Evo iii or evo iv purchase

[Kit352]

So I'm looking to buy my first evo as soon as I've decided on which model to get. My budget is about £4500 and I want a car that's close to stock.
Which car is ultimately the best car to buy and hold on too? I like the looks of the iv but the iii is growing on me. The iii seems like a much rarer car too. Truthfully I have found cleaner iii than iv's as well. They seem to be the one people take care of and not trash as bad.
I would love to say I will be doing tons of track days with either one but my motorcycle racing eats up all my free time so the car will most likely be a b roads bomber on the weekends with the wife. I think the iii would be a better choice for that as it's a a more basic car but I really have no idea.

 

[AdamB9903]

The problem is the 3s also fetch a higher price than the 4s, I've just got myself a 4 and tbh, this is the lowest they've ever been, I mean if you can find a clean 3 for £4500 then might as well, in the future they'll be worth a tad bit more, but the 4 is just as awesome a car!

 

[Kit352]

Ya, I've been watching the price on the 4 drop for months now. I think now is the time to buy something.

My problem is I have never been in either evo. The only ones I have been in are 8 and up so it's kind of new ground for me. I'm pretty much going on just research and most of that tells me the 3 is the better bet.

 

[AdamB9903]

I don't know enough about the 3 to give an opinion on it, all I know is that they don't pop up often and the ones that do are either expensive or need a lot of work. 4s are at their all time low at the moment and are a great buy for future profit, you'll see alot of them that have 5 and 6 engines swapped into them, but there are also some mostly standard ones out there like the one I just brought.

You'll also find that parts are more available for the 4-5-6 chassis than the 3, although neither have anywhere near the amount of parts as the newer 7-8-9 and 10

 

[Kit352]

Where did you find yours? All the ones I see are on eBay or Gumtree. I haven't seen any anywhere else really. They rarely come up in any of the forums I'm on.

 

[AdamB9903]

I found mine on Ebay, got in touch with the seller same day he listed it, went to see it and it was better than what he was selling it for!

Just make sure if you do any Ebay or Gumtree car browsing you go see it in person and thoroughly investigate it, look for any problems at all, it helps if you can take someone who knows cars/works on cars regularly. Fortunately most of my family including myself are qualified mechanics.

I got real lucky with mine, only issue it has is a small rad leak (New rad is around £100) which is common on the 4-5-6 if they still have the original rads and mine had all 19 years of service history and recipts.

Another thing to do if your serious about buying whichever said evo perform a HPI check to look for any signs of theft etc

 

[Kit352]

I know cars but not the evo's. I'm much more familiar with subaru's. I've read what to look for so I have an idea. I really gotta get near one with someone that knows so I can see what to look for. Realistically I'm much more concerned with a clean body and it being close to stock than I am about mechanical things. Crank walk is the only thing that really concerns me in that regard.
Time is never on my side either. I work in Glasgow but live in Guildford so I am almost never home. I had plans to see one on Gumtree this weekend but the seller will be trading it in Friday no matter what so things like that make it impossible to see and buy. I even offered him more than the dealer if would just wait a day but he won't. The plus side is I travel so much I can see cars all over the country fairly easily as long as they can show them when I'm free.

I will just keep plugging away and keeping an eye out. I know of a few that fit my needs but are a touch too high for me. Im hoping for a price drop but I will keep an eye out for others.

 

[Evosick]

Evo III in gunmetal is very nice but increasingly valuable in clean nick

Evo iv is also nice and probably in budget for clean one

 

[Kit352]

I'm having a he'll of a time finding a clean evo Iv. they go quick.