Potential CTR Anni EP3. Am I mad?
Discussion
My 2001 Saab 9-5 SE is outside waiting to be scrapped. I loved the car, and it is tidy with 70k on it, but I broke something major so with no resale it has to go.
I am now looking at some of the cars I considered before I was tempted by affordable executive luxury; something Japanese, with a bit of go.
I live on the Isle of Man, and whilst roads to play on (legally) up to and over 100mph are numerous, the choice of cars to do this in is somewhat limited.
A brief look around, and all I saw was a mint 2002 Rover 75 v6 with 20k on the clock for 2 grand (just because of freakishly low mileage), or a Hyundai coupe 2.7 with 50k from 2003 for a bit more.
Then I stumbled upon a CTR limited edition with under 70k on the clock. It is 2003 (but registered Jan 2004) and is Cosmic grey. It is tidy, and comes with the package these cars did; recaro seats, special dials etc. It is also pre-facelift as a result. I have also noticed the mods. Suspension has been lowered, and the engine bay is bright with some shiny bits. It seems to have been loved. It is in good visual condition; I would give exterior and interior 4/5, seats 3.5/5 and alloys 2.5/5. Shiny rims matter not to me.
The price is £4400. From what I have seen looking on line it doesn't seem far off the mark. It has proper service history, good tyres, and I have been promised re-bled fronts with fresh pads (or installation as I will probably go redstuff or something).
This is to be a daily driver, but I want fun too. I have an obd scanner, a soldering iron, and a toolkit & skill set of a reasonable bicycle mechanic. I want to avoid mechanics and expensive repairs. I need a good few years out of this with minimal fuss as I need my car for my job.
It is also at the top of my budget. I will have to finance it which means total will be around 5k over 3 years. I would need it to last those three years.
Is this an insane idea, or a bargain? Would I be better off getting an mx5, or a Jazz, or a horse or something? I will be going over documents with a fine tooth comb, and will give it a challenging test run at speed and in town to discover 2nd gear issues/steering problems etc.
Assuming all is good would this be recommended, or avoided? What could I find (preferably under 3k) to challenge this?
I am now looking at some of the cars I considered before I was tempted by affordable executive luxury; something Japanese, with a bit of go.
I live on the Isle of Man, and whilst roads to play on (legally) up to and over 100mph are numerous, the choice of cars to do this in is somewhat limited.
A brief look around, and all I saw was a mint 2002 Rover 75 v6 with 20k on the clock for 2 grand (just because of freakishly low mileage), or a Hyundai coupe 2.7 with 50k from 2003 for a bit more.
Then I stumbled upon a CTR limited edition with under 70k on the clock. It is 2003 (but registered Jan 2004) and is Cosmic grey. It is tidy, and comes with the package these cars did; recaro seats, special dials etc. It is also pre-facelift as a result. I have also noticed the mods. Suspension has been lowered, and the engine bay is bright with some shiny bits. It seems to have been loved. It is in good visual condition; I would give exterior and interior 4/5, seats 3.5/5 and alloys 2.5/5. Shiny rims matter not to me.
The price is £4400. From what I have seen looking on line it doesn't seem far off the mark. It has proper service history, good tyres, and I have been promised re-bled fronts with fresh pads (or installation as I will probably go redstuff or something).
This is to be a daily driver, but I want fun too. I have an obd scanner, a soldering iron, and a toolkit & skill set of a reasonable bicycle mechanic. I want to avoid mechanics and expensive repairs. I need a good few years out of this with minimal fuss as I need my car for my job.
It is also at the top of my budget. I will have to finance it which means total will be around 5k over 3 years. I would need it to last those three years.
Is this an insane idea, or a bargain? Would I be better off getting an mx5, or a Jazz, or a horse or something? I will be going over documents with a fine tooth comb, and will give it a challenging test run at speed and in town to discover 2nd gear issues/steering problems etc.
Assuming all is good would this be recommended, or avoided? What could I find (preferably under 3k) to challenge this?
