I’m thinking EP3 any advice?
Discussion
Obviously these cars are getting long in the tooth but if they are like most of the jap stuff probably hold up well body wise.
I’m not wanting to skimp, looking for something low miles and nice. Theres a low mileage one fairly local at £14k but I’m clueless on them and not done a lot of reading. Is there some sort of definitive buying guide somewhere, things to look for/avoid. Any must have bits. I’m guessing value wise they are a reasonable prospect.
Feel free to throw comments at me
I’m not wanting to skimp, looking for something low miles and nice. Theres a low mileage one fairly local at £14k but I’m clueless on them and not done a lot of reading. Is there some sort of definitive buying guide somewhere, things to look for/avoid. Any must have bits. I’m guessing value wise they are a reasonable prospect.
Feel free to throw comments at me
I definitely wouldn’t spend £14k on one unless it’s a JDM example IMO.
You can get a tidy enough one for 6/7k and that is all the money for a useable UK (standard car).
It really depends on what you plan to do with it, if you’re going to keep it super standard and clean, buy an expensive JDM car, if you’re going to mod, get s clean UK car and spend some money.
You can go as far as you want with them. I started with a 1 owner completely standard car and now have a money pit 360bhp Rotrex supercharged speciality
You can get a tidy enough one for 6/7k and that is all the money for a useable UK (standard car).
It really depends on what you plan to do with it, if you’re going to keep it super standard and clean, buy an expensive JDM car, if you’re going to mod, get s clean UK car and spend some money.
You can go as far as you want with them. I started with a 1 owner completely standard car and now have a money pit 360bhp Rotrex supercharged speciality
The Rotrex Kid said:
I definitely wouldn’t spend £14k on one unless it’s a JDM example IMO.
You can get a tidy enough one for 6/7k and that is all the money for a useable UK (standard car).
It really depends on what you plan to do with it, if you’re going to keep it super standard and clean, buy an expensive JDM car, if you’re going to mod, get s clean UK car and spend some money.
You can go as far as you want with them. I started with a 1 owner completely standard car and now have a money pit 360bhp Rotrex supercharged speciality
I’d seen this and thought it looked in the condition I would want but from what you say it’s expensive https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205025...You can get a tidy enough one for 6/7k and that is all the money for a useable UK (standard car).
It really depends on what you plan to do with it, if you’re going to keep it super standard and clean, buy an expensive JDM car, if you’re going to mod, get s clean UK car and spend some money.
You can go as far as you want with them. I started with a 1 owner completely standard car and now have a money pit 360bhp Rotrex supercharged speciality
aea730 said:
The Rotrex Kid said:
I definitely wouldn’t spend £14k on one unless it’s a JDM example IMO.
You can get a tidy enough one for 6/7k and that is all the money for a useable UK (standard car).
It really depends on what you plan to do with it, if you’re going to keep it super standard and clean, buy an expensive JDM car, if you’re going to mod, get s clean UK car and spend some money.
You can go as far as you want with them. I started with a 1 owner completely standard car and now have a money pit 360bhp Rotrex supercharged speciality
I’d seen this and thought it looked in the condition I would want but from what you say it’s expensive https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205025...You can get a tidy enough one for 6/7k and that is all the money for a useable UK (standard car).
It really depends on what you plan to do with it, if you’re going to keep it super standard and clean, buy an expensive JDM car, if you’re going to mod, get s clean UK car and spend some money.
You can go as far as you want with them. I started with a 1 owner completely standard car and now have a money pit 360bhp Rotrex supercharged speciality
The same money gets you a much, much more desirable JDM car
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225059153894?mkcid=16&a...
Even less for a 69k pre facelift 30th anniversary!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115624865961?mkcid=16&a...
If you want to spend £15k I’ll sell you mine
The Rotrex Kid said:
It looks clean. But it is just a standard facelift car, not even a Premier edition! As said, if you want a mint one to stick in the garage, great, but if you’re going to change even a bit of it, don’t spend that much.
The same money gets you a much, much more desirable JDM car
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225059153894?mkcid=16&a...
Even less for a 69k pre facelift 30th anniversary!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115624865961?mkcid=16&a...
If you want to spend £15k I’ll sell you mine
Hey, I really appreciate the info, I’m way out of my depth with Honda. That said, you’re half right with sticking it in the garage, it’s what I do with most of my cars. I’ve just sold a Clio Trophy, owned 7 yrs, done 1800 miles. I’ve got an Elise I bought brand new 12 yrs ago and I’ve done 9k miles in it The same money gets you a much, much more desirable JDM car
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225059153894?mkcid=16&a...
Even less for a 69k pre facelift 30th anniversary!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115624865961?mkcid=16&a...
