i've only been a member here for about a week, i originally came on here because i'm shopping for a new car and wanted as much info as possible before i buy my car.

i've looked at a lot of threads to find out goods and bads about the evo. it seems that some people have got problem cars and some got cars thet are fine. But what i'm wondering is why does it seem that most people flame other's that have problems saying that you have a performance car and i'ts gonna break. i personally think that's a load of ****. Granted there is going to be more maintenance which is fine. but having the clutch go out, grinding gears, etc... that's just not right. if i spend 30k on a car i expect it to last whether it's performance oriented ot not. Regardless i'm still buying the lancer. it's just some people need to step back and think about what their saying. I think it's just an excuse for people that got lemons and are trying to make themselves feel at ease buy saying it's a performance car it should brake. some people need a reality check. i know i'll probably get falmed cuz i'm a newbie and don't even have a lancer, but whatever, i just needed to vent.

 

Evo's been around for awhile. It's has proven itself for many years. Read all threads carefully and you decide what is true and what is full of crap. For example, I never race my car, I never drop my clutch, I never drive my car hard, I never miss shifted since I been driving a manual, and so on. Now if you believe all this than don't buy an Evo. People don't buy an Evo to drive it like a Hyudai.
I got over 10K miles and have miss shifted dozen times, out ran modded WRX's, MR2 turbo, bunch of V8's, and all kinds of Honda's. I have burnt the clutch more than I would of liked and still I drove my car pretty hard. This is my only car and I drive it everyday. Yet to see any problems.
But don't get me wrong, all cars have one or two that are lemon. Evo 8 hasn't changed much from previous versions so it is highly unlikely that there would be so many problems you hear about here unless it was the driver who did the damage. If you know how to drive well and take care of your car, the Evo is very reliable.

 

this is true that a lot of people mistreat their cars, but i've also read A LOT of threads and some seem to have problems within normal driving circumstances. I know most r due to the driver. I have a 97 jetta vr6 with 130k miles and i beat the **** out of that, and i haven't problems that some evo's have with 10k on them. I'm still going to buy the evo because i love the car, and don't worry i won't beat the **** out of it. it just seems that mitsu couldn't made the car a little more reliable to be able to handle the driving that they advertise it for.

 

Just remember, you need to break-in the engine, brake pads, and the clutch when you get the Evo. If you break them in properly, you won't have clutch issues unless you do lots of clutch drops.
But, if you need the power, ecu and other bolt-on mods will give you lots of power. When I beat Modded Mustangs and WRX's, I don't even launch. In fact, they usually get about half or full car length jump on me. But, I pass them by around half a block and walk away from them. I enjoy this better since these guys can't say that I beat them because of AWD launch. The last car I beat was a modded MR2 turbo with a loud BOV. I beat him from a rolling start even though I miss shifted 2nd gear. At the next light, he did a really good launch with the MR2 and got about a full car length head start but with a minor clutch burning rolling launch I passed him and left him about 3 car length back after about 1/8 mile, a full block. Afterwards, the guy was in shock and just said to me " That things is hella fast what you got on that thing?" I wanted to say it's STOCK but didn't.
Well that's about it. If you can't tell, I love my Evo and wouldn't trade her for any other cars.

 

i'm definitely gonna do proper break, cuz believe me if i'm spending 30k on it i'm gonna treat it like i gave birth to it, but after break i am going to enjoy what it has to ffer

 

I am the most **** person you’ll ever meet when it comes to maintenance and cautious driving. My evo has 1100 miles on it, and
I wish I had never laid eyes on the damn thing. I got a "bad car", and it has given me nothing but trouble. To add insult to injury, the dealer tells me these problems are normal, and or threatens to play the "abuse" card. I will tell you right now, if you want quality control in a car, DO NOT BUY AN EVO!!! I have never been so disappointed in a car. To the guys saying "it's all because of abuse, neglect and what not", wait till your car starts with the problems. I didn't even drive the car the first week I had it so I could clay bar it and put 10 coats of zaino on. I changed the oil twice in 900 miles, babied it, and did everything "by the book", and still have more problems than you can count. I just wish I never bought this car.

 

what problems r u having?

 

that sucks u got a bad one. I have 18000 mile on mine, and I beat the crap out of it. I launch it, race it, I drive mine like I stole it. My clutch is still grabbing strong. Got a couple mods that about it.

 

Thats what I'm talking about simevo, you have the same thoughts
as mine, (must be a bay area ting) j/k. Seriously I defianetly drive mine hard as well and have not one probelm w/7400 miles.
I think we all know some cars do have the lemon thing going on and that sucks. Just enjoy the car and respect it and in majority of situations it well take care of you.

 

On a world wide forum such as this you're going to run into all sorts of opinions, all walks of life. People have their stories and usually those that are most unhappy now have a place to voice their opinions - the Internet is the place for this. It's all about perception management. The happier drivers of the Evolution stay quiet, there's nothing really to say, the bad apples are most vocal...and that's what you hear. I'm a happy driver, 19K miles, daily driven, maintained according to the owners manual, no threatening problems for me.

On a side note most people would say that the Lamborgihni brand is a pretty stout brand - I knew of the model that Mike Tyson owned for about a week. The tranny was blown during that week, might someone say Lambo is a POS because of this?

 

clutch pedal vibe
horribly rough idle (can't see out rear view it's so bad)
1st, 2nd, and 5th gear grinds
mild piston slap
noisy tob
steering wheel shake
decel noise and clunk

and to top it all off my car is slower than other stock evos I've driven

all with only 1000 miles

 

take it to another dealer. Sumthing is not right. Maybe the sales men drag the crap out of it before u got it.

 

Let me give you both the good and bad. I believe that EVERY brand will have a few lemons, and almost every car will have the occasional "small" problem. I've spent the past month surfing this board with the exact same question as you have...the reason is because I bought an EVO in early Feb, and it's been in the shop more than the street. Am I upset? Yes! But, do I blame the company? no. It sucks that anybody has to get a problem car, but you WILL have a small chance of getting one EVERY time you buy a new car. In my case, the state I live in will not call the car a lemon until the same problem happens 4 times. My ignition fuse has popped, and left me stranded 3 times, so the dealer still had the law on their sides. That being said though, please realize that a dealer's 1st priority is their bottom line, but customer service should still fall reasonably close. After MUCH negotiation, the dealership agreed to give me a new car, and keep the one that's given me so many problems. I'm now driving a silver EVO, and couldn't be happier! In all my searching, I never found anybody who had a problem like mine, and I've even found a poll where the majority of people have never had a single problem with their EVO - don't let the few bad cases scare you!

 

well said

 

Basically I just want to confirm what others said. There are always a few bad cars.
Mine also has the steering wheel shake which I think is normal and the deceleration noise but otherwise runs great. I'm really not concerned about it anymore. If the car breaks, I'll take it to the dealers to get it fixed.
2000 miles so far.