CTR Owners - A few questions.

[PhilUK]

Hey all. I'm looking at buying an EP3 Type R soonish, which is an upgrade from a 1.2 Fiesta. Based on my budget of around £4K it seems that the mileage of the cars within that price range seem to be 60k at the lower end up to 100k+ with the majority being around 65k-70k.

Is there anything I should look out for when going to view these cars, or when asking the owner questions? Based on my experience with bikes certain years of certain models had better gearboxes than others, less of an issue with clunking etc so I'm sure the same holds true with cars.

Do you also think that this is a fairly safe mileage to be buying these cars with, or would you guys normally pass? If an engine is looked after fairly well they should exceed 100k pretty easily, and this is a Honda, but I just want to be sure.

Thanks all.

[Chicane-UK]

Google to the rescue..

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=120...

[PhilUK]

Hey. Thanks. According to that, I shouldn't get one with a budget of around £4k.

[300bhp/ton]

PhilUK said:

Hey. Thanks. According to that, I shouldn't get one with a budget of around £4k.

That thread is a year old, prices will have changed since then.

I don't know the current market for CTR's as I've not looked, but if there is a choice of vehicles in your budget (rather than just one oddball example priced low), then I see no reason why you couldn't buy one if you wanted too.

[PhilUK]

Although that one guy said it's a pretty reliable car.

I'd appreciate some input from owners if possible though.

[dan11219]

Pretty sure i spoke to you the other day, got mine for £2700 with 109k miles, now on 112k with 0 problems whatso ever, alot of type r's on 200k with no issues, bulletproof engines if serviced properly and oil topped up! Got mine in mint condition for the price, and a friend just sold his mint cosmic grey facelift with super low miles for £4500 (one of the best i've seen) so 4k will get you a good one easily.

Look out for crunching when going into 2nd gear, smoking when on vtec, make sure vtec works in every gear (must be warmed up or it wont engage, also wont engage if the fuel light is on, or so i've been told), make sure the steering does not pull in an direction. www.civictype-r.co.uk has a full guide on what to look for and buying guide for EP3's so worth a look. (you need to register to be able to see the parts and cars for sale section)

Also have a look on the forums for sale section, mostly well looked after cars listed cheaper than on auto-trader/ebay ect, mine was 3.5k on auto trader, 3k on the foums and got it down to 2.7k.

Here is a direct link to the CTR buyers guide: http://civictype-r.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&a...

[PhilUK]

300bhp/ton said:

That thread is a year old, prices will have changed since then.

I don't know the current market for CTR's as I've not looked, but if there is a choice of vehicles in your budget (rather than just one oddball example priced low), then I see no reason why you couldn't buy one if you wanted too.

Yea, it depends on the car and the owner, but you know, there might be some issues with that particular car after a certain amount of miles, or whatever.

65,000 miles isn't loads, so even if the car has been ragged a bit it shouldn't make a huge difference if it's been serviced and looked after and it's not rattling like a bh.

[motor mad]

You will get a decent car for that sort of money. As ever buy on condition and service history, not mileage. As long as they are serviced regularly you shouldn't have a problem. Great cars for the money.

[PhilUK]

dan11219 said:

Pretty sure i spoke to you the other day,

Here is a direct link to the CTR buyers guide: http://civictype-r.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&a...

Hey thanks for all that information! Yea you did, and here you are again!

I'm set on one now, but I'm a bit worried about getting a stty one so I'm just trying to educate myself so as to not get burned.

motor mad said:

You will get a decent car for that sort of money. As ever buy on condition and service history, not mileage. As long as they are serviced regularly you shouldn't have a problem. Great cars for the money.

Yea, you're right.

[300bhp/ton]

Well remember the Civic Type R was a mass produced hot hatch of a very mass produced hatchback.

Honda also have a reputation for reliability. I see no real reason why a person couldn't run such a car if they wanted too.


And logically lets face it, the CTR's currently for sale aren't all likely to expire in the next 30 days. And I'm sure if you check back in 3 or more years time, the vast majority of CTR's on the road today will still be in daily use.

Meaning, don't worry too much. 1000's, no 10,000's of people run used cars daily. And most of the time, most people have no trouble at all. The CTR easily falls in this bracket.

As it's a high revving performance car, I'd personally be more concerned with overall condition that indicated mileage. Check how well it starts and drives, check for noisey suspension, worn out brakes and bushes. Make sure the gearbox is slick and doesn't have worn synchro's. Check the engine revs freely and easily and doesn't rattle or smoke.

Then check the other normal bits, such as bodywork and interior condition. Look for corrosion and repair damage and check all the electric bits work such as windows and mirrors.

Personally I'd probably hit Google for a few hours and read up on any weak points or things to look out for with these. But if it generally stacks up on the test drive and inspection, then that is often a good basis to form an opinion.

[PhilUK]

Yes you're right.

I'm gonna be reading a fair amount, and I may need to travel some way to get one. I live in London but they aren't available in abundance around this way so I definitely need to be up to speed.

Thanks, that puts my mind at ease.

[billy939]

I bought my Ep3 in February 2012 for £3000, it had 74k and was in good condition, never had any issues with it, so there are bargains to be had.

A big thing with these cars is whether they get revved from cold, the K20 engines are super reliable as long as you don't try to put them into Vtec before they are warm. Ask the owner to take you out in it, if he revs the nuts off it within the first 10mins then I'd walk away tbh.

Other than that the gearboxes sometimes crunch into second when cold, it's a common problem so if you hear that don't worry too much. www.type-r-owners.co.uk is a very good website for information on ep3's, it's a small forum but everyone is really helpful.

Have you considered any other cars or are you set on an ep3?

[DMN]

OP: I've just brought an EP3 with 125,000 on the clock, and crucially a full service history. Can't fault it, even getting 40mpg. Best £3000 I've spent in a long time.

The Civic Forum other have linked too is a gold mine of knowledge, have a good read of what to look out for on there.

[Mr2Mike]

billy939 said:

A big thing with these cars is whether they get revved from cold, the K20 engines are super reliable as long as you don't try to put them into Vtec before they are warm.

The ECU actually prevents VTEC engagement before the engine has reached a some minimum temperature, surprised you didn't know that. I agree it should be fully up to temperature before thrashing it though.

One of the big things to check is the steering rack. Make sure it doesn't rattle/knock, self centres ok and that the steering isn't stiff at high speed which requires constant corrections on a motorway/DCW. The electrically assisted steering rack is the Achilles heel of an otherwise excellent car IMO.

Clutch life can be relatively short on the EP3, mine lasted to 90k but lots of people have required new clutches well before that. It's a ball ache of a job that involves removing the whole front subframe, so probably not a particularly cheap exercise at a garage. Stiff gear changes (especially at high RPM) and a high biting point are sure signs of a well worn clutch.

[Ved]

Thoroughly enjoyed mine but the suspension is probably the worst I've experienced. It's just not applicable for UK roads so if you can budget for a softer setup that would then tick all the boxes.

[Mr2Mike]

Ved said:

Thoroughly enjoyed mine but the suspension is probably the worst I've experienced. It's just not applicable for UK roads so if you can budget for a softer setup that would then tick all the boxes.

I don't mind firm suspension at all, and I find the EP3 hard but quite bearable at low speeds and nicely balanced when you start to press on. However, if you are really pushing it (i.e. probably going faster than you should be on a