If you want to spend £15k I’ll sell you mine
The Rotrex Kid said:
Even less for a 69k pre facelift 30th anniversary!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115624865961?mkcid=16&a...
If you want to spend £15k I’ll sell you mine
Oh that is rather nice, if only it had a LSD..https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115624865961?mkcid=16&a...
If you want to spend £15k I’ll sell you mine
Much like yourself I've owned my pre face lift red EP3 for a few years now an paid £2k for it with 2 previous owners ,88k, good service history and no modifications on it. Since then it's had more than probably had double that amount spent on it to effectively make it a Civic Cup spec car with a full interior & no cage.
The most important thing to look for with EP3s is RUST, making sure you get a good shell is the priority, there have been so many EP3s broken in the last 3-4 years that have been parted out it makes getting engines/gearboxes , interiors, trim panels relatively easy to get hold of. Getting a good shell and having it undersealed/treated is pretty much essential. Mine had it's first bit of welding for it's last MOT, an area around the floor panel under the drivers side pedal box area, a 6x6" square , i was mortified as i thought I'd spent a decent amount of time cleaning the underside an ensuring it was treated but found I'd spent too much time being obsessed with the condition of the rear arches, the rear ends of the sills, the rear subframe mount areas, the rear bumper support bracket and front chassis legs id neglected the centre floor .
BE careful if you are looking at a car that has had ten tonnes of underseal applied with a brush & be concerned about the number that have had crash damage , that said I'd not completely discount a Cat D car thats rust free over a non crashed rotten shed.
Some good points there Kerrly! The number that have been pulled apart over the last few years has been interesting. I think we’re at a tipping point now as even the cheapest cars are around £3k. I bought a black pre facelift a few years ago for £750 and that car is still going (it had a set of JDM mats which I kept and sold the car on!) I also bought an 06 premier for around £3k I think. I contemplated keeping that but decided I liked my car better.
When you see that at the peak there were nearly 19,000 UK cars..
And now we’re at circa 7000 and still falling (I would wager that most SORN cars are dead) it really won’t take long before these cars are quite scarce!
I toy with the idea of getting rid of mine, but I have ‘invested’ so much that I just can’t do it!!
I paid £1800 for mine in June 2014!
When you see that at the peak there were nearly 19,000 UK cars..
And now we’re at circa 7000 and still falling (I would wager that most SORN cars are dead) it really won’t take long before these cars are quite scarce!
I toy with the idea of getting rid of mine, but I have ‘invested’ so much that I just can’t do it!!
I paid £1800 for mine in June 2014!
Hi there, new to this section of the forum but thought I'd chip in
Seems like your budget's quite generous, and I was looking for something as a fun second car after not driving much for years but maybe for the best seems I can't get a personal loan to get something more expensive sooner, so probably going to have to look in the £2000-3000 range, especially if I want it in time for next summer
I've had this in my Ebay watch list since like 2 weeks ago and this is probably a great example of a Premier Edition in black from a private seller with paperwork etc
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285059510577
Rocker cover is probably asking to be repainted but the rest is like perfect spec for me. Hopefully there'll still be examples like this in a few years time without commanding ridiculous prices like 12k+
You definitely shouldn't need to be paying 10k+ for an EP3 unless it's a JDM one or it's like seriously low mileage like 60-70k or less imo
If you're definitely focused on Japanese then maybe look at the FN2 as well, but I was looking at MK5 Golf GTIs or bit out of my price bracket with a loan (if I was able to get one) would be a Edition 30.
Just had to check if my lotto numbers had any luck tonight lol but seems unfortunately not. If I would then I'd be buying up that EP3 asap rather than linking it
Seems like your budget's quite generous, and I was looking for something as a fun second car after not driving much for years but maybe for the best seems I can't get a personal loan to get something more expensive sooner, so probably going to have to look in the £2000-3000 range, especially if I want it in time for next summer
I've had this in my Ebay watch list since like 2 weeks ago and this is probably a great example of a Premier Edition in black from a private seller with paperwork etc
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285059510577
Rocker cover is probably asking to be repainted but the rest is like perfect spec for me. Hopefully there'll still be examples like this in a few years time without commanding ridiculous prices like 12k+
You definitely shouldn't need to be paying 10k+ for an EP3 unless it's a JDM one or it's like seriously low mileage like 60-70k or less imo
If you're definitely focused on Japanese then maybe look at the FN2 as well, but I was looking at MK5 Golf GTIs or bit out of my price bracket with a loan (if I was able to get one) would be a Edition 30.
