Don’t rely on a car auction site to do your homework

I get it – 77% of you voted for the RX-7. But maybe the big shock is the 23% that chose the SVX.

Talk Me Out Of It is all about hypotheticals – waving a dream car in your face that usually presents some kind of issue. But these are of course real cars, and real people sell them.

And they have very real problems.

The 1999 Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo vs the 2000 Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo

See the 1999 here

See the 2000 here (if it stays up)

This post isn’t so much about a GTO, but I’ve signed up for notifications from both Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids on vehicles that I own, so when a G80 or 3000GT/GTO comes up for bid, I can see the selling price. It’s curiosity more than anything.

So this week, just such a notification came up – a rare 1999 GTO is available on Bring a Trailer. Overall, it’s what you’d expect – intercooler piping stuffed under the hood, faded paint, the usual for a car that’s old enough to be a daddy. The listing had no real red flags, and the hard work of importing the car is already done.

But the listing said 14,000 miles. Can you imagine? A 1999 with such low mileage could be a six-figure car if left untouched. But this one was touched very heavily. When I looked at the image of the dashboard, I saw a speedometer that went up to 280 km/h. Yet all GTOs, even the rare and lighter MR edition, only ever received a 180 km/h speedometer in Japan. To get this sort of dash, you’d need to swap it with a GTO from Canada or Europe, and the odometer comes with it.

So… 14,000 miles? Really?

The 1999 Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo

Let’s go over the car first.

• True mileage unknown
• Galaxy White Pearl over Black leather
• Rear garnish missing, front bumper cut for intercooler pipes, faded paint
• Other mods too, like an exhaust and rusted Tein coilovers
• Sold for $17,000. Proof that people will buy anything.

Actually, I’m going to stop there, because the seller uploaded the Japanese auction sheet from when the car was inspected in Japan. All I did was take it and upload it to Google Gemini to translate. It confirmed my eagle eye:

Official Note: 現在社外280kmメーターに交換 記録簿無いためメーター改ざん車

Translation: “Currently swapped with an aftermarket 280 km/h speedometer. Classified as meter changed/tampered due to lack of an official odometer change certification.”

And even worse than that:

Underside Rust & Partial Corrosion (シタ廻りサビ、一部フショク): The inspector specifically noted not just surface rust, but partial corrosion/rot (フショク) on the undercarriage/floorpan.

The photos don’t show that rust, but as my own experience has demonstrated, JDM cars can often be sprayed on the underbody to hide such sins.

I reached out to BaT, because even though the official (untranslated) sheet showed such flaws, the listing did not, and people were bidding freely. I think that’s dishonest, and it makes me wonder how often it happens on other cars listed that I do not know as well. They fixed the listing, but even then it’s:

23k Kilometers (~14k Miles) Shown on Replacement Cluster, TMU

TMU, guys, that’s all. Its true mileage is unknown. Is there a better alternative?

The 2000 Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo

Of course there is! And what’s even rarer than a 1999? A 2000!

• 40,576 miles
• The car has been resprayed blue, but the original color was Pyrenees Black Pearl per the engine bay.
• I think you’re sort of stuck with the blue because a MOMO wheel, BRIDE cloth seats, and a shift knob from what looks like a strip club all match.
• There’s an aftermarket head unit and wheels, but otherwise the car seems to be stock.
• Listed for sale in Japan for $30,829.

It seems the respray is done well, because the inspection sheet for this car notes the paint is 5/5, high quality. There is no accident history and the car is free of rust. I know the color and silly interior mods might be a turn-off, but those are way easier to fix than intercooler piping and holes in the floor.

But hold on – Mileage Marked as *****: The inspector did not certify the odometer reading on this report (common with dealer stock or gauge alterations). You will want to verify the odometer display and past Shaken inspection records.

So just work with the import broker and verify the mileage. Yes, you have to be patient to import the car over here, and there is some annoying paperwork to get through, but you will have the rarest 3000GT/GTO ever – just 360 were made total. That’s SR, MR, and TT combined.

So the question I pose here isn’t so much about the GTO, but about what you’d do. Take the risk on a car with issues, but have it at your door next week, or import one, be patient, and get something with less trouble ahead? And remember, once a car is marked with TMU, it’s a black spot that never goes away.