I would lean more towards buying a Evo with minor bolt ons and start from there. Do all the mods your self so you knows whats on the car. I would only buy a fully built Evo if i knew the person or someone knew the person, or if the car went through a performance shop that they knew what they were doing. I would be careful cuz you never know what you can run into.

 

i think it all comes down to what your final goal for the car is. If you want the fastest car as quick as possible and as cheap as possible, but aren't too worried about it's reliability, then get one heavily modded. If you aren't worried about spending money on mods and are interested in learning about the car and watching it develop, well then find one as close to stock as possible.

 

I bought the car to save money . I thought the car was well worth the buy for 26k .. Guy was 42 years old and owned a shop. Just make sure you do your homework thats all. Motor spun a bearing after 8 months of abuse. Car ran 11.4 27psi on 93oct on the original tires. Which i thought was good for my first pass ever in a Evo. Now i have the car taken apart and building a 2.1 motor with Strictly Modified ... doing a huge build right now and cant wait for this summer. looking for some big numbers .

 

wait.... so didnt you say before you have had NO problems with the car?

 

If I had to do it over again I'd buy a used 500whp+ evo any day, so much cheaper then doing it yourself. Just take it to a shop and check everything before you buy it, anything wrong just haggle the price then. GL

 

alright so let me ask another question...and i appreciate everyone being nice and helpful its awesome. So if i find one that has its fair share of mods and has had them on it for a little while and they neever tuned is it worth buying? I guess i should say has the damage already been done or can you fix it? Idk ive heard alot of stuff about that.

 

Modded is the way to go. Save your money in the long run. If it is done right it is good. If you have any bad feeling about it walk away.

 

basically the answers your getting are good. Here is my take on it.

Good

Will save Tons Tons of money. Average fully built evo cost is 17k-25k if done right thats on top of cars price (ex 22k(car)+25K(mods,labor)

Will not have to pay for install cost

Should have a beast tune already

Already done dont have to spend anymore money. Will have it all financed

can focus on exterior looks and interior



Bad

Car could be run down to the ground

Could have more problems now(bad TC bad tranny busted turbo Bent Valves)

Could have a about to blow motor

If something breaks unless you get a detailed list will not know whats in the car

Could end up costing you MORE MONEY TO FIX ISSUES COMPLETELY RATHER THEN IT WOULD HAVE IF YOU BUILT IT FROM STOCK

The only way i would buy a built evo is if it have light mods as in

ported hotside
o2 housing
3" TBE
Manifold change
guages

other options i would tell you to consider is getting one with a built motor already that will save you 5k-7k plus labor later. there are lots of people that have built motors with barely no mods to the car. so if anything buying a built car with a built motor is a good thing long as its respectible build

 

yea your right there was no issues . The oil pump stopped working on the highway while i was cruzing but the motor had about 10,000 beaten miles on it . Car was all was on high boost for 93oct. i DD the car all summer long and beaten on it every chance i had . I take the blame for spun bearing.. You can never tell how long a built motor will last depends on driver... alot of things.

 

I would say no...buy the car stock and put your own mods into it yourself...it's more rewarding and you'll have all the brands and exact parts you want on it...it's a safer way to go anyway I wouldn't trust a modded car, people work them

 

Obviously the more bolt-ons that you already were thinking about buying would save you money, you can always do some extra test, like doing a compression test on the engine, the testers for this really dont cost that much.