Looking to buy Evo IV, Need Advice
 

Hey,

I'm looking to buy an Evo IV, and I cant seem to find any good information online anywhere if its worth investing in that car.

Does anyone know if it has any major/common problems with it?

Cheers!

It definitely will not be an investment. If I were you I would get an Evo V just from looks alone.

I think the only common issue if you are not running big power is the ayc rear diff. If you keep it long term and track it look into a later gen Evo rs mechanical diff. Iv seen online somewhere but I forgot where. But they sell a swap kit for the V using an Evo 9 rs diff.

Good luck on your search.

So perhaps not a good investment?

I was thinking of getting a local imported jdm car, and was bouncing between the lancer IV or a STI.
Anyways, thanks for your input man! :toot:

I meant more so don't buy it expecting to make money. Buy it because you want it, and will enjoy it. Personally I would go Evo before Sti, but to each their own.

The Evo 4 will not be appreciating in value very quickly I think. Though its body styling was something of a leap from the III, and contemporary evos still look a lot like the 4. I think it was also the first evo that was running at 276hp. I suppose in this regard it might be considered a bit of a classic.

At any rate, I would say there's little that's going to rival the combination of practicality, performance, and price that an older evo offers. Other sports cars a the price point you're looking at are going to have much less room (RX-7), cost more (R32 GT-R), or lack the same kind of performance (Silvia, Type R civic, idk). Obviously a V or whatever is going to perform better, but also cost more. Other ralliers like the Celica GT-4 and WRX STI are about on par with the evo so I guess thats up to preference and availability.

oh and if you're importing shit from brokers like velocity cars or buying from someone who bought from an auction you should be familiar with the auction sheets. AS far as I know all vehicles put up for auction are inspected and graded, obviously you dont want to be buying something with an R grade or whatever. If you're buying a car that was sold at an auction, you should be seeing that auction sheet before you buy.

Check out these links for info on how Japanese auctions work. That site is also another company that does importing, so you can consider their services too I suppose. Though I'd definitely do research on a company before becoming a customer..

Japan Car Auctions, Japanese Used Cars, Japanese Car Auctions
How to Read Auction Sheets in Japan, Japan Auto Reports, Japanese Auction Sheets

Speaking of JDM Evos, is it better to get a car with let's say 130 000 kms vs 80 000 kms? Given that everything that had to be done at 100k was already done?

One thing to be wary of is crank walk. Some of the Evo IV models suffered from this issue so you might want to look into a later production model like a V or a VI that's less likely to have it.

look for rust. find out what region the car was from.

another big thing is make sure the AYC works... no lights!

I just went through a broker in Japan he found me an amazing Evo VI. He's helped me out every step of the way, putting me in contact with all the right people to get the process dealt with as smoothly as possible.

If you are interested I'll send you his info, just send me a PM.

As a rule Evo IV is for people who can't afford VI, this is the way better. But I'd buy it like for 7-9k, depends on mileage and your budget.

Regardless of mileage, I would do a full tune up. Belts, fluids etc. It might cost a bit to get the belt changed in the short term but it will be much cheaper than if it were to snap and have valves sexing the top of the cylinder. What the Auction sheet will not tell you is how long the car's been sitting.

Some might tell you parts are easy to come by since the engine is shared between a lot of platforms in north america. That's a hit or miss as sometimes things don't fit a certain way, or things that aren't in the way in a LHD platform might be in the way in a RHD (master brake cylinder is on the other size, power steering fluid resevoirs etc). I was a prior owner of a GT-Four RC and the issue of fitment of everything was always in the back of my mind when ordering even OEM parts for a 3S-GTE from non JDM sources.

As with any car, and turbo cars in particular, they get tired and leaky after 15-20 years. Turbo just has more plumbing for leaks to happen on old JDM cars. Change all the hoses/couplers if possible.

Otherwise, best of luck!

Don't buy a IV, either save your money and buy a V/VI or buy an STi. The V/VI are superior in every way to the IV, the IV also suffered crankwalk issue. A 98 STi is similarly priced to an IV but comparable to a V/VI in performance. Don't waste your money on an IV, they also don't hold their value well, a V/VI was the pinnacle of the EVOs, they would be a much better "investment" as far as car investments go.

And if you're going to buy a JDM, buy something already in Canada is my suggestion from my experience. Something you can test drive too. I imported my vehicle through a reputable importer and have had many issues with it which I'm finally finishing up fixing. The Evos are notorious for coming over with worn out clutches, you want to make sure you avoid fixes like that. And if you are buying an Evo be prepared to pay big $$$ for parts and get them shipped from Britain. A lot of parts aren't compatible with the Evo 8/9s, sure SOME are, but only some engine bits.

I'd stay away from GT-4's as well, I owned one, wouldn't do it ever again. Easy to find parts for but hard to work on. The beauty of the Evo is it's engine simplicity, it's a dream to work on.

That's my 2 cents, good luck!!!

i owned my evo for 2 and a half years now. i bought it already landed in Vancouver. original Canadian owner bought it from a japan dealer so it wasn't an auction car. cosmetically it is not perfect. mechanically no issues other than maintenance stuff. had to replace the rad since it started leaking (250 mishimoto replacement).

took it to the track last summer for a little bit of fun drag racing. i was able to do a few launches on the clutch it had. couple months later the clutch started to slip so i changed it up to a stage 3 clutch. that should be able to take some more abuse at the drags :)

had all the brake pads replaced (same pads as eclipses) and calipers cleaned and rebuilt because it started seizing in the rears. bot at 98k now its got 140k on the odometer and the timing belt started making some noise. i will be doing the whole timing belt service with water pump etc. i also recently tuned it with an evo 5 ecu making decent pAH!

so far so good. if the OP is still looking, i recommend waiting for the evo 7's to pass the 15 year rule. but that's just me