I'm looking at a 2006 Evo MR. The car has about 16,000 miles, and the guy wants 21,000 for it. This price seems very low, and the only issue I know of is with the miles. The owner explained that the last owner took the car to a shop to get emissions tested, and they mixed up the vins with another car and the shop reported about 40,000 miles rather then the actual mileage of about 12,000 at the time. He has showed me a copy of the title and it still shows the car displays the actual mileage. In fact the only place it shows the mileage being rolled back is in the car fax report. Otherwise the car looks like a steal. What do you think about this? Should I pass?

 

even if it has 40,000 miles thats a really good price if its clean and stock.. The pink could say actual mileage that doesnt mean anything

 

and considering this type of car, take sellers words with a grain of salt.....

 

do you have larger pictures of the car? those headlights look silver chrome, not the dark chrome that 9's should have

also, that side marker on the fender shouldn't be illuminated unless the blinkers are on.

here in WA, when they test emissions, they scan the vin - there's no entering it by hand. I highly doubt that VIN numbers got mixed up. the car clearly isn't stock, but 21000 for a 40k mile evo is still a decent price, just do your due diligence in making sure the car is a good one.

 

I would say pay close attention to the paperwork side of things and have everything verified with the DMV so that you know there is no owed money on the car in the form of tickets or regular monthly payments(lien on the car). As mentioned earlier, the car isn't 100% bone stock, but it's probably close enough. I wouldn't trust the mileage in the car fax, on the title, or on the gauge cluster of the car as that, too, can be changed. Just test drive the car normally and look for regular big ticket problems: transfer case whine, rod knock, clutch issues. Maybe do a compression and leak down test? ALL of which may not matter anyway if you plan to upgrade or replace these things.

As you might have guessed, the less work you are able to do yourself, the more careful you have to be when buying an evo. If you have the tools, knowledge, at least a small savings, and don't mind any potential surprises or headaches, then all you have to do is make sure the body is straight and that's that.

 

Look the car over and see if it looks like a car with only 16K miles. Like I would expect it to still be on stock rotors and pads that so few miles. Check to see if he has the stock fmic, it should have very few bent fins, etc.

If the car has a clean title, and is mechanically sound, its a bargain at $21K, whether it 16k miles, or 40k miles.

 

at the very least it's got an AMS front mount and looks lowered a bit. pads and rotors should be stock, though i'm not sure how you'd tell if they were or not

 

Yeah, the car is mostly stock. The guy said it has the intercooler, a bov, intercooler piping, catback exhaust, a downpipe (so basically a turboback), 02 housing, and an intake. So the car has a few bolt ons but less modifications then most Evos I've seen.

Here are some more pictures:

 

Also, i do not have larger pictures but I can ask the seller

Here is a picture without the headlights off, so it's a little bit easier to see

 

There are companies that will do an auto inspection for you. They send out someone to inspect the car, they paint meter all the panels and can tell if its been repainted etc. Might be worth it to get to the bottom of the mileage question.

Here is just 1 example http://www.autoexam.com/ppi.html

P.S. That drivers seat looks like it has more that 16K miles of use to me. But if the front bumper/hood have not been repainted, and have little to no rock chips, then it is low mileage. Mitsubishi paint is terrible.

 

I personally had this happen with my truck. The dealer documented the miles incorrectly (5,000 miles instead of 25,000 miles) and it showed up on my CARFAX. It was a simple fix by escalating it through CARFAX and having the service center respond with the correct mileage. Don't know if that helps, but it seems like he would investigate a fix rather than take a hit for thousands of $ if that was the case.

 

Be careful with Evo’s and mileage. Here are some things that owners/sellers may have done to lie about the mileage:

-Replace Gauge cluster with lower mileage gauge cluster
-Run two gauge clusters , one to drive with and the other original is kept on the side to keep mileage unchanged over the years and or additional miles added.

So when its time to sell they simply put the original back on or swap with a another cluster to call it a “low mileage” Evo.

Then there are those that got into accidents , dont report it , get it fixed and on paper its still “clean title” car. Some buyers can spot those, many are not as well informed or trained to know what to look for. Some of those shady dealers do that. They buy crashed Evo’s swap parts with donor cars or even stolen parts/cars.

Good Luck.

 

get engine bay pictures, check body panels. engine bay will tell you a lot about mileage.

I agree on the seat. My seat has 120k miles and looks like that. a 16k mile seat should look almost pristine

Also, please don't say the car is mostly stock. FMIC, BOV, piping, turbo-back exhaust, intake, painted wheels, JDM rear ... that ain't stock.

get an engine bay picture and have a good shop look over the car. they'll be able to tell you right away if they believe it's got the mileage stated. Also, I'd rather buy an 80k mile car that's been daily driven than a 15k mile evo that's been autocrossed its whole life, just my .02

 

Look at the seat and the pedal pads for more wear than might otherwise be warranted.

 

check the vin on motor against on the vin on the car itself.. I had a issue when I had my 94 probe gt and thus explain issues I had down the road