Purchasing an EVO 9

[KRyn]

Hi beyond.ca!

I am looking for some insight on purchasing a car from the United States. I have educated my self on the actual process of bringing a car up and it seems very straight forward. However, I am having a rather difficult time finding cars worth importing. Ideally I would like to bring up an EVO 9 SE (as it has all of the options as the MR minus the crappy 6 speed transmission). I have been checking the US autotrader website and occasionally a reasonably priced SE will pop up. Unfortunatley, it seems more than likely I may just end up buying a MR and eventually have a built 5 speed swapped in. Any advice on where to look for cars other than the obvious websites (autotrader, eBay, etc) would be appreciated.

I have contacted a gentlemen by the name of Kieth Duncan out of Lethbridge who specializes in bringing up cars from the US. After exchanging a few emails he has yet to get back to me with any detials. He apparently has a license to a number of dealer auctions. Would it be worth my time to contact someone else who does this for a living? Would the savings be substantial?

TIA!

[hurrdurr]

Dealer Auctions are dangerous as lots of junk comes through and if you get it right through an option it'll normally be a repo since it's newer and therefore probably in bad condition and need some sort of work before travelling the distance back.

Check out Craigslist. I bought my car off a seller from Phoenix there. Also check out the Mitsu Forums.

Don't settle on something you don't want. Take your time and get something you want for the price you're ready to pay.

Good Luck!

[max_boost]

Team_Mclaren imported my NSX for me. I found the car, got in contact with the seller, made sure it wasn't a scam, took care of payment. TM flew down, drove the car back, took care of all paperwork. Good guy to deal with.

The process itself isn't difficult but just requires time. The hardest part is finding the actual car.

[dimi]

Be very very very wary of these cars. It is getting almost impossible to find one that:

1. Hasn't been abused
2. Hasn't been modded out making it completely un-daily drivable
3. Has been properly maintained with all records
4. Has one owner

I was going through this search a month ago, and I'll tell you, you have to be open about what colors/options/packages you want and you have to have cash to jump on a clean one. The good ones sell really fast.

For the record the 6speeds die because of: overheating (tracking the car), abuse(mostly why they fail), very heavy clutches. A few members with proper maintanance have gotten over 200,000kms out of their 6speed. Watch how it drives in 4th gear. Almost always its the gear that goes.

Read the maintanance requirements and understand them well. A lot of people do not understand that these cars require more maintanance than some exotic cars. The lack of maintanance on these cars leads to catastrophic results. For example, having the right amount of gear oil in your transfer case. If you don't, and don't check it often (every few 1000 kms, requires you to take the t-case out to do it properly, its in the manual), you will get the death whine. When you do you have to rebuild it RIGHT AWAY. If you don't the pinion siezes, which destroys your front diff and your centre diff (REALLY EXPENSIVE AND HARD TO FIND). We are talking $10,000+ in damage/labor. Understand that it is almost a requirement to have cash saved up for a new engine/tranny/diffs/tcase or you might be stuck with a car you cannot afford to fix.

Again read up and understand completely what you are getting yourself into or you might be in a world of hurt. Evo 9s have developed a reputation for their absurd performance, but you have to hear the horror stories to really get a feel for what the car is all about. A good place to do that and buy one is EvoM.

Good Luck

EDIT: Also, if something goes wrong, understand that you will be shipping the engine/tcase/diffs/tranny to the states which is a lot of money. There aren't too many people around here that I would trust performing rebuilds on those parts.

[dimi]

Just as a baseline for you I was looking at 2006's listed in the $25-30 range. Almost everything below that priceline had something sketchy about it, damage, too many mods, unclear history. Add approximately 20% to that for the shipping/customs/fees etc, and it gets very expensive.

[dimi]

[KRyn]

Dimi, Evos like that are the reason I want to own one! So beautiful!

Thanks for the advice everyone, can you guys suggest some Evolution based forums I should keep an eye on? I googled for Evo forums with not much luck.

Do you think I can find and import an Evo 9 in good condition for under 30k? That is what I have decided to budget for the entire process. I have decided to buy one of my dream cars before purchasing property haha.

[dimi]

http://forums.evolutionm.net/

http://forums.evolutionm.net/sale-cars-sale-134/

Originally posted by KRyn
Do you think I can find and import an Evo 9 in good condition for under 30k?

It'll be hard. With the current exchng rates that essentially limits you to US $25 and under. I'm not trying to discourage you but if you could save a few thousand more, it'll allow you to target the high end specimens.

Oh and don't fool yourself this car will delay your home ownership by some time.

