Im looking for my first car and i have always wanted a lancer & i found a 2002 with 90,000 miles on it for 4,499. I want to know if that would be a good car to get, is it reliable enough?

 

Personally I just got an 02 es a couple weeks ago about approximately the same price with about 110,000. I took it to a mechanic for a pre-sales inspection and he said I could have gotten it for a couple hundred cheaper in its condition with proper maintenance. The thing is, that's considering that I needed a new set of tires, timing belt change at/before 120,000, tie rod ends, alignment, and a couple extra small parts (amounting to a total of 500-1000, depending on who does the work). I'm planning to do most of the work myself with assistance from somebody who has done it before (and this forum), so that will lower the cost a bit. The mechanic also mentioned that I would probably get a max of 2-3 years on the car, but that's because I'm planning on putting 30k+ miles on it per year.

My recommendation is to do just what I did, get a mechanic to look at it before buying it. I would guess that if there's not much that needs fixing that's a pretty good price, but if there is, and you find out before hand, that would at least give you bargaining room if you still want to get it--- which is more than likely going to be worth more than the 20-40 or so that you would pay a mechanic..

 

Lancer's are great cars. Four things to look for in my opinion. The cat's tend to go out at about a 100k miles, the interior carpeting can wear out quick, the heater blend door can bind up inside heater box and front brakes. I like the factory brakes with all the spacers and shims in place. I've tossed hundreds of brand new, cheap, crappy, aftermarket front brake pads in the garbage to fix the brakes right on Lancers.