04 evo worth it?
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
From: Jacksonville,Fl
Insurance is gonna be high prob. Mine is $260.00 month was $140.00. Besides that you got to keep in mind if something goes wrong (which always seems to happen on mine) its gonna cost you a crap ton of money to fix. $14k is a really good deal. U could prob buy and sell a week later for 17k-18k. Thing about VII's is the transfer cases are weak as hell and will surely go out soon if the previous owner hadn't already replaced it. (BIG BUCKS) 
Well since the car is stock except for the clutch, I will assume it was not beat on or launched.
As for the poster saying evo 8 transfer cases are weak, how do you make that assumption. The TC are built to handle a heck of a lot of power and torque. It is the constant abuse of launching or high horse power evos that cause the TC to go bad and need to be rebuilt stronger. Also, the occassional unlucky one that goes bad.
You can tell if the TC is going bad by the noise it makes. It will be a whining sound and sound like a train is behind you as it gets worse. They can be rebuilt, most people go to Shep Trans, for about $1k-2k, I believe.
Test drive the car and check it out. Look for signs that it may have previously been modified though as many people part out and sell it back stock.
As for the poster saying evo 8 transfer cases are weak, how do you make that assumption. The TC are built to handle a heck of a lot of power and torque. It is the constant abuse of launching or high horse power evos that cause the TC to go bad and need to be rebuilt stronger. Also, the occassional unlucky one that goes bad.
You can tell if the TC is going bad by the noise it makes. It will be a whining sound and sound like a train is behind you as it gets worse. They can be rebuilt, most people go to Shep Trans, for about $1k-2k, I believe.
Test drive the car and check it out. Look for signs that it may have previously been modified though as many people part out and sell it back stock.
I was in your same shoes just a month ago and I passed on older, cheaper Evos. Maybe yours is cleaner than ones I saw, but every one quickly gave a sense that it was beaten on and put away wet. I looked at ten VIII's which is why I bought a IX.
I did my homework and I put very high value on ACD, the slightly better interior of the IX, better front fascia, better engine components, etc etc. Beyond all that, I prefer to buy the last Model Year of a generation because most or all of the kinks should be smoothed out by then.
I ended up getting a IX MR SE and, while it was more costly initially, I have absolutely no regrets. Sure, some relatively inexpensive parts could make a cheaper VIII faster, but I value more than just speed in a Daily Driver.
I did my homework and I put very high value on ACD, the slightly better interior of the IX, better front fascia, better engine components, etc etc. Beyond all that, I prefer to buy the last Model Year of a generation because most or all of the kinks should be smoothed out by then.
I ended up getting a IX MR SE and, while it was more costly initially, I have absolutely no regrets. Sure, some relatively inexpensive parts could make a cheaper VIII faster, but I value more than just speed in a Daily Driver.
I would get it I payed 16k for mine and it had like 60k on the odo, stock as well, and if you want a lx you can do the conversion for cheaper than a lx would be ie. seats, bumper, lights(i know thats not everything but a start)
I've also read on here that there is a bit more padding/ soundproofing on the IX interior, as well as some other improvements in interior build quality.
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