Just had to check if my lotto numbers had any luck tonight lol but seems unfortunately not. If I would then I'd be buying up that EP3 asap rather than linking it
Stallzy said:
You definitely shouldn't need to be paying 10k+ for an EP3 unless it's a JDM one or it's like seriously low mileage like 60-70k or less imo
If you're definitely focused on Japanese then maybe look at the FN2 as well, but I was looking at MK5 Golf GTIs or bit out of my price bracket with a loan (if I was able to get one) would be a Edition 30.
It's interesting you say that, I'm a VW fan at heart and have had mk1/23/4 Golf GTIs/Corrados and was certain that a mk5 Golf GTI was next.If you're definitely focused on Japanese then maybe look at the FN2 as well, but I was looking at MK5 Golf GTIs or bit out of my price bracket with a loan (if I was able to get one) would be a Edition 30.
I also drove a few Civic FN2s, Focus ST, MK5 Golf and had previous experience of the EP3. After looking at a few too many mk5s that had various issues that I don't expect on a £4-6k car I took a punt on a £2k EP3 and it has proven to be an excellent decision.
The mk5 Golf GTI (standard or Edition30/Pirelli) is undoubtedly the better daily driver than the Civic (my mk5 has heated leather/5doors/dual Zone climate etc etc) the Civic whilst it has Air Con, the lack of sound deadening, the short gears, semi bucket seats all make it clear that the EP3 has a very different design remit and as a result I actually find it hard to believe that the two cars are only a few years apart but the Golf feels like it's been designed 10+ years later!!!
If I had to get rid of one of them, the Golf would go now, as much as its a better car I think I'd struggle to sell my Civic for a few grand and have to spend 3-4X that amount to get anything that gives me the same buzz.
aka_kerrly said:
It's interesting you say that, I'm a VW fan at heart and have had mk1/23/4 Golf GTIs/Corrados and was certain that a mk5 Golf GTI was next.
I also drove a few Civic FN2s, Focus ST, MK5 Golf and had previous experience of the EP3. After looking at a few too many mk5s that had various issues that I don't expect on a £4-6k car I took a punt on a £2k EP3 and it has proven to be an excellent decision.
The mk5 Golf GTI (standard or Edition30/Pirelli) is undoubtedly the better daily driver than the Civic (my mk5 has heated leather/5doors/dual Zone climate etc etc) the Civic whilst it has Air Con, the lack of sound deadening, the short gears, semi bucket seats all make it clear that the EP3 has a very different design remit and as a result I actually find it hard to believe that the two cars are only a few years apart but the Golf feels like it's been designed 10+ years later!!!
If I had to get rid of one of them, the Golf would go now, as much as its a better car I think I'd struggle to sell my Civic for a few grand and have to spend 3-4X that amount to get anything that gives me the same buzz.
Yeah that's a very good summary to be fair. I'd probably have to have a test drive of all of them when I was definitely in the position to buy (or maybe some enthusiast owners are willing to offer a test drive just so you can experience them) to make sure I go with the right one. I'm sure people here have owned several of them for longer periods and then found which they can live with for the longest, as you can't always gather it from a short test drive, but you get my point I also drove a few Civic FN2s, Focus ST, MK5 Golf and had previous experience of the EP3. After looking at a few too many mk5s that had various issues that I don't expect on a £4-6k car I took a punt on a £2k EP3 and it has proven to be an excellent decision.
The mk5 Golf GTI (standard or Edition30/Pirelli) is undoubtedly the better daily driver than the Civic (my mk5 has heated leather/5doors/dual Zone climate etc etc) the Civic whilst it has Air Con, the lack of sound deadening, the short gears, semi bucket seats all make it clear that the EP3 has a very different design remit and as a result I actually find it hard to believe that the two cars are only a few years apart but the Golf feels like it's been designed 10+ years later!!!
If I had to get rid of one of them, the Golf would go now, as much as its a better car I think I'd struggle to sell my Civic for a few grand and have to spend 3-4X that amount to get anything that gives me the same buzz.
You're right though that with any MK5 GTI, like probably got to factor at least 1k extra in for doing all the preventative maintenance or catching up on what previous owners haven't done in ages (or ever), whereas a lot else round that price range or even cheaper is already good to go.
I have some pretty lengthy threads in the car buying and finance sections, or maybe it's possible to find them quicker through my profile, but you can see what kind of situation I'm in and the general consensus is get something cheap to build experience or don't get a car at all right now until I get my income up, but difficult to find much full-time if I'm not mobile!
Thanks
James
Reviving an old thread but what are thoughts on this one?
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15325211
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15325211
Hippea said:
Reviving an old thread but what are thoughts on this one?
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15325211
Looks super clean. Lots of money for a standard (non premier) car, but I don’t think you’ll find another one as clean underneath.https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15325211
Great if you’re going to keep it standard.
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