Hello, I am new to the site and would like to ask for some guidance with buying an Evo 9.

Mileage is 58xxx, price is $18,500

Mods:
-Megan racing CBE & test pipe w/ HKS downpipe
-K&N cone filter with adapter
-Hallman in-cab MBC at 22PSI
-Synapse Recircualted BOV
-Walboro 255 fuel pump
-AEM Wideband

Owner has stated that he is getting rid of it due to starting school and not having enough money (understandable).

The only thing that I worry about is that the owner states that the car needs a re-tune due to the humidity of the area. He states that the humidity is making the car run extremely rich, which is throwing off the power once the car gets into the boost.

Is this believable? I talked to the owner for a long time and he seems like a nice guy and told me that he checked everything multiple times and that he believes that the car just needs to be re-tuned. He said that he had it tuned in the September when there wasn't as much humidity.

What do you guys think?

If this is indeed valid, I plan on purchasing the car and then taking it to AMS and have them re-tune it for me.

Thanks for your help!

 

I know what car your talking about, and the story didnt make sense to me. But I didnt talk to him and don't know evos that well.

But I can tell you humidity should not mean a big deal on top end, maybe a few hp at most so it would still feel very strong on top unless something is wrong with the car. Maybe he really thinks its the humidity, maybe a tune would be all it needs - in that case I would say tell him to go get it retuned and running perfectly, and you will by it off him and help out with / pay for the tune (since you are willing to pay for a tune anyway). If hes hesitant, then it should be obvious at that point that he doesnt really believe a tune will fix it..

I know where your comin from man, I'm dying to get my *** into an evo! But you can't get too excited and go buy a lemon! Be careful! I already bought one bad car and fought to return it. These cars are **** to buy since so many people try to just get rid of them when they start having problems, lots of underhanded **** going on... I've been looking for a good honest seller with a good CLEAN car with NO problems and no shady sounding crap at a non ridiculous price for a few months.. I'm still looking..

And while I'm at it (*****ing) I am SICK and tired of people selling cars with "simple cheap fixes" .. Ohhh this or that is wrong, should be an easy fix, my loss your gain.. What the **** ever man! If its an easy fix then FIX that friggin sht and THEN sell the car! Probably 9 out of 10 times they know its not an easy fix but they just don't want to deal with it anymore. I just laugh out loud when I see someone saying they have a car that needs a $100 fix, but they dont want to deal with it so they are selling it for $2000 under book value.. haha uhhh ok, so your not willing to spend $100 to make another 2k?? Give me a break.
But I gotta say at least those guys acknowledge there is stuff wrong. Theres also tons of guys selling cars with big issues and they just forget to mention it, hoping you wont notice. Ultimate scumbags.

 

(a general rule of thumb...)

Quoted from a quick search:

"Humidity; Conditions of high humidity cause your engine to run richer and make less power than moderate to dry conditions. The moisture in the air displacing oxygen causes this rich effect from humid conditions. Allowing less air into the engine, requiring less fuel.
- Rain: Is humidity at the next level. During rainy conditions your engine will require leaner jetting because the rain displaces the air. *Always note the ambient temperature. Sometimes cold temperatures during rain sessions can off set oxygen displacement"

So, if the engine is "set" to deliver X amount of fuel, and the ECU or hardware can't compensate ...then at a given RPM/load, you are dumping more fuel into the cylinder than you need ... BUT... that presumes there is either NO EMS compensating for the ambient conditions ... OR the fuel delivery system is hardware based (and/or) not a closed loop fuel management system.

That's about all I can figure out about it. Things get tricky when it comes to re-flashes or EMS after market systems.

If you really like the car, make a deal to split the tuning cost to see if the condition can be remedied. (you could also offer or agree to pay for it if everything checks out like the seller describes). That's how I'd do it. There's always another Evo coming along (at least for a while ;-)

Good luck!

