go to a different shop and get an estimate for everything then make them pay for it.

 

What will calling him back accomplish? All you'll have is an opportunity to voice your disgust. Otherwise as you stated, you are at fault for not thoroughly inspecting the vehicle prior to committing.

An Evo is a car I'd be very very cautious about when buying used. I try and keep in mind that there is no such thing as a stock Evo, modified or not they are driven as intended 90% of the time no matter how much owners claim they've never beat on it. It's just something you have to accept.

 

sorry to hear that, when i went to buy my evo i drove for 2 hrs 3 times to look at it to make sure its the one i wanted. carfaxed it and also made a appointment at a know trusted auto shop in the location of the car, i paid 200 bucks on a car that wasnt mine yet! lol anyways found out that the car is perfect! got it and couldnt of been happier!

 

smooth good info!!

 

did you find out any other problems? might want to check the transmission for failure.

 

More or less to just figure out what all has been done to the car. I can take that the car has been modified, they are evo's after all. But I want to know what has been done to the car so don't run into problems later.

Unfortunately I live in Kansas, so about every evo I come across is a state or 2 away, which creates problems in the time frame for inspecting the car. In the future I will have to be more firm about what I need done before hand.

 

I don't hear or feel anything wrong with the drivetrain, but I am getting that checked out anyways to be sure.

 

Just let this be a lesson to everyone looking to buy a used Evo. Go there with a plan, and no matter how nice and straightforward the owner seems, stick to the plan.

I bought my Evo in 03 with 4500 miles on it from a dealer and did a checked everything over very carefully. Absolutely no problems with the car and have enjoyed it for the past almost six years.

If you want to get technical, it is illegal to sell a car to someone that does not have a catalytic converter.

 

Yes and No to the red. yes in that he should have done a good check on the vehicle himself. No in that a seller is bound by law to tell be as honest in selling the vehicle or house or whatever. Now the seller could play "dumb", but if you could prove that things were done to the vehicle, a small claims court would rule in your favor regarding the representation of the vehicle as stock.

Personally, if the things you mention are major enough, I'd call the seller back and confront them. Provide facts and state that he had to be forthcoming about the history of the vehicle as he knew it. Give him a chance to make things right, else you will have to eat it or go to small claims court.

 

If you want to get technical, it is illegal to sell a car to someone that does not have a catalytic converter.[/quote]


I like that Idea if you want to go that far..

 

Overall, I am not displeased by the car itself. It's sharp, seems to be running good, and had a good price. I'm irked about being lied too and not knowing if anything else had been done to it. More then likely if the seller would had been upfront about everything, I would have bought the car anyways. As long as the tranny and engine check up comes out clean, the car will be hear to stay. I am contacting the 1st owner of the car to see if he did any mods, however I'm guessing everything was done by the 2nd (he had a 1200hp drag Supra in his garage.).

 

Well that answers your question. The 2nd owner did the mods. It would be nice if everyone was up front about selling cars of homes, but when people want to sell things, some tend to be less than honest just so they can sell it.

Good luck.