some thoughts
currently 5 years and counting on my 8 gsr ownership. granted i am based in sydney but traffic here is fast becoming klang valley style.
was daily driven until a year ago when i cracked the shits with my company for assuming i can use my car to carry stuff for work purposes. now she sits in the garage as my toy because i finally have a company car for official duties and a old ck lancer coupe for my daily drive to work (got given to me for free by a mate because junkyards here wasnt going to give anything to him as metal price is at an all time low)
in the 5 years, i have spent roughly 5k aus on maintenance on the car excluding fuel, insurance and road tax costs. this includes a timing belt change, 2 sets of tyres(re002 and re003), 2 sets of brake pads, exedy sports tuff clutch, hybrid turbo, full sound system install, bilstein upgrade, etc etc
how i manage that figure, everything diy in my own garage floor (except tyres and wheel alignments) with 4 jack stands and a jack. i just did my own clutch change (not for the faint hearted), made my own hybrid turbo (fused the td05hra with a 10.5 housing), oil changes, pads change..etc
owning an evo on a budget is possible but you definitely have to have some sort of mechanical knowledge and keen to get your hands dirty.
i average about 450kms in city driving and almost 600kms on interstate drives for a full tank of fuel.
if im feeling abit nutty, this number decreases but the worst mileage ive got on the car is 400kms to a tank of city driving.
stock tune, running COP kit, stock exhaust, 8mr blow off valve, high flow panel filter. always run on 98ron fuel.
the grey evo 8 thats for sale has a aftermarket 9 front bar and is a gsr spec.
yellow one kms might not be genuine as the steering has been rewrapped
both are gsr's.
7's came out in 2001, 7.5 or 7gta came out in 2002, 8gsr in 2003. 8mr's in 2004 and evo 9's started in 05 ending in 2007. if u see an evo 7 or 8 with a supposedly build date of 2005 and later, thats rubbish or they have imported a uk spec unit( fq series)
but most importantly as some members have already highlighted above, body must be in top shape or at least in a respectable condition. underbody rust is a common issues for evo's. followed by faulty ayc's (3 lights illuminated on dash cluster)
my opinion is as such because mechanical faults are rectifiable but body repairs.... well... unless you actually witness the repair.... you can never know what has been replaced.
heck the thais up north have been fusing ct9a rears and fronts onto cedia bodies and the transformation pics are amazing. you really need to pull interior trims off and jacking the car up to find the joints.
id recommend a japanese odometer check or a japanese history check, but then again if youre not buying direct from japan through a broker, this would be quite irrelevant. check their facebook pages, very interesting
i did a check on mine, 107000kms shaved off the clock. left japan with 143000kms, arrived australian shores with 36000kms...lol
thankfully it was a grade 4b and not a grade r. also through my history check, i found out it has only had 1 owner in japan, genuine front and rear evo 9 bumpers, upgraded turbo, no accidents.
was it worth it? hell yeah! that sharp handling whilst on boost and knowing you have so much control of the car.
would i do it again if i had to? yep but this time a X gsr in manual!