Hello EvoM dudeguys
start by saying im the biggest, most scared kid right now....

name's Rodney, currently from Monterey Bay, California, and finally in the hunt for my first high performance vehicle!!! Have been looking at evos for a while, have been saving a bit of change, researched insurance and performance of all sorts of different cars and with the recent death of my ae86, gotten off of my butt and have gotten a loan. Time has finally come to go out and really look at cars in person and start making offers, and i think ive found the lady....

here are the details from craigslist extracted directly from his post:


Mods-- Aftermarket air intake with K&N filter
HKS BOV
Carbon Fiber Hood and Trunk
Evo 9 Turbo
Apexi turbo timer

Good:

Awesome car (opinion)
Not modded to hell (opinion)
Never tracked or raced (?)
Tires and brakes are over 50% (fact)
Radiator replaced this month (old stock ones crack at the top eventually) (fact)
New Coolant and Oil/filter when radiator was installed. (fact)
Car was inspected and had routine service by Salinas mitsubishi couple months ago, i have the paperwork. (fact)
Current ODO reading is 96k, however. I replaced the engine a couple months after i got the car with an engine i ordered from japan that had 40k on it.
The odo read 82k on my car when i replaced the engine, so if you didnt already do the math, thats 56k on the engine in the car.I have all the paperwork for the purchase of the engine as well as the service reciept from the shop that installed the engine.




Bad:

Clear coat is fading, can be fixed by taking off the clear coat and a coat of paint. doesn't need full repaint.

Car is registered in Texas( I am in the military). Therefor no smog
The car probably wont pass smog either, considering it has no CAT
I understand you will have to register in cali if you live here, and you will have to get smog check.
The price still stands, i have two options to take care of that situation which i will discuss with a serious buyer.

I also still have a loan on this car......




thats the jist of it all. in addition to all the mods he has done, you can add a EBC system, stock intercooler, and exhaust. all with no tune. he has sourced a CAT..
the beautiful thing about where i live geographically is that i pretty close to some outstanding tuning shops (EQ Tuning, GST, FFTec) and performance shops (SpeedElement and Auto HeadQuarters). Plan was to purchase the car and take it straight to one of the mentioned above to get it looked over and fix anything odd bits, do a nice fluids change, a if all goes right, a nice conservative tune
So basically my question is if this car is safe to run without a tune for a short period of time until i can go and get it tuned? can i take the two hour drive north to make it all happen, don't really wanna try and get a tow all the way there. anything major to look for before pulling the trigger? i may be able to post up some pictures if i get some responses, i can go over and see it again tomorrow

 

Try to stay out of boost as much as possible and if you can take it straight to fftec.

 

^^ What he said.

 

Just so you know, the laws here in Cali state that the seller must provide the smog paperwork. The car is registered out of state and you may have to go through more red tape to get it registered. IMO, I would stay away from this car for the simple facts that it has mods that wont pass smog, its registered out of state, and having an engine replaced already sounds like maybe he was racing it.

If you really want the car go for it, but even with just the description and no pics, I say keep looking and save yourself some headaches. G/L in your Evo search.

 

thanks for the response. i know the first engine blew because it skipped a tooth, asked when i saw the old 4g63 get hauled away from a buyer looking to do a stroker build. i will pm you the ad since i dont want any of his info exposed. ill post up picture here.


and for sake of argument lets say it has passed smog, because it will be one way or another.

 

Thats hardly modded, you'll be fine. I'd have the timing belt service done for peace of mind and then get a tune.

 

If it was close enough Id be willing to check it out with you if you needed someone. I have seen some evos out here locally sold with aftermarket hoods because they have been in accidents and its cheaper than an oem hood, so they get seibon stuff because of that not because of looks. Not a major issue but oem hoods and trunks are much better than seibon crap. Idk, folks on here may disagree but whatever. That's my opinion. Carfax may not disclose this if it wasn't a major accident, but just some things I have seen looking around at local evos out here.

Im really not trying to scare you, its your money and if you really love the car get it. Im just trying to help you make sure you know what you may POSSIBLY may be getting into. ymmv.

 

you mention clear coat is fading.3K right here.

 

 

Yellow evo with acd, rare car.

 

stay out of boost and get tuned ASAP by FFTec. the current map isn't scaled properly for the EBC/other mods you have and will cause a lot of damage to the engine under boost

P.S. get rid of the HKS BOV and find an evo 9 metal DV

 

Make him smog the car before you buy it. California law states is a misdemeanor to sell a car private party without having it smogged. In addition to that, because it's an out of state vehicle the DMV is going to send you to the CHP for a VIN varification. CHP and modded Evo's don't blend well!

 

+1.

Listen to this guy. I just recently had to deal with a similar issue as the OP and it was a major pita. The seller also sounds like he has some sketchy plans when in his ad he is talking about 2 'options' to get this car registered legally. Buyer beware.

 

Oops I sold my srt4 in Cali without a smog lol I'm in the military and got stopped once in my srt4 with no cat or muffler in Cali which was way louder than my Evo and the cop told me he could tow it blah blah even though my car was registered in florida, but I told the cop of officer what's a catalytic converter? I bought this car like this I'm florida we don't have any laws like you guys have, what shop should I take it to for a muffler lol

 

i think its possible to sell private party without smog papers. I've known a few folks do it. Smart buyers will ask for one before buying though. Its the buyers dilemma if they buy a car without smog papers. The thing is what your talking about is different, you never attempted to register it in California. Your talking about selling a car. Registering an out of state car in California that clearly wont pass smog isnt a fun process, but whatever. Like I said earlier, its the OP money and if he really wants that car then get it.