yarik83

If I am posting this in the wrong thread please let me know.

Today I went to Gator Ford to have a look see at closest rally red evo to my home. I was not planning to purchase a car from them today but I was certainly there to check out the car, feel it and figure it out for my own. So I pull up in my daily driver and I am greeted by one of their sales people. He takes me to the car which was sitting next to a garage. I figured ok.. maybe they put it there to check it out and what not. After doing a visual inspection of the car I noticed paint chips (but I was expecting that) and of course I was paying more attention to tiny details that I jotted down earlier on a piece of paper so I would not forget.

#1 thing that caught my eye right off the bat was all 4 rotors had rust on them. Assuming this car came from Florida and we did not have snow nor cold weather since I guess september... I was quite surprised. Dealer, of course said that it is because car has been sitting for a couple of days. Err... That should have been my first red flag since in my 11 years of tinkering with cars and leaving project cars sit in crappy New Jersey weather... never once have I seen rusted rotors... but whatever.
#2 Car did not start, did not click.. nothing. So he takes me back to their main hall and runs off to get one of his mechanics jump start the car. Made me feel kind of... why would a car that has been driven to the dealership lot last week have a completely dead battery?
#3 He pulls up in the evo and first thing that I noticed was that both exhaust pipes had greasy tar like thing at the tip of each muffler. I took a notice to that and got into the car.
#4 Of course check engine light was on and dealer tried to brush it off like it was no big deal and that his mechanics will check it out. By that point I snapped back to reality and reminded myself that I was only on a reconnaissance mission to see what the red rally colored evo looked like.
#5 We take it on a highway and of course 3rd gear felt kind of notchy but after reading these forums I was expecting that. What I did not expect was car jerking every time I went into 4th gear. First time I thought that I drove over a dead body as my rear end literally lifted off the very comfortable seat. It happened a few times after that and dealer's heart sank as he knew there was no chance in hell that this car would be sold (even potentially) today.

When I got home I started searching these forums and googling the heck out of internet and I cant seem to associate the jerky jumpy drive over dead body feel. I think it might have broken engine mounts or a bad transmission or maybe a broken driveshaft?

My next excursion to a dealer lot is planned in January and to a different dealer to check out a blue evo.

For time being I would very much like to find out what was caused the problem that I was experiencing?

Thank you for your input.

scumrat

iTrader: (1)

Well i know i test drove one, it was NOT impressive at all! the handling was really nice and it felt even more controllable then my 9, but the shifting and power was really bad. Also, the one i drove was at a mitsu dealer and it didnt turn over first try either. I thought that was unusual. Same thing with the cel, i was driving it and it felt like the clutch slipped but super gnarly once, i know it was not the clutch but just to give you an idea of what it felt like then guess what?? CEL came on. kind of fishy almost identical situations

mmartahus

iTrader: (4)

were you shifting right

yarik83

I have been driving stick shift cars since 1990 and I would like to believe I know how to shift. I think.

Also to add to my above post:

I noticed that while riding it tried to switch me from tarmac to snow a few times right as I was going 60 miles/hr on a highway. Could that be related to check engine light?

boostin20

LOL


Sounds like that wasn't the evo for you. The search continues. On the rotors rusting thing, by the time I finish washing my car, the rotors have a coat of orange, so I wouldn't hold so much weight on that. Obviously, there were some other issues going on as well.

yarik83

One more oddity that I just thought of.

On all evo pictures if you look on the left hand side of the steering wheel there is a switch to switch it from tarmac to gravel to snow... on this evo switch was not there. Actual button was where hand brake was. Were all evo's not created equal?

This one had 4 buttons there:
http://www.gatorford.com/Preowned-In...oryId=30716965

while other evos that I see have a toggle switch thingy like so:
http://autos.yahoo.com/used-cars/mit...00&picstart=10

macPSU

iTrader: (7)

#1: like boostin said, there's always a buildup of orange when you wash the car or water hits the rotors and it sits for a while, so that's likely the case here.

#2: if it has the Panasonic battery, they've been known to prematurely crap out and are replaced under warranty with Optima Red Tops.

#3: these cars run super rich from the factory and carbon buildup on the exhaust tips is common. I could be wrong, but I'd assume that's what this was.

As for the others, there's clearly something wrong. CEL and random switching of AWC modes are certainly a red flag.

MY08GSRX

iTrader: (1)

Evo X clutching and shifting is much different from the 2 wheel front drives (or rear wheel drive). If you keep on doing the way you're doing on your regular M/T cars then you'll burn the evo x clutch quickly.

CEL is not related to switching TARMAC to SNOW. rally drivers are switching this button abruptly at high speeds. this only for differential torque distribution. Evo X is not as sensitive as you think it would be.

MY08GSRX

iTrader: (1)

to the OP:

i guess they let test a bad car.... try a different dealer instead.

mlomker

iTrader: (1)

The location of the switch depends on the car & options. I assume you test drove a GSR but you didn't say what year. I'm assuming a left-over 2008 since I can't imagine how a 2010 would have battery issues already.

The 2008 GSRs have the switch on the left side of the steering wheel. On the 2008 MR the stereo controls are in that location and the control near the hand brake. There's a how-to for putting stereo controls on the steering wheel and relocating the button on GSRs...I've done that as have quite a few people.

I think the 2010 GSRs put it there by default...Mitsu must have realized that they were wrong on that one.

As far as your shifting issue...I've never had an issue with 4th. There are some issues with the stock tune that go away as soon as you retune the car (spewing black stuff being one of them). I have a lingering bucking issue in 5th gear when accelerating from 2500-3000 rpm but I think that's related to the boost spike that occurs there in combination with the high gear.

In short, you should find somebody local with a TUNED car and take that for a spin. You might find this hard to believe but the first time I drove an Evo was after I bought it. I knew I was going to mod it as soon as I got it home...

foxracingx25

iTrader: (1)

the guy who owned the car installed a bluetooth/radio control system on the steering wheel doing so had to relocate the switch down by the E-brake

JaxRRevoX

iTrader: (1)

x2, plus ive never had the 4th gear issue you experienced....

macPSU

iTrader: (7)

For 2008 models, the MR has the AWC switch near the handbrake, and the bluetooth/volume controls are on the steering wheel. The GSR has the switch on the steering wheel.

For 2010, if I'm not mistaken, both models now have the switch located near the handbrake.

If this was a used 2008 that you test drove, the previous owner probably relocated the switch to near the handbrake, which is likely the reason the switch is fubar.

foxracingx25

iTrader: (1)

ya the 2010's are like that but all models come with the bluetooth and radio controles now

Clark_Kent

iTrader: (5)

You test drove a used car and are complaining? Buying a used performance vehicle is never a good idea...you should know the rules. One glance at the trunk should have told you that this car was most likely modified. At this point, any imperfections or out of the ordinary discoveries should be welcomed. With a used car...you get what you get. On another note, you didn't do enough research. If you did, you would know that the vehicle may or may not have had a dealer reflash causing potential instability in RPMs, jerking, loss of power, etc, 2) the battery issue (as mentioned by macPSU) from earlier assembled models, the 3) the black "tar/grease" on the tips of the exhaust are a by product of number 1. 4) shifter notchiness is normal on certain Evo Xs 5) the paint chipping is normal as well. 6) You've never seen surface rust on rotors before? I know sales folk are typically dumb but the salesman was absolutely correct. If a vehicle sits outside for even a few days without being driven and the rotors get wet....there will be surface rust. I've had 3 brand new cars in the last 5 years and they ALL had rust or oxidation on the rotors from time to time.