 

Yeah re reading my post I was a bit harsh.. lol..maybe this guys car is fine who knows. Im just getting frustrated cause so many cars have issues for sale, I feel like it shows they are a bad owner if they can't be bothered to get the car fixed before selling it. But thats just my opinion. I keep my cars in tip top shape and can't sleep at night if theres a problem, I would never list a car for sale with problems unless it was an emergency and at that point I would take BIG money off for it. You can't just take the lowest quoted fix price off and sell the car for that...

Anyway I'm sure humidity can affect a tune slightly.. but as I said I've never seen a car that ran great in low humidity and terrible in high humidity, not even 70 year old cars with chinsey carbs were that sensitive.

I would say as a general rule of thumb.. do NOT EVER buy an evo with existing mechanical problems. This gives the seller a method to hide other issues.
"it needs a retune" to me means "the engine is about to blow".. .

"it needs a bearing ($50)" to me means "the trans is about to crap out"

etc etc.. be very skeptical, trust NO ONE..

 

Update. I just got done driving the car and it seems as if there is no power on the top end at all once the car hits boost. the owner seemed real nice and said that there is no power on the top end because the car was tuned in like 60 degree weather with no humidity, and now it is 90+ degrees and humid as hell. so he said that is the reason that it doesn't drive 100% during the day.

Is this to be expected? Also, I told him that I pretty much will not buy the car unless it is tuned and running 100%. I've been screwed over before and am not willing to let that happen again, especially with a car that cost almost $20k.

So hopefully we can come to an agreement to get the car tuned and running %100. He also said that there is no one in his area (Springfield, MO) that can tune the car. the closest place he said is kansas city, MO. Is this right?

One last thing he said that the car was tuned using an over email tune. So maybe he is being honest about it just needing to be tuned correctly by someone in person.

Any comments or suggestions on this?

I am going back to drive the car tonight when it is cooler out and he said that I will see a big difference, so hopefully he is correct.

 

Something is clearly wrong with the car, it has nothing to do with the humidity. Weather wouldnt come into play that much with the car being able to produce power, if its hot out its a little slower, I deal with the weather all the time and get heat soak in the FMIC but nothing crazy like losing top end power or any real difference when hitting boost.

If I were you I would simply pull the plugs and check them out and see what they look like. If they were never changed then it could be something that simple however Im personally wondering why he has a walbro and wideband in the car, usually this is indicitive of having many more mods done to the car that he possibly took off such as a meth kit, the stock fuel pump is fine for running up to 25psi..... Having a wideband is unecessary as well with the mods that are on the car, I had many more mods that that and still didnt have a wideband, not until I ran meth did I get it...

As for having the car retuned many reputable tuners can do this for you via email if you have a laptop and a tactrix cable.

In my honest opinion dont buy it bro, your walking into a nightmare and these cars arent cheap to fix and

Just a thought, did you go to this persons house to see the car?

 

+1 the car is a turd most likely.. how did the test drive in the 'cool' weather go? About the same I'm guessing lol.. .

what does it do on top end? Any sort of misfires or stumbles? Or just doesn't make any power? Any check engine lights?

 

well, i did not go back to drive it. had a bad feeling about it and just went out with the family had some mexican food and some ice cream and went swimming instead.

yes, check engine light was on. i asked him why and he said it is because of wideband.

also, the car seemed to jerk REAL bad when i lightly went to accelerate in 2nd gear. I mean JERK REAL BAD. That is when i had a BAD feeling about the car. The owner said i needed to punch it full throttle so the jerking would go away. WHAT! I never heard of that ever. I used to have a wrx and never had any problem like that.

He was like, whoa, thats the first time i have seen that happen. REALLY?!

Anyway, there was virtually no top end at all once the car got into boost. so yeah, not a good experience. But, the right car will come along at the right time.

Thanks for all your help and I hope to have a better experience with Evo's!

 

Good luck man, wise decision on your part to steer clear of an awesome car that some dumb@ss ruined

 

Just wait on a better deal.

I test drove a 03 evo 8 with some crappy mods and thought the evo was overated. Slow!!!!

Then I found a 06 evo 9 for a good deal with some tasteful modds........ Test drove it and it pulled a train. Under 3k with no boost it drives slower than a civic. Once boost kicks in at 3k rpm better hold on to something. Bought the car on the spot.