Thank you guys for all your input. To clear things up this is the car that I test drove:
http://www.gatorford.com/Preowned-In...oryId=30716965

It is a 2008 gsr with 26K miles on it.

When I went to the dealership I knew few things to always keep in mind. #1 was that this was a ford dealership and not a mitsubishi dealership which did not have any evo's available. #2 I went there anyways even despite the abnormally high sale price of 28 grand because I wanted to see a red evo up close.

Aside from that I (before test driving) offered 25K which I thought was appropriate because of high miles and there is an evo 60 miles from that dealership with 3500 listed for 29 and with bargaining I guess they could meet my offer of 27 which would be a good price for that car. Dealer seemed to push 26K (and again this was before the test drive).

 

+1 ^^^ Any car that sits gets rusty looking rotors, battery sits they die happens alot at used dealers, My exhaust tips are black, service light probably came on when battery died. I would not bat an eye at the first 3. Also the stock tune is crapppy if it feels tight and is clean may not be bad

 

Yeah like others said, the black soot and light "rust" on the rotors is normal.
Last time I checked out an X that was at my dealer it had that crap as well.
However it clearly had been sitting for a while, and it still started right up, so it probably just had one of the good batteries.

 

This video is bad quality but it shows car jumping over a speed bump. That is exactly what it felt like when I would go into 4th gear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjIW-...eature=related

 

Rusted rotors is normal. My car spends the majority of the time parked and my rotors always rust over until I drive it. Usually only takes a day or two. Dead battery, no biggie, tar in the exhaust, car runs rich from the factory.

Now the test drive is a completely different story. Keep on shopping around. You'll find another one that's road worthy.

 

Test drive a new X to compare. Never get a used Evo you truly never know nor want to know what the previous owner did. This is the main reason I own a X instead of a IX. Like the others said the odd issues here are the CEL and the settings changing automatically. My car's battery went within 2 weeks of owning it. The dealer said it was b/c the car was a showroom car and random people getting in and out turning on the stereo, lights, etc. They replaced mine under warranty.

 

Well firstly if you have a gut feeling always go with it because if it doesn't go well you will always regret not going with your gut feeling. That being said, the brakes rust faster then my 0-60. The residue on the tips of the mufflers are due in part to the super rich air/fuel mixture that mitsubishi has programmed are car with. The dead battery could possibly be due to the garbage panasonic battery, which is why they now offer red cap optima batteries as replacements. Now for the transmission, if you think driving cars since the 90's tells you how this car should feel in the transmission you are wrongly mistaken. I have been driving manual transmissions since the mid-nineties and I've never driven an evo, the AWD is a completely different animal and is jerky if you don't know what your doing. This all being said I wish you the best of luck finding your car but remember this, this is a poor man's super car. This car can be everything you want it to be but it takes some money and patience.

 

All the things you mentioned sound very normal to me.

Rotors are made of iron and they rust. The battery ran down.. it can be replaced or charged - no problem. Rock chips are normal. Dirty tailpipes are normal - just clean it.

 

If I were you, I'd look around some more... There are way better deals than the one your looking at... If you meet at 27k that's not that good. I got mine right before the 2010's came out and paid 28k for mine. Mine had every option on it along with 12k miles

 

Thank you all for your continuous feedback.

I have considered flying out of state to buy myself an evo. When I priced it out I would like the "transition" to cost less than 780 dollars which is a nominal fee for vehicle transport. I figure 1 way plane ticket +gas and tolls would cost me about the same or less AND I would get my car myself in a timely matter and have full control as to what is happening to it. Obvious challenge of that is that I dont want to fly across half the galaxy to find out that car is not as advertised (ie check engine light is on (no pun intended to this car that I just had a look at)).
In regards to SSS package. I think it would be really worth it to get it if its priced right. On the contrary I could always purchase those separately. Here in florida we do not have that many evo's to choose from and frankly there is only one dealership that has more than 1 evo on the lot in a 300 mile radius from my home.

Going back to the car I just test drove. I can close my eyes on the tar and chipping paint and rotors but I still have no idea what would cause that car to have "drive over the dead body" feel when shifting from 3rd to 4th gear... and contrary to some comments here I highly doubt that it was my shifting because car did not do that between 1st and 2nd and 2nd and 3rd and 4th and 5th. I would like to get to the bottom of that problem because if its something serious I need to keep an eye out for it in the future. In regards to check engine light... it could be anything from something super serious to something like a burned out light bulb in the glove box. Obviously it would be silly to buy a car with check engine light unresolved.

Having gone through the ordeal of getting a very first evo test drive under my belt I am sure that I will be contacted by very same dealer trying to snake his way back into my wallet. This brings me to the next point. Let's say that he calls me on Monday (which is tommorow) and says that his mechanics fixed the check engine light issue... we still have the issue of what is going on between 3rd and 4th gear.

Could it be the clutch? or could it be the an engine mount being broken?

 

I haven't read through the entire thread but are you looking to buy new? If you are IIRC, South Coast is offering free shipping until the end of the month. That is a very good deal considering their already low pricing and how far away you are.

 

Well I set my price at 25K for ideally below 20000 miles vehicle. Obviously the lower the better and the newer the better. I will definitely check that one out. Thank you

 

You need to check out Ocala Mitsubish and talk to Shane Smith. I'm not sure where you are located in Florida, but I bought mine from them and the experience was great. They picked me up at the airport, brought me to the dealership, and the transaction went very smooth. I would definitely recommend them to others, and have already done so.

How much are you planning on putting down on the vehicle?

If I were you, I would try and see if Mitsu has the 0% financing again and buy brand new. You might have to spend an extra $4,000 over a used one that is $25k or so (0% vs. a 5% interest rate), but it is worth it in the long run.

 

Are you talking about new 2008 evo or new 2010 evo?
From what I can gather 0apr seems to come and go and varies dealership by dealership. More importantly every 5000 dollars is like an extra 100/mo to add to the car bill. I would like some breathing room for car modifications and that is why I thought that 25K was a reasonably good price.

Also I live in Tampa area and while there are dealerships in 300-500 mile range it seems that Mitsu dealerships sell them for 29-34K which is a little more than I want to pay.

 

socal had a new 08 ss with aero, navi and some other stuff listed yesterday for 31k so i would keep shopping if looking for used. you could try to find a used one on here and just do bank financing or buy it brand new. atleast on here you can get a idea of how the car has been treated.