Hello everyone,

I've been browsing the site on and off for a while now and I figured I'd introduce myself and say a brief bit about me after seeing this category!

I'm turning 21 soon and I am hoping to convince my parents to match what I pay to get an Evo IX for my birthday. I still remember the first day I saw an Evo as a little kid in BBY and I knew it was the car I wanted to have for as long as it would last. When it comes to cars I know the basics like changing oil, tires, diagnosing minor problems, changing brakes, etc but I've been really wanting to learn the ins and outs of vehicle parts and how they operate.

The Evo for me would be an IX SE with 30,000 miles or less with little to no mods in Black (Preferred), White(2) or Gray(3).

 

good luck finding an evo with 30k miles or less. if you do, they will be well into the 20k+ range. plus, the evo will definitely force you to learn more. almost everything you add to your car for performance will require a tune.

 

in my opinion, it is quite an expensive car to maintain just to make sure it runs perfect all the time. you have to be very nit picky if you own one.

 

I've seen them around every so often, even recently, I just haven't had the funds to buy one yet. I hear in the area of 26k is the price for what I'm looking for.

I've read people change the oil every 3,000 miles and other fluids once a year. Do you think that's necessary or do they do that because that's their personal preference?

 

You listed a number of specifics that, by themselves, are already hard to come across. Unless it was a garaged weekend car, there aren't going to be too many Evo IXs anymore with 30k miles or less, considering it's a 7-8 year old car at this point. That alone already commands a premium. And wanting "little to no mods" is also harder to find. That commands a premium. And specifically wanting a IX SE, which they didn't make a ton of despite being one of the more sought after models, again commands a premium. Combine each of those wants is like finding a needle in a haystack, and if you do find it, it's not going to be cheap, since it's the type of Evo that pretty much everyone in the market for one will want. Supply and demand.

Not that I have any plans to part with it, but I have a bone stock IX SE with just under 69k miles, which is pretty low for being a daily driven car. My local dealership who has generally been selling the most Evos in the country (South Coast Mitsubishi) has mentioned on a number of occasions that if my car were in their used inventory, they could easily find a buyer for it willing to pay $29k, give or take. And that's with more than double the miles that you are hoping for.

Oh, and also, they didn't make the IX SE in white; only in silver, gray and black.

Not for the one that you described (stock/near stock, IX SE, 30k miles or less). Those would potentially fetch a lot more than $26k. If you're willing to giving up one of those things, then $26k is doable. But even two or those three requests are still going to be harder to find.

Some people who daily drive the car may add on a lot of miles (so the fluids will get to the point where it needs to be replaced more quickly than normal), and sometimes it's their personal preference, as they may have been accustomed to the mindset of doing oil changes at every 3,000 miles.

Personally, I follow the "severe" maintenance schedule (oil changes at every 3,750 miles) in the owners manual, rather than the "normal" maintenance schedule (oil changes at every 5,000 miles) also in the owners manual, and then of course every 15k miles, the driveline fluids get changed regardless, though for me, that might be once every year-and-a-half. I wouldn't recommend stretching it any longer than that though. It's not to say that the car will explode if you don't follow the recommended maintenance to a T, but I'd rather not take any risks for the sake of avoiding paying however much for a service, as I plan on keeping my Evo for a very long time and would like for it to be running in its best shape possible. And so far, it's been very trouble-free, and it feels good to take the car in for maintenance with the shop owner telling me how good everything looks.