Hey, right now I am being offered for a 2004 Evo VIII for $17000 w/ 60,000k Miles, found in the area. He stated that it has some light mods, so I went ahead and emailed him asking what he had done to the car anyways it has

"it its clean with defi gauges in smooth panel($800) and a greddy electronic info display on the steering column($300) clean seats etc. intercooler, intake, bov, clutch & lightened flywheel, ecu reflash, brakes rotors & stainless lines etc, full exhaust from turbo back, rsr springs the list goes on you must see to really appreciate. So for $17000 or best offer its a steal and I was a mechanic for the time I have owned it and all fluids were mitsubishi and oil always mobil one."

Should I stay away?

 

me personally, I dont like buying modded cars but its hard to find a bone stock used evo. Go see it in person and test drive it. Then make your decision.

 

get the car on a lift to see if it has any structural damage, check all the paint and bolts holding on fenders and doors and those kind of things to see if the car has been crashed, sometimes buying a modded one can save u money but only if the car has not been beat to death. when i bought mine i waited longer just to fined a evo that the motor was UNTOUCHED. onlything on mine was a catback when i bought it, but if its clean and checks out i dont see why not

 

I wanted to find a stock one too, but realized I was gonna mod it anyway so it saved me some time/money/effort.
Just make sure its all done right. look everything over with a fine tooth comb.
I only found a few little things with mine that annoyed me with how it was done after I started working on it. But not much to be honest

 

I would go ahead and take it for a spin, inspect it. people say they dont like to buy moded evo's well, anyone can put the car back to stock, it all depends how someone took care of it, if he autox'/road racing like crazy/ If he did regular oil changes and did not beat the crap out of it, you'l be fine. plus you will be ahead with parts, like clutch and gauges etc. good stuff.... just take it for a spin, lift the car from one side and check for oil leaks, rear/front diff, around oil pan, usualy thats the spot where your main seal goes or blown head-gasket. good luck man.

 

I agree, test drive it. You can also do a visual inspection looking for impact damage during the test drive. If the car has been taken care of you can tell when you drive it. You can also run the VIN to see if it has been in an accident. Also find out if timing belt is needing to be replaced. If yes, knock down your offer.

 

Alright guys, thanks for the help! I'll probably bring my mechanic friend along to help inspect it. Hope to be a part of this evo community soon!