[reiRei]

I bid you good luck trying to find an Evo IX in un-raped condition. I too am on the hunt (but I won't be purchasing one for another few years yet), I've been keeping an eye on the value of the car and it doesn't seem to be going down quickly.

I would save up and take the time to really look for one, or have the money put away to be able to jump on a good deal if one could be found.

but yes, Evo IX... do want.

[Gibson]

Originally posted by dimi
Be very very very wary of these cars. It is getting almost impossible to find one that:

1. Hasn't been abused
2. Hasn't been modded out making it completely un-daily drivable
3. Has been properly maintained with all records
4. Has one owner

You seem to know a lot about Evos...I've been toying with the idea of picking up a JDM I-III, are there any big issues with them that a potential buyer should know about beforehand?

[Sorath]

I love evo 9's when i was looking at sti's and evo8/9's back then i really wish i spent the extra money for an evo instead of an sti. If i remember correctly there was a dealership in south cali that had the biggest stock of evos that were unmolested and unmodded. thats probably your best bet if you want a minty one.

[KRyn]

Originally posted by Sorath
I love evo 9's when i was looking at sti's and evo8/9's back then i really wish i spent the extra money for an evo instead of an sti. If i remember correctly there was a dealership in south cali that had the biggest stock of evos that were unmolested and unmodded. thats probably your best bet if you want a minty one.

Anyway you can remeber / find out which dealership this is for me? Would be greatly appreciated!

[Sorath]

pretty sure it was south coast or south beach. this was also 4 years ago. so im not sure what their inventory on evos are

[V6-BoI]

Good luck finding an EVO 9. Those cars are beautiful

EDIT: Whoops, my bad. I thought evoxforums.com has an EVO 9 section too, but I was thinking of evolutionm.net which has already been mentioned.

[Disoblige]

http://www.southcoastmitsubishi.com/...101ba8e91f.htm

Saw one if this is the same place referred to.

[KRyn]

Just checked the southcoastmitsubishi.com website and sent them and email. They have a cool function you can use to get emails on certain makes / models when they arrive at their dealership. Thanks for the heads up.

[rampagesauce]

I used to own a 2004 evo 8. paid 26K for it locally.

i'll never do that again.

go onto the forums that were listed above, you can pick one up anywhere from 12-23k. most of which are going for around 17k.

yes its gonna be drivin like its supposed too, but its worth it, BUT if you insist on paying 25+ thousand dollars, then just buy it new. i know their are still some kickin around that just plain and simple havnt been bought off the lot yet. I was looking into a 2006 IX MR as well and it was going for 33k, apparently mint.

search on evolutionm.net and save a ton of money.

[rampagesauce]

so did some lookin around. to no surprise i cant find any new ones anymore.

on that site, theres a few IX's going for cheap.
WW low mods for 20k
TB high mods for 18k
GG low mods for 18k
you get the picture. the biggest thing you can do with the evo the second you buy one, is replace the clutch assuming its still stock. dont know why but mitsubishi seriously pinched some pennies when it came to their clutch.

[dimi]

Originally posted by rampagesauce
I used to own a 2005 evo 8. paid 26K for it locally.

i'll never do that again.

go onto the forums that were listed above, you can pick one up anywhere from 12-23k. most of which are going for around 17k.

yes its gonna be drivin like its supposed too, but its worth it, BUT if you insist on paying 25+ thousand dollars, then just buy it new. i know their are still some kickin around that just plain and simple havnt been bought off the lot yet. I was looking into a 2006 IX MR as well and it was going for 33k, apparently mint.

search on evolutionm.net and save a ton of money.

First of all, 17k won't cut it. There was an evo 9 mr that sold a month ago for $18 but it was a SALVAGE. That's the cheapest I've seen for a 9. Clean titles usually start @ 20+ EDIT: of course low kms, < 100,000 kms

Second, buy it new? Link please. There was a dealer that had 4 evo 9s in storage for 4 years and was selling them during 2010-2011. You know how much they were asking? 50 grand. All of them sold. Nobody is stupid enough to sell you a brand new one for the sticker, if you can even find one. I mean a new one 6 years after they started selling is a bit of stretch.

Evo 9s are quite rare as there was only 1 year of production, there is a very high demand, so you aren't going to be saving any money. In fact I would recommend you spend more money, and get a good example. The value won't go down, I can gurantee you that. 9s are seen as one of the best evos produced (apart from Evo 6 TME). There will always be a market for the car if you keep it relatively stock, have all documentation, don't abuse it, dont crash it.

[dimi]

Here is one I would consider. Obviously RS spec so forget about comfort.

http://forums.evolutionm.net/sale-ca...-rs-ww-nj.html