I had a pin stripe on my BBY. I told them to take it and the dealer decal off my car before signing the papers. I'm nearing 10,000 miles and the car is in good shape. Just the driver's side door paint chips which is easily fixed a number of ways. 3M, rubber door edges or door re-alignment.

 

6000 miles, and she has been modded pretty much from the get-go. Tires have about 6-7000 miles left, but other than that, its been great!

 

Of course clutch at 2,000 mile. Second one has lasted over 20,000 miles? Gas gauge is not working and seat needed to be fixed. Mitsu fixed all but I had to by a clutch disk. Love the care though. Sales car 200 miles a day stop and go traffic.

 

Mine has 7K and its almost a year old ( i live 5 minutes from work )...only mod is a turbo back, and i race it every now and then

No clutch problems
No paint chips
Nothing!!!...its been flawless so far ( knock on wood )

 

^^^ ditto. alittle under 6k miles in 10 months. 5 min walk from work.

 

i got a oil leak not a really bad one.i have to fix it myself. dealer(***'s) say's to much boost.
9,500 miles,i drive 25 miles to work.i love my car .the leak is the only problem.

 

9,000 miles and only problem was a very slight squeek from the lt. front strut, but when I had the tanabe springs put on it went away. So, no problems at all and I drive it how a sports car is meant to be driven. Still look forward to getting in it everyday!

 

To paraphrase Dave Chapelle: I beat my Evo like it owes me money. I love it. It performs like a champ. I wish I could say the same about the dealer.

I'd like to see a poll about dealer satisfaction and "defects". I bet the tables would be turned.

 

I got my EVO on 8/03 and it has 11650 miles. I have a few performance mods( exhaust, intake, BOV) and it's 1 mile drive to work. I have launched the car at high RPMS a about 20 times and drive the car aggressively on and off road. No engine or mechanical problems. The paint on my evo sucks tho. The day I got it was dark and cloudy outside so the paint was hard to see. The next day when the sun hit it, it looked like someone washed it with steel wool. I took it to the dealer and they said it was fine when I got it (******). I claybared and waxed it but that only helped for a little while. About 2 weeks ago I went to get in it and the paint on my driver side mirror looked like it was bubbling up from under the clear coat and chipping off. I was on my way to take it to the dealer and complain when I got crashed into. Yea good times, but anyways. The bodyshop I have my car at looked at the paint on my mirror and are repainting it and charging Mitsu. under the warranty. Other then that it’s the best car ever!

 

23,000 miles, daily driver. Clutch fine, shudders slightly when car is cold (no shudder after 5-8 stoplights, stop/starts). Oil changed every 3-5k miles. OEM Oil filter every time. Pre 1000 miles driven with 7k rpm sprints, good amount of 3rd gear + crusing, driven with care in mind - gained more response at 11k miles, tranny smoothed out around 10K miles. Using Redline fluids in drivetrain since 6k miles, shifts like butter only when warmed up (must go slow and gentle at first), tranny likes 5K rpm shifts better than lower. Broken-in on factory Mobil 1, used Redine, no diff vs. M1 in performance or breakdown with heat. Dyno'd at 16K miles (stock) with K&N panel (in at approx 5k miles, no problem with oil over at all) at 239WHP on Pann's Dyno Dynamics dyno, went to 262WHP with only 5Zigen cat back, same day 2hr later. I think I've got a strong engine regardless of high reading numbers. No reliablity problems, starts when and where I want it from sealevel to 12K' (Mammoth in winter). Changed OEM Advans at 16K miles to 245/40 Yok ES100's - quieter ride, way more squeal, a little more fun on the street, a touch below on very high speed stability, still sticks like glue. I'm a road racer vs. drag racer. I prefer high speed crusing and going after anything that wants to play safely on the freeway. I'm in my 30's been modding since Rabbit days. The car sees nicely over 100 each and every day. I get 18-23mpg, Arco feels the best here in SD, Chevron stinks, 76 comparable. I short shift when grannying doing 1-3-5 or 2-4 around town. I rev match to the next lower gear every time, I fan the clutch sometimes going up. I'm very careful not to jolt the drivetrain on decel, keeping good control of throttle to be smooth. I've smelt clutch probably 5-7 times, the first time helping nicely with break-in. I drive in the mid-range of 3-6K to enjoy the meat of the torque band, but when going for broke I shift 100rpm shy of RPM cutoff and never speed shift. I've noticed you've got to give this car time to warm up the engine and a bit longer for the tranny. If taken care of it purrs when driven hard anywhere, everything works nicely as a system. Be nice when dealing with weight transfer, drivetrain movements, and the Evo is butter smooth in all manners. I drive 100+ miles daily in stop and go traffic as well as having fun in San Diego's city twisties, my stock Evo gives a thrill far above anything I've driven yet except for riding in a 600HP JWT tuned VG30DETT. The only things that run away from a stock Evo here in Del Mar SD are the big Mercs (500 AMGs, 600's), 996TTs, Maseratis and Murcilagos. Surprised many, many Porsche drivers =) The sprayer helps tremendously on icky 91oct. Seats working fine, you have to retuck the edges of the fabric back in to the seat every few weeks to keep the tighness of the fabric. Fabric resistant to wear, I try and lift myself over the bolsters when I can. Radio is OK and able to raise volume enough over all open windows,sunroof, and 80. Center console/ arm rest a little wiggly, a few points below BWM type of standards. Controls are bit loose vs. Audi. Wing visibility can be a pain, but is able to block most headlights with no tint. I'm happy to own one =)

