Civic Type R EP3 - JDM
Discussion
After a year of driving around in a diesel Mini, I'd been getting more than a little bored. It was bought as a low cost run around for a while, but inevitably the feet had started to itch.
Having recently been through the process of importing a Civic FD2 for the Mrs to replace her Integra DC5 (which we pick up next month), I had a hankering for an imported car for myself.
It needed to be a fairly sensible, reliable and not too expensive to run daily transport to do about 9k miles a year. Machinery such as Evos, Imprezas and Skylines were therefore out. I've never been into the rear drive Japanese stuff either, so another Honda was going to fit the bill.
The JDM Civic EP3 has the same engine and gearbox as the Integra DC5, an all important LSD, thicker roll bar and red Recaros amongst other minor stuff. Power a little better than the UK model at 215 bhp.
Having looked at the auction prices, really nice high grade cars were going to be near enough £10k all in on the road in the UK - nobody in their right mind is going to pay that for one.
So, I thought about looking at otherwise very nice cars that had some accident history or some other issues to sort out.
This one popped up a couple of days ago:
Civic 1 by Ross Davidson, on Flickr
It was a grade "RA", which means it had some repair work, but done to a very high standard. In this case, it was just a replaced front wing. Otherwise, as you can see from the auction sheet, the bodywork is incredibly tidy.
It was also a relatively low grade "C" interior. It turned out that there had been some water ingress to the rear - probably due to the dodgy looking antennas fitted to the rear of the roof and some untidy looking wiring through the cabin from them. An inspection revealed the water damage wasn't too bad.
So, the car has one or two issues to be sorted out - mainly removing the antennas and filling the holes they leave in the roof somehow.
The really good news - the auction sheet also reveals that it has just 56,000 kilometres on it. That's 35,000 miles, in a 13 year old car.
I reckon it'll be about £8k on the road for what will be a fully sorted, ridiculously low mileage one of these. Torque GT have one up for sale at the moment for £8k, but it has 73k miles on it.
...and here it is:
Civic 6 by Ross Davidson, on Flickr
Civic 5 by Ross Davidson, on Flickr
Civic 3 by Ross Davidson, on Flickr
Civic 2 by Ross Davidson, on Flickr
Just got the 2 month wait before its on the road now!
Having recently been through the process of importing a Civic FD2 for the Mrs to replace her Integra DC5 (which we pick up next month), I had a hankering for an imported car for myself.
It needed to be a fairly sensible, reliable and not too expensive to run daily transport to do about 9k miles a year. Machinery such as Evos, Imprezas and Skylines were therefore out. I've never been into the rear drive Japanese stuff either, so another Honda was going to fit the bill.
The JDM Civic EP3 has the same engine and gearbox as the Integra DC5, an all important LSD, thicker roll bar and red Recaros amongst other minor stuff. Power a little better than the UK model at 215 bhp.
Having looked at the auction prices, really nice high grade cars were going to be near enough £10k all in on the road in the UK - nobody in their right mind is going to pay that for one.
So, I thought about looking at otherwise very nice cars that had some accident history or some other issues to sort out.
This one popped up a couple of days ago:
Civic 1 by Ross Davidson, on FlickrIt was a grade "RA", which means it had some repair work, but done to a very high standard. In this case, it was just a replaced front wing. Otherwise, as you can see from the auction sheet, the bodywork is incredibly tidy.
It was also a relatively low grade "C" interior. It turned out that there had been some water ingress to the rear - probably due to the dodgy looking antennas fitted to the rear of the roof and some untidy looking wiring through the cabin from them. An inspection revealed the water damage wasn't too bad.
So, the car has one or two issues to be sorted out - mainly removing the antennas and filling the holes they leave in the roof somehow.
The really good news - the auction sheet also reveals that it has just 56,000 kilometres on it. That's 35,000 miles, in a 13 year old car.
I reckon it'll be about £8k on the road for what will be a fully sorted, ridiculously low mileage one of these. Torque GT have one up for sale at the moment for £8k, but it has 73k miles on it.
...and here it is:
Civic 6 by Ross Davidson, on FlickrCivic 5 by Ross Davidson, on FlickrCivic 3 by Ross Davidson, on FlickrCivic 2 by Ross Davidson, on FlickrJust got the 2 month wait before its on the road now!
danjama said:
Shame about the issues, but they do look so good in white. So bored of seeing them in grey or black.
I had to get one with a couple of issues. If it had no issues, it would have cost me more like £10k with that mileage 
Forgot to mention that it is also has the C package, which isn't that common. I've yet to figure out what that adds though!
rossub said:
TheJimi said:
Cracking 
What are the things on either side of the roof? Some kinda aeriel?
