civic type r (newbie) help/advice needed please . . .
Discussion
today - we have managed to sell our car at an amazing price - which is good for us.
In the theme of "slimming down" and trying to be a bit more sensible (LOL) we are looking for a Civic Type R to play with - but never really being into Hondas I need a 5 min phone call with an enthusiast if thats possible.
I have drivien one recently at a dealer and my budget is max £13k cash - but I am a bit confused by the variation in price vs year of cars on the market that all seem to have the same spec (to me anyway) and a whole variety of years - I need to get my head around this ASAP please.
If anyone would be kind enough to text/call me - I will call you back to save your phone bill.
many thanks
Khush 07989 911911
In the theme of "slimming down" and trying to be a bit more sensible (LOL) we are looking for a Civic Type R to play with - but never really being into Hondas I need a 5 min phone call with an enthusiast if thats possible.
I have drivien one recently at a dealer and my budget is max £13k cash - but I am a bit confused by the variation in price vs year of cars on the market that all seem to have the same spec (to me anyway) and a whole variety of years - I need to get my head around this ASAP please.
If anyone would be kind enough to text/call me - I will call you back to save your phone bill.
many thanks
Khush 07989 911911
Assuming you're talking about the last-shape EP3, not the current FN2*...
- there weren't many options to worry about - sat-nav's the only main one and it's not worth worrying about.
- 2004 saw the facelift version with a few worthwhile tweaks.
- there WERE a couple of special editions (Anniversary and ...), one of which had leather seats vs the alcantara/cloth ones as standard. Otherwise they were just 'special editions' for the sake of it.
- grey imports (from Japan) come with a good LSD up-front which really improves the handling. They'll cost more to insure though, and you may get dealers trying it on (99%+ of parts are identical).
- make sure (somehow) that it's been properly looked after - the engines like a drink, and if the oil gets too low it can cause problems, at the time or in the future...
- don't get a barried or lowered one - the ride is stiff-enough as is and the handling is well-judged on the standard suspension, wheels and tyres.
So in short I'd expect to see a direct correlation between price and age/mileage/condition - if something is too high then they're being silly, if it's too low then go look but with your eyes open.
* In which case save your cash and get a late-model EP3 - better in most regards.
- there weren't many options to worry about - sat-nav's the only main one and it's not worth worrying about.
- 2004 saw the facelift version with a few worthwhile tweaks.
- there WERE a couple of special editions (Anniversary and ...), one of which had leather seats vs the alcantara/cloth ones as standard. Otherwise they were just 'special editions' for the sake of it.
- grey imports (from Japan) come with a good LSD up-front which really improves the handling. They'll cost more to insure though, and you may get dealers trying it on (99%+ of parts are identical).
- make sure (somehow) that it's been properly looked after - the engines like a drink, and if the oil gets too low it can cause problems, at the time or in the future...
- don't get a barried or lowered one - the ride is stiff-enough as is and the handling is well-judged on the standard suspension, wheels and tyres.
So in short I'd expect to see a direct correlation between price and age/mileage/condition - if something is too high then they're being silly, if it's too low then go look but with your eyes open.
* In which case save your cash and get a late-model EP3 - better in most regards.
tkdsteve08 said:
Agreed with havoc on the satnav the ride is too hard and breaks the satnav drive
I'll have to disagree with that one. Nearly three years/30k miles and my Sat Nav was as good as it was on day one. And that was on much firmer than standard suspension.AirCon was also an optional extra.
tkdsteve08 said:
Well we used to change about 3 per week at Honda uk due to Excessive vibration there was a Honda Bulletin No issued to all dealers across the U.K the same unit was fitted in the accords and crv's aswell and they were perfect
In that case, I'll bow to your greater knowledge.tkdsteve08 said:
The problem you have got is like me i like my gadgets and the fn2 ticks all the boxes in that department where as the ep3 is a bit bascic but the dc2 is stone age
Well... you say that... but... the EP3 UK CTR didn't to my knowledge have aircon as standard, which IIRC was standard on a DC2, certainly was on mine anyway. My DC2 also had the recaros, leccy windows, central locking, leccy mirrors, and HID headlamps. So not THAT stoneage!(I'll give you one thing though, the interior looks every bit as old as it is these days in the DC2 now. Compared to the FN2, its a long way behind!)
havoc said:
Paul,
a/c was optional on all UKDM DC2's, and (I think) all JDM except for the limited-edition Type-Rx.
Not sure about the EP3...I know it started-out as optional, but I thought they bunged-it-in as standard on the facelift.
I had the facelifted EP3 and it air con was an option. I would guess the final 'Anniversary' or what ever it was called might have had it as standard?a/c was optional on all UKDM DC2's, and (I think) all JDM except for the limited-edition Type-Rx.
Not sure about the EP3...I know it started-out as optional, but I thought they bunged-it-in as standard on the facelift.
khushy said:
I am leaning towards the latest shape - but prices for the same car with the same mileage and year seem to vary quite a lot - why?
khushy
Not sure this has been answered yet, and not sure I can help much! But will try... There wasn't much in the way of options with the FN2 - essentially 2 'versions' being the base model and the 'GT', which is the version with cruise control and aircon, and IIRC about 75-80% of all cars sold were at the higher GT spec. Aside from that, I guess the only common options would be satnav and the 19" 'Rage' alloys (standard wheels are 18"). Any other variations in price are probably just down to quality of car.khushy
Items that may be worth looking at - I think that some FN2 CTR's have suffered rusting around the edge of the doors (between the metal door and the rubber seal), and also if it's an earlier 57 plate it may have had the handbrake issue for which there was a recall by Honda - this was sorted from new on 'newer' 57 plates and beyond - mine was registered in Jan08 and is fine, although I'm not sure exactly where the cut-off was. Searching on civinfo or civictype-r.co.uk (i think) should find more detail on this.
Very early models also had an issue with third gear synchro, but I'm pretty sure that was sorted before the 57 plate came in.
I don't know that much more than then above, and all of that's been picked up on this and other forums. Only other thing I'd add would be that, probably as with any car, the percieved wisdom is to keep it below approx 4k rpm for the first 10 mins or so. If you're buying from a private seller and he's encouraging you to vtec from cold it may be that he's done that himself and the engine may not be in the condition you'd hope...
One final point - I think that the paintwork is pretty thin and prone to stone-chips - if buying from a dealer there may be some scope to get these sorted by them. Possibly. That might be utter nonsense though!
Hope some of the above is helpful - apologies if reading this had been a complete waste of time! Good luck with the test drive etc - hope if it all goes well you're happy with your purchase - I've had mine 2 years now and still have a lot of fun driving it!
tkdsteve08 said:
The problem you have got is like me i like my gadgets and the fn2 ticks all the boxes in that department where as the ep3 is a bit bascic but the dc2 is stone age
If you mean by 'stone age' that everything just kept working, then yes, I agree with you. And it was much better for it.As someone who has run a DC2 and an EP3 (which was heroically unreliable).
Gassing Station | Honda | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff