Hello, this is my first post here. I am eighteen years of age and I currently own a 1993 Nissan 300ZX (N/A) and am considering selling it to buy a 1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV being sold nearby for around 35,000 USD. (I've always been a fan of Mitsubishi cars.) I'm making this post to ask what I should know in advance.

I do not plan on tuning it (Doubt I can even if I wanted to. Thanks, California. ) since I intend to use it as a daily and would like to try to get as much reliability out of it as possible, given that I've heard that this generation is the worst in those terms.

Thanks.

They have issues with the AYC rear diff packing a sad, it’s the first iteration of it.

if it’s fine, it’s fine. If it blows it’s not a big deal either.

The engine also is known to suffer from crank walk - just google or search here. The later iterations fixed the issue.

Other than that they’re great cars and still selling for around 10k USD over here.

Major cons:
1. Parts availability, especially oem. Basically nonexistent in the US. And yes you will need to fix/replace parts, its a very old Mitsu.
2. Trying to find mechanics/tuners that are experienced and knowledgeable with the early jdm evo platform.
3. These types of jdm classic purchases are usually reserved for collecting and occasional driving to preserve its value and condition. DD'ing it would certainly hurt that.
4. You can get a very nice evo 8/9/X (a much better car) for that price.

Pros:
1. Its rare and cool.

Seriously? You can literally get 6-8 evo 4s for the price of one evo 9 in Canada. Evo 5-6 around the same price point but used to be waaaaay cheaper before the usa started buying them. The evo 4 is by far the worst evolution in the line up.

$35k around here can get you a nice Evo 9 around 100k miles. Add or subtract $5k depending on how clean and stock it is.,

That Evo 4 the OP is talking about is $35k most likely because it's JDM and rare.

Good luck registering it in cali..

All evos prior to the 8/9 are all only jdm/ukdm mostly. I dont think rarity matters too much when its such an undesirable model year. Its rare in the states maybe but the 4 is like the social reject of evos everywhere else. 35k on an evo 4 would be a huge waste of funds op. Just saying. If you're into the 90s evos I recommend the evo 3 or 5/6.

I sure wouldn't have wanted what's essentially a $35,000 DSM with tons of parts that have to be overnighted from Japan as a daily driver when I was 18.

US$35K is wayyy overpriced for an EVO IV(They probably go for like sub 1M yen or mid 1M yen for a decent one)
Find a reputable importer/broker, get one car in directly from Japan auction instead
Should cost way less and EVO V is legal next year for US importation
EVO V is a much better car overall

You'd be surprised. Down here in CA If its RHD and resembles something seen in Initial D people will pay absurd amounts of money for anything JDM

It beats the Nissan Altima hand me down that most 18 year olds get

Hate to bash other people's pricing as I hate those types of guys. I do think at $35,000 USd you're being taken for a ride.

I'm in Canada and import cars. I had two of the first Evo IV's in North America, shoot me a message on here if you're interested can confidently say I'd be able to land a mint IV for $2X,XXX CAD