Yeah, those are the antenna things I need to get rid of. The wiring looks like it goes down to the cigarette lighter for power. What are the things on either side of the roof? Some kinda aeriel?
Typical Japanese tho; nerdy as hell
rossub said:
danjama said:
Shame about the issues, but they do look so good in white. So bored of seeing them in grey or black.
I had to get one with a couple of issues. If it had no issues, it would have cost me more like £10k with that mileage Forgot to mention that it is also has the C package, which isn't that common. I've yet to figure out what that adds though!
- auto air cond with external temp gauge
- power window
- power central locking
- remote control entry
- map lamp
Both seat vanity mirror
rear shelf cover
- HID
- rear privacy glass
- rear wiper with washer
- external power folding mirrors
Edited by Butter Face on Sunday 14th June 12:44
LaurasOtherHalf said:
I'm not trying to rain on your parade-it's a lovely looking thing so fair play but I have to ask-why not just buy a nice UK model for half the price?
Is the engine that much better in these?
Mainly the LSD and Championship White paint. But it's also about rarity and the "JDM" factor. If you're not into jap cars, you won't get it Is the engine that much better in these?
I wouldn't be content with a UK EP3, no matter how nice. I could get the best one for sale in the UK for slightly less than the £8k I'll end up paying here, but I'd always be thinking it wasn't quite the real deal I wanted. No disrespect to their owners what so ever
rossub said:
LaurasOtherHalf said:
I'm not trying to rain on your parade-it's a lovely looking thing so fair play but I have to ask-why not just buy a nice UK model for half the price?
Is the engine that much better in these?
Mainly the LSD and Championship White paint. But it's also about rarity and the "JDM" factor. If you're not into jap cars, you won't get it Is the engine that much better in these?
I wouldn't be content with a UK EP3, no matter how nice. I could get the best one for sale in the UK for slightly less than the £8k I'll end up paying here, but I'd always be thinking it wasn't quite the real deal I wanted. No disrespect to their owners what so ever
They're nice, but the spec isn't special enough from the UK models to entice me, a DC5 I can understand, but each to their own. It does look ace.
rossub said:
LaurasOtherHalf said:
I'm not trying to rain on your parade-it's a lovely looking thing so fair play but I have to ask-why not just buy a nice UK model for half the price?
Is the engine that much better in these?
Mainly the LSD and Championship White paint. But it's also about rarity and the "JDM" factor. If you're not into jap cars, you won't get it Is the engine that much better in these?
I wouldn't be content with a UK EP3, no matter how nice. I could get the best one for sale in the UK for slightly less than the £8k I'll end up paying here, but I'd always be thinking it wasn't quite the real deal I wanted. No disrespect to their owners what so ever
Equally though, I don't think I could bring myself to pay £8k for an EP3 though, no matter now nice, well, unless it was a very well spec'd and setup SC'd car.
I can see why you went for it though, and hopefully the residuals should be pretty strong too.
Butter Face said:
I gotta say, I'm into the scene and love anything 'JDM' (so lame) but I couldn't pay that for an EP3, I'm too cheap
They're nice, but the spec isn't special enough from the UK models to entice me, a DC5 I can understand, but each to their own. It does look ace.
We imported a DC5 for the Mrs back in 2007, so it's been with us for 8 years. So, been there done that. I think the Civic will be easier to use than the teg as a daily driver They're nice, but the spec isn't special enough from the UK models to entice me, a DC5 I can understand, but each to their own. It does look ace.
.......and the JDM EP3 is way rarer than the DC5 in the UK. £8k for a 35k mile one of these really isn't an issue for me. Look at the prices for the earlier EK9
rossub said:
Butter Face said:
I gotta say, I'm into the scene and love anything 'JDM' (so lame) but I couldn't pay that for an EP3, I'm too cheap
They're nice, but the spec isn't special enough from the UK models to entice me, a DC5 I can understand, but each to their own. It does look ace.
We imported a DC5 for the Mrs back in 2007, so it's been with us for 8 years. So, been there done that. I think the Civic will be easier to use than the teg as a daily driver They're nice, but the spec isn't special enough from the UK models to entice me, a DC5 I can understand, but each to their own. It does look ace.
.......and the JDM EP3 is way rarer than the DC5 in the UK. £8k for a 35k mile one of these really isn't an issue for me. Look at the prices for the earlier EK9
I'd sooner pay top money for a JDM EP3 than an EK9...I think lol
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