I was looking at the "Im new to a evo" thread and it had a little about what to look for when buying a evo. It DIDNT however say any particular problem areas for the evo VIIIs.
I have heard that they have very poor transfer cases and they tend to be a weak point. Please correct me if im wrong.

Any other problem areas/weak points?

Looks like an awesome forum with a bunch of information.

 

T/C is only weak if you beat the hell out of it. I have 85K on mine and have had ZERO issues with it. Only routine maintenance. I did have the clutch replaced at around 83K though. Other than that no problems with the drive train or anything else for that matter. It's still as quiet inside as the day I bought it new!

That is amazing in itself as I had a heck of an off track event once. Nothing but many from me!

 

The MR's have the weak T-Case and that is with a 8 or a 9. Other than that I would not buy one that is already moded unless the work was done by a shop with a good rep. Also do a boost leak test and a compresson test .

 

Im sure a lot of other people will chime in here, but the truth is the evo 8-9 is an extremely reliable vehicle. I am not aware of any problems that commonly arise from normal daily driving use. Most problems come up when the car is modified heavily, raced, or someone drives it like a donkey, and i think that would happen with any car.

The maintenance schedule is somewhat strict, 60k timing belt, new plugs and drive train fluids every 20k give or take, and oil changes every 2500-3500 miles. Ive really enjoyed how much Ive learned to do on my own car though because of the maint schedule.

If youre buying a used evo, like others have said, look for one that is stock, or has very basic bolt ons (turbo back exhaust, intake, dyno tune, inter cooler piping and maybe cams). Beyond that can test the reliability of the drive train components.

Also if you are buying one off of here, look at some of the sellers other posts. It is very common for someone to sell off their parts and make their car look stock to the untrained eye.

all in all, EVOS ARE AWESOME YOU SHOULD GET ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I have yet to change my plugs at 50k miles and they still look great and no problems with them.

 

No problems except for warping rotors under high speed stopping.
Rear wing clear peels.

That's about it..At about 120K you will prob. change both front wheel bearings

 

+1 on clear peeling and brembos clear looks like crap

Have to redo my clear when weather gets nice..

 

Main problems i had with mine is clear coat on brembos, wing peeling off, and warped front rotors. Need to do more maitenance than the normal car. High fuel consumption. Other than that it's reliable and a hell of a fun car to drive.

 

wow... you guys seriously just made me smile!

i am so excited to pick one up. only problem is i KNOW i need to be slow and find the one i really want. ideally it would be a black gsr VIII around 50k all original and i would like a one owner. all for around 17k

its amazing to me that mitsu made such a performance oriented car that is still reliable with just regular maintenance.

IM STOKED

 

The temperature knob broke on mine. That was about it.

 

When I bought mine, I just made sure that it had the basic mods like intake, exhaust, and nice set of rims. Only prob I had was a starter going out and like everyone else clearcoat on brembos. Wing still has clearcoat on and its an 03. Just treat it nicley and it'll be good to you. Enjoy.

 

I agree with everyone here. Just bought my EVO 8 used about 8 months ago and haven't had any major problems. Clearcoat on the spoiler coming off but that seems to be a trend with CF anything. I think I have a BOV leak now that I replaced that ugly intake box (I can hear it now...I am sure it was pre-exsisting)...anyone got a BOV for cheap?

 

You're in the same boat as me man, lol just got to find it. You will come across some pretty tempting evo's but wait it out and be patient until you find the one you can't live without. Its a hard process lol...

 

Agreed with everyone else... major issues (not even really major) is the clear coat peeling on both the wing and brake calipers. The heater control knob is another issue, although there should be a TSB on that and should be fixed for free by the dealer (I could be wrong about that).

On the T/C note, I think the VIII is more reliable than the IX in that we don't have the ACD, a lot of people have problems with the pumps going bad.

I have 65k on my car, stock clutch still holding fine, bolt-ons + cams. Runs fine...

 

love my VIII only issues i've had with mine has been the clear on the rear spoiler clear on the brembo and a bad injector but that's the norm with these cars I wouldn't trade mine for anything in the world except a newer one with less miles...maybe... sorry I love mine too much!