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Hi guys,

Long time lurker, because I'm a long time wannabe Evo owner, first post right here (apologies if it should have been in the noobie section, but I have an urgent issue I need some help with, introductions can be done later).

So, as title, I'm looking at an Evo 8 right now.

Here are the pics of the car, exactly as it is right now, for sale on the largest second hand auto site in Greece (sorry for Greek site, I'm actually British, but I've been living in Greece for the last 12 years)...Suffice it to say, it 'looks' perfect. All panel gaps are good, nothing twisted on the body.

http://www.car.gr/classifieds/cars/photos/3931770/



Here is the good...

Only 34,000 miles on it.
Genuine mileage guaranteed by full Mitsubishi service log, stamped and correct.
Only had one owner, who is an Evo enthusiast, part of why the car is for sale is because he now has an Evo X.
It is virtually untouched in terms of mods, still has the original rims, as far as I can tell the only non stock part is the exhaust which is a quiet sensible one, though fractionally louder than stock.
They will take my Civic Type R EP3 in part exchange, which is actually a really good thing, believe it or not, 2.0 is considered a MASSIVE engine in Greece, and is taxed really hard, its difficult to sell them.
The price...it is surprisingly cheap compared to similar examples.

Then there's the bad...

The guy had mentioned that 2 panels has been replaced due to minor damage, he implied it was as minor as a parking accident, but that's par for the course from these dealers (lies).
I sent it for a due diligence test to a mechanic who is a friend of my wife's. He immediately told me that the car had been crashed badly and he didn't recommend buying it.

I had obviously gone back to the dealer (who is simply selling the car on behalf of the previous owner) and told him that I'd have to leave the car. Of course he wanted to speak to the mechanic, and eventually, the mechanic conceded that the evidence that the car had been crashed did not actually point to how badly it had been crashed. So then I started to get confused. On the one hand I've got a guy saying the car is no good, on the other I've got the seller saying the mechanic is overstating the case. I spoke again with the mechanic and asked him quite simply if he would drive the car with his kids in it (as I will be doing on occasion), and he said he wouldn't feel like it was dangerous, but he could also feel safer...so no help there again.

So at this point, I'm about to say to the guy, ok just forget it, then tells me he can prove that the crash was 'minor', as he has photos... So, without further ado, here are those photos...






Now that doesn't look very minor to me, but I have no idea what is fixable and what is structural on this car, and I realise you guys can't look at the passenger chassis member, so I did for you, and it 'looks' ok. Here are also some pics of what little evidence remains of the damage (remember also those pics in the advert linked above are also AFTER pics, so feel free to refer again to those if it helps...

This is the passenger sill


And this is under the bonnet close to the windshield passenger side. This is the only visible evidence I could find since the repair.



So, would you feel ok driving this car with your kids in it? Or spiritedly without your kids in it?

Such a shame to see such a good example of this car written off, but if that's the case, so be it. Thanks all in advance for your input.

 

I'm not sure what kind of price this is, but in the USA I typically look for a salvage titled car, fully repaired, to be around 75% of the 'blue book' value or prevailing market value. If your mechanic is saying NO, I say NO.

-josh

 

How hard is to find another Evo in Greece?I wouldn't buy this car.

 

Bought my car as a rebuilt title and have no issues. As long as it was repaired correctly. Doesn't look to be hard enough for frame damage but never can tell. Looks good to me but I am also not a body person. Good luck!

 

doesn't look too bad but the new headlights are weak compared to those jdm ones

 

Unmolested, one previous owner, full service history, with 34k miles, great price, from a place that is local AND is willing to take my Type R for a decent price...this is the only reason I'm even considering the car, it will most certainly be a long time before another car ticks that many boxes.

Thanks for thoughts guys, I'm leaning toward no of course, I was just hoping a bunch of you might be like "oh that looks fine, if it was repaired right, go for it!" type of thing.

I can wait for the right car, but this seemed like a great deal on my doorstep, just another that was too good to be to true I guess.

P.S. If you haven;t yet, please vote in the poll.

 

I've had some experience with salvage cars and by the looks of it, it seems to have been repaired fairly well. However, I really can't say yes or no just on looks, you really just need to drive it. How does it feel during hard cornering? Does it track straight at cruising speed? If you have the opportunity take it up to higher speeds and see if the car starts to shake or feels like it will lose control.

Ultimately if you are not saving a significant amount of money or there are very limited options in your location I would go with something else, I have always found that with salvage cars it is inevitable that you will run in to something that needs fixed down the road, even if it is not right away which is why you need to be seeing significant savings. my .02

 

It definitely drives straight and true, I don't think the impact was that hard, but I'm more concerned about the push that the roof must have had, and the overall rigidity of the body if it were in another accident down the line, possibly with my family on board. I have no doubt a top job has been done on the repairs; due to the amount of crash repairs they do in Greece, the overall standard of work is absolutely amazing, better than UK. I once had a nice Golf (Rabbit) mkII gti repaired from what I thought was a write off here in Greece. It was my first car in Greece and indeed first and only accident over here (wasn't my fault :P).

 

Definitely WOULD NOT buy a Rebuilt car to use as a Daily Driver. If it were to be used specifically as a toy, and the savings were substantial, then yeah, go for it.

No matter what anyone says, or how much money was put into the repair, it'll never be perfect. Member on a local Forum sold his Rebuilt G35 Coupe for a really good price, claiming everything was spot on, then posted a thread about his new car, and how he just sold his last that had too many quirks to work out.

 

I don't know what you guys are referring to as a rebuild...

This has never been an insurance write off or anything, it's just a car that had a hard bump and was repaired. It's not been refurbished or salvaged or anything like that. Of metal parts, Just the wing and door was replaced, I think that small kink in the front of the hood was repaired.

 

Sounds like you've already made up your mind on this one...

 

I pretty much have, I'm not gonna buy it. The only thing that would have made me think about it would have been a lot of yes votes, so forget it. I just didn't want to end up NOT buying it for a stupid reason, as everything else about it is perfect. Win some lose some.

 

Good decision. Damage like that did have some minor chassis misalignment. It can be repaired but... its really hard to tell if it will be the same car after.

Just find a good CT9A, 7 - 9. Good luck.