Hey there i was looking into getting a 2003 evo 8 with 54,000 miles on it and was wondering what are any major problems for this year of evo? The car (from what i can see) has an exhaust, intake, Aftermarket BOV, gauge, and a hu. I heard that the trannies are poorly built on these cars which is kinda turning me away from them.. can i get any info to back this up?

Thanks for the input.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Use the search feature... There are many threads about this.

The most common problem with 03's is the clutch, though.

 

Your biggest problem will not be whats wrong with 2003 Evos in general, but whats wrong with yours in particular... Who knows what the previous owners did in the last 5 years to it !
This is one of the easiest cars to mess up if you're not careful, and race from light to light... and in 5 years and over a span of 54k miles, your guess is as good as mine

 

The problem with the evo8 is the search button. Try it sometime, you might find the answers.

 

BOV would be the deal breaker for me, anyone that knew what they were doing would never put one on the stock turbo setup. If they had no clue about that, who knows what else there were a bad owner about...

The transmission is pretty strong, the clutch is not the strongest item in stock form.

See if you can find an Evo owner in the area to go take a look at it with. The milege wouldnt scare me, a young owner who beat the crap out of the car would.

I disagree, these are very tough cars in comparison to exotics that they match the performance of. The clutch was designed to be the fuse of the drive train, its supposed to give before something can happen to the transmission, etc. After that, if you keep the proper fluids in the right places, the drivetrain should be trouble-free. Besides that, I think AMS as well as other tuners have proven how stout the engine is,

But yes, just like any other high performance car, in the wrong hands it will fall apart.

 

it would behoove you to conduct a few searches first

there are a bunch of threads dedicated to issues with earlier year USDM evos

 

I would say the worst thing about the 03's are the plastic DV. Other than that they are just as good as any other year Evo.

Find a car someone took care of, not abused. Thats the best advise I can give you.

 

LOL. funniest "reminder" to search in a while :]

 

BOV = Moron as stated earlier.

Evo never came in pacific blue, only Blue By You for 03-04 and Electric Blue from 05 on. Also, all Evos came with Recaro seats and Brembo brakes.

 

there are alot of members on the board that have drivability issues with the hks ssqv, so youll have to change that out. as for the second evo you are looking at all evo's in the US should have brembo brakes and recaro interiors, it comes like that stock from mitsu.

 

Find one with low miles and stock form.You dont know what you are getting in to with a high miles evo.

 

Sorry i didnt search guys. I know i shouldve. But i was just looking for quick answers. I do apologize for another thread about this.

But thanks for all the info. Good to know that the clutch will most likely need to be replaced.

From what i could see in the pictures.. the BOV looks like a HKS SSQV. and im pretty sure that the intake is HKS also. Any input on these particular items?

Thanks again.

Also, there is another 03 evo for sale by a private seller for 20999 with just below 60,000 miles on it. Its a "rare" color of Pacific Blue. On it are BS wheels and Brembo Brakes with a recaro interior. Also has aftermarket spring and exhaust. The owner didnt specify the type. What do you guys think of this car?

 

Have a shop experienced with EVO's do a leak down test on the motor. You'll end up paying around $100.00 for it, but it's much better than buying it with a trashed motor. You shouldn't see more than 12% leak down per cylinder with that mileage. Next check the oil to see how dirty it is. If it's texas tea black, then you have a neglent owner. If it's darkish tan it's decent. Next check the coolant with it cold. If it's not right up to the top you might have a blown head gasket. Start it up with the cap off. let it idle with the cap off till it reaches operating tempature. If you see massive air bubbles you might have a head gasket issue. If it looks like turbulant water without bubbles you should be OK. An EVO with those miles should have the tranny refreshed to be safe, even if it shifts fine. Expect to spend around $1500.00 to $3000.00 for that. If all is good, then you should have a decent EVO. Sure there are other things to check such as tracking as you drive down the road, breaks, ect. The items I listed are the major high dollar items.

Good Luck.

 

I would be very careful buying a high milage Evo, although some of us treat the car right many don't and ya never know you could have a ticking time bomb. How old is the person selling it?

 

Pacific blue is the color code name for Blue by You SO ITS THE SAME THING.