Okay, so I've been away for a long time since I was a brat and sold my OZ. I'm strongly considering picking up a used 02-06 Lancer once I offload the Explorer. Since we no doubt have folks celebrating their 10-year anniversaries, I figure I'll ask. What should I especially be aware of looking for when getting used Lancers?
Thanks to anyone who can give me quick and easy advice!

PS - before anyone says "Search n00b" and gets banned (just kidding!), I'm just hoping for a basic "here's what I've noticed over the years" type of answer.

 

I've run into the problem of trusting the one who is selling you the car. Second guess everything they say and definitely do a carfax(If I needed to even say that). Hope I helped, it would of helped me lol.

 

Thanks. Good to be aware of.

In a perfect world, I'd like to find one with like 65k and the owner has documentation proving they did the 60k service (timing belt change, water pump, etc.). But I doubt that will happen.

 

Was gonna say the same thing^ 60k maintenance is big. on that same note, be sure to check belts for cracks and wear.

Honestly, many people on this forum have 100k+ miles on their cars with very few problems. If you can find somebody selling a stock car (preferably somebody older who will not have pushed the car as hard as a kid), then you shouldn't have too much to worry about.

That said, I've heard more horror stories from cars bought from dealerships so I'd recommend buying from an individual if possible

Good luck! (and go for an 02/03 model if you ask me )

edit: 1000 posts, go me

 

while the car is running open the overflow tank to the radiator and see if you notice it bubbling, if so its got a blown headgasket,,,,happened to me thats life got a new motor now.

 

Damn sheep. Its been a long time! No problems to report here really. Pushing 150k...

 

Thanks to all. Yeah, I'm looking for an 02-03, but if I can find an 04-06 for the right price, I'd go for it.
Good tips on things to look for. I appreciate it.

Just bought a house, so I probably won't buy the car for a month or so. I guess I can live with the wait.

 

I have a friend who bought an 03 new at the end of 02 and has since put on over 170,000 miles. He has the basic bolt-ons and drives the car pretty hard. The only thing that had broken on him was the knob to the A/C. One thing to note is that my friend closely followed all recommended maintenance and services.

Overall, if you take care of the car, it should last.

 

i bought my car in 2007 from a mitsu dealer in el cajon,ca 03 oz, one owner car, well maintained and had 40k miles... now it has 76k on the odo and runs just fine.... you can get a nice used car from a dealer, u just have to look over everything and test drive it or what i did is i had my younger brother test drive it one day and i went back next day and drove it both agreed it was a nice replacement for my busted ford a-- probe gt lol

 

Totally agree. My main concern is that I'll be buying a car and hoping someone else took good care of it. And that's especially scary because the last old used car I bought (2001 Subaru 2.5rs purchased with 93k) was basically falling apart bit by bit during the couple years I suffered through ownership...

Also, while you can find some low-mileage 02-03 models, most of the ones I'm seeing have 120k on them. That's a LOT of miles for me to just trust the seller treated it well.

It will be a hunt, no doubt. But I'm looking forward to being back in a Lancer.

 

Haven't seen you for a while (probably don't remember me tho LOL) Also check the top of the radiator too see if theres coolant on top. My OEM one some how started to leak on top.

 

Good to know, thank you!

 

Search n00b! just kidding

First thing I would do is get a tactrix cable and check the ECU,
then if I'm really serious I'd get an oil sample and send it out to a lab.

 

I could be that serious, but I don't have the cash for that.

Tactrix cable for what? Dumb it down for us old people, sonny.

 

I think he is recommending that you get a tactrix cable to check the ecu for possible modification.

If you end up purchasing through a private seller, I don't think it is unreasonable to ask them to produce as much history of maintenance as they possibly can (any kind of invoice, receipts etc...). Also, a carfax report is definately a good idea.