 

10k new clutch, new transmission, new tires, windshield water sprayer broken, numerous squeaks, a couple of rattles, a ****load of fun

 

I would say 80% of them, you're right on. It's not that the EVO is necessarily hard to obtain for the average person. Let's face it, the average price of a new car is around 25K so spending 5K more is not outrageous. What I think a lot of it is, is the EVO is not cheap to maintain like an Accord, Focus, etc. A lot of people aren't use to paying such high insurance, plus paying for premium gas, plus paying for more expensive oil changes, plus paying for high performance tires that wear out quicker than cheaper tires, etc., etc., etc. Even the cost of modifying is more than what you'd pay to modify a civic, neon or focus (not that those compare to the EVO, just probably what a lot of people came out of and use as a frame of reference). If you're coming out of an M3 than the cost of maintenance and insurance will not be foreign to you and might even be cheaper.

I have over 31K miles on my EVO and it has been a wonderful car that I love. The power steering pump frooze on me, and was replaced under warranty without a problem. I'm still on the stock clutch, stock brake pads, and still using the stock tires (over 16K miles on the stock tires, 15K on winter tires). Obviously I do a lot of highway driving, but I don't baby my car by any means and the poor thing needs a bath desperately. I'm considering selling my EVO, not because it's a bad car or has been unreliable, but the significant other is going off to law school in the fall and I figure when you include insurance, car payments, gas, etc. I can save about 8K a year, if I drop down to something like a Honda Element. I will probably miss the EVO everyday, but the EVO or a car just like it will be easily attainable in the future. So if I end up selling it or trading it in, it has nothing to do with the car, but with priorities, I'd rather eat better, live in a nicer place, educate my loved ones, and take a better job that pays less (I'm in I.T.) than have a nice car.

 

Thanks emulous! Your post and the others definetely help me make up my mind.

I will actually be saving $ going to the Evo which is nice. I do want to wait on an 04 now though since the leftover 03's seem to be all in less desirable (to me) colors.

 

I have about 5200 miles on it (Got it in October). So far, no major problems. For those who have A/C problems, I do too, but I've figured out that the dial is just finicky. If I have it on cold air, and want to put it to heat, or vice versa, I can't just turn the dial and expect it to work. I have to crank it back and forth, and eventually it will register what I want.

I used to have a 5th gear grind, but just started babying it (only the shift into 5th gear), stopped skipping gears, and now it's fine. 5th gear should be viewed by Evo drivers as an "overdrive" gear, or just a cruising gear. Use 4th if you are still accelerating.

I have a few rattles every now and then, and the whole car creaks when the temp is below 0. Go figure.

As to people selling low mileage Evos, I think the others have hit the nail on the head. Since people think they can afford a $30k car, they think they can afford an Evo, but in many cases they can't. Mobile 1 is more expensive (and more frequent oil changes), tires are more expensive, premium gas (and the current gas prices don't help), need winter tires for snowbelt states, need decent stereo, need mods so you get the power you deserve...

 

11k 12 mile one way daily driver half traffic half freeway..oil every 3500 miles, plugs look awsome... no probs..Tires are about gone (I rotated them with the oil changes) and there is notable wear on the rotors. To me the clutch is weak as are the syncros so I take it easy on launch and when down shifting into first I double clutch. This car is a complete blast, most fun I have had since I had to sell my 410 HP "60" Vette.