I'm about to go out and buy a used Evo 9 probably looking to go private party. I'm pretty go at looking at the body of the car and knowing if its been in an accident or not but need some help in what to look for mechanically. I'm worried bout buying one with tranny, engine, or transfer case problems. Is there any signs I should look for?

 

Try and buy a standard car with intact warrenty would be my advice, this is the reason I bought mine new rather than used. This way I know it hasn't been to the track, launched or drag raced every weekend, and if it blows up I can just take it back to the dealer and they will fix it.

There are a few things to look at on a car to see if its been in an accident - overspray on door seals or around the windscreen, lift the carpet up in the boot and look at the panels, are they rippled or misalligned? Look for paint where there shouldn't be paint (many cars will have primer on the back of panels in areas you don't see), look underneath the car for parts that are cleaner than the parts around them. Do the doors shut properly? check the panel gaps, they shouls all be nice and even all the way around. Check tire wear, it should be even across the tread on all tires, uneven wear could indicate the car has been in an accident and is misaligned or the chassis has been damaged and badly repaired. On Evos specifically on the front wings and slam panel Mitsubishi put a decal with the chassis number on it like this:



If one of these is missing or different from the rest then the car has most likely been in an accident. Also they put red paint on most of the bolts (well they have on my 9, YMMV) like this:





Probably as a tell tale on modded cars if a warrenty claim is made. If this is missing then it may indicate that parts have been replaced or the car has been modded and returned to stock (with potential implications for the warrenty).

My car (shown in the above pictures) is for sale at the moment in the For Sale section HERE. Send me a PM if you're intrested.


Regards,
Andy

 

Try to find out their EvoM screen name, then read their posts. That would be one of the easiest ways to find out it's history. But , since there are still new ones to be sold, you may want to reconsider.

 

Bring a mechanic with you for the inspection.

 

Or take the car to a mechanic and have them take a look at it.

 

pay a mechanic and do a leak down and compression test on the motor..... u could also take the car to mitsubishi and have them do a used car inspection. my .02

 

Look for one that has not been modded and if it has, still has the modded parts on... I bought my first evo on ebay and it was perfect with some really nice mods. bought it for 23k sold it for 26500