Just recently bought an ep3 myself and personally for the money you can't fall off. I drive mine daily and it's never let me down.
Like you said yourself, go over the paperwork with a fine tooth comb. Make sure its had good quality oil in it and has been regularly changed. These engines rely very heavily on their oil to make them what they are. Aslong as they've been looked after they're cracking cars.
If you can get it for ~£4k I'd say go for it, obviously if you like the way it drives and there are no issues with it of course.
Any more questions just fire away and i'll try and answer them as best i can! There's also alot of info to be found on the Civic Type R owners club forum aswell if that helps!
Like you said yourself, go over the paperwork with a fine tooth comb. Make sure its had good quality oil in it and has been regularly changed. These engines rely very heavily on their oil to make them what they are. Aslong as they've been looked after they're cracking cars.
If you can get it for ~£4k I'd say go for it, obviously if you like the way it drives and there are no issues with it of course.
Any more questions just fire away and i'll try and answer them as best i can! There's also alot of info to be found on the Civic Type R owners club forum aswell if that helps!
Someone else took it on finance at full whack. Never mind. I had cruelty looked at mx5s, and eve mgfs. My dad drives an mx5 which I didn't mind, but mtakes it a little less desirable.
A low mileage cupra r 225 has just come up, so if I can get some pennies sorted it will be that. Less than 3.5k!
A low mileage cupra r 225 has just come up, so if I can get some pennies sorted it will be that. Less than 3.5k!
My EP3 didn't cost much over 2k.. If you are just after a reliable workhorse, yet fun to drive car, your better off with a cheaper standard pre-facelift rather than spend thousands more in finance on special edition ones albeit with less miles. As long as the oil has been changed regularly and levels kept on top of, then higher mileage won't be a problem. Plenty about so if there is anything you aren't sure about just walk away.
Mines a bit rough round the edges cosmetically (which I am slowly changing as funds and time allows) but mechanically it's spot on, it's on 108k miles and it hardly uses any oil in between changes The only thing I need to do really is change the holed air conditioning condenser and replace a couple of bushes in the rear as they are starting to knock slightly.
They are fun cars, I had an MX5 and prefer the EP3, I love its Jekyll and Hyde nature, pootling through town one minute then going totally Banzai on the B-roads
Mines a bit rough round the edges cosmetically (which I am slowly changing as funds and time allows) but mechanically it's spot on, it's on 108k miles and it hardly uses any oil in between changes The only thing I need to do really is change the holed air conditioning condenser and replace a couple of bushes in the rear as they are starting to knock slightly.
They are fun cars, I had an MX5 and prefer the EP3, I love its Jekyll and Hyde nature, pootling through town one minute then going totally Banzai on the B-roads
There are plenty out there.
If you need to ask any questions then im sure i can help . Ive had ours over 8 years now , now on 153 thousand miles.
Its been fab , just maintain and enjoy. The difference between the pre and post facelift are numerous but very small differences.
Some seem to use oil more than others, to be honest the more you spend in the banzai zone the more oil it will use. Just keep an eye on oil levels.
Never run it too low Honda have never had a vtec unit go pop , only the badly maintained ones go. The price of these cars now allows the boy racers into them , they dont allways care for them .
We are the second owners so ive known exactly whats happened to our car. I have kept a log and keep all receipts , and to be honest its only recently ive started to do a couple of modifications to it , primarily replacing worn items with upgraded items.
If you need to ask any questions then im sure i can help . Ive had ours over 8 years now , now on 153 thousand miles.
Its been fab , just maintain and enjoy. The difference between the pre and post facelift are numerous but very small differences.
Some seem to use oil more than others, to be honest the more you spend in the banzai zone the more oil it will use. Just keep an eye on oil levels.
Never run it too low Honda have never had a vtec unit go pop , only the badly maintained ones go. The price of these cars now allows the boy racers into them , they dont allways care for them .
We are the second owners so ive known exactly whats happened to our car. I have kept a log and keep all receipts , and to be honest its only recently ive started to do a couple of modifications to it , primarily replacing worn items with upgraded items.
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