Hey everyone, my name is John, I'm a regular over on some Volvo forums as I drive an S80 T6. I am venturing over here to hopefully have you guys help me help a friend. My friend is looking into a 2003 Lancer ES, for what is right in his price range.

What are things that should be inspected before purchase (specific to the car)?
What are things that normally wear out or are prone to premature failure or failure specific to this vehicle?
How many miles would one expect to be able to put on the car before it is toast? (assuming regular maintenance)
How much power can these handle before weak links become visible? mostly bolt-ons, maybe an ECU flash, etc, nothing internals wise and nothing forced induction.
What kind of visual modifications are there for the car? Are a lot of the Evo and Ralliart parts interchangeable body wise and interior wise?
How is the suspension? Is it likely to bottom out going over a drainage hump in the road? Is it naturally soft/hard, strong/weak? etc. And or is there an affordable upgrade to the stock suspension?

He ran a VIN Check through Carfax and it came up clean, no accidents, no outstanding recalls etc, looks like a clean Carfax.


Here's some info on the car copied from the Dealers website

Vehicle 2003 Mitsubishi LANCER ES
Bodystyle 4 Dr Sedan
Exterior Color Coronado Sand
Interior Color Tan
Mileage 43,981 Miles
Engine 2.0 liter 4 Cyl. SOHC
Transmission Automatic
Warranty Yes
VIN # JA3AJ26E43U089373

I hope to hear some helpful information from all you guys and find out all I need to to help my buddy out in searching for a car. Thanks!
-John

Pictures (because if evolutionm works anything like any other forum I'm on, I know they will be asked for)

 

[QUOTE=JVC;5528400]Hey everyone, my name is John, I'm a regular over on some Volvo forums as I drive an S80 T6. I am venturing over here to hopefully have you guys help me help a friend. My friend is looking into a 2003 Lancer ES, for what is right in his price range.

What are things that should be inspected before purchase (specific to the car)?
What are things that normally wear out or are prone to premature failure or failure specific to this vehicle?
How many miles would one expect to be able to put on the car before it is toast? (assuming regular maintenance)
How much power can these handle before weak links become visible? mostly bolt-ons, maybe an ECU flash, etc, nothing internals wise and nothing forced induction.
What kind of visual modifications are there for the car? Are a lot of the Evo and Ralliart parts interchangeable body wise and interior wise?
How is the suspension? Is it likely to bottom out going over a drainage hump in the road? Is it naturally soft/hard, strong/weak? etc. And or is there an affordable upgrade to the stock suspension?[QUOTE=JVC;5528400]



Wow I am suprised no one has responded to this yet I am not the most knowlegable person but I will share what I know...

As far as what to look for these cars are fairly simple a basic knowledge of cars should help eg. weird sounds coming from engine bay,leaking fluids, hard shifts, sqeaky rattly suspension... things that wear out quickly? the climate controls... the knobs get jammed.
How many miles? these are decently reliable cars if you are nice to them they are nice to you.
Bolt ons? you cant make lots of power off bolt ons (beside turbo kit)
visual mods? yea there is lots , interchangability between ra and evo? most of interior and some other parts (but not the cool s**t eg. motor and mechanical)
There is some great suspension upgrades available but stock suspension = suck

That being said do not buy if you want to make easy power cheap, however I love my lancer , I wouldnt buy that one because the interior is the tan color with wood grain fake classy look, plus I like a manual trans.But if these are things you want or can live with then there is also a good FAQ at the top of the page ^^^

 

its a great car for what its meant to be - a cheap, reliable DD. like he said, if its taken care of they will last ages.


i wouldnt get into one expecting to make it fast though.

 

the first 5 lug lancer ever, SWEET

 

I would suggest you read the FAQ in my sig regarding power mods and interchangeable parts.

 

i will buy and evo.........................................not that, good luck my friend

 

It's for my friend, he likes it as a simple car, he might do some simple mods, not expecting any serious power, probably more so visual mods (sorta ricery I know but it's not my style either).

Thanks for the help guys and I'll report what I have found out to him about this car, he likes it, I'm not here to say no to his decisions I'm just trying to help him out because I peruse more forums than he does.

Thanks
-John

 

its a pretty good DD and gets some good mpg.
better than some of other cars that my friends use.

 

All the panels look stock and unmoved. Ont thing, that muffler tip doesn't look centered; new muffler under there? or missing/broken rubber mounts?

 

first thing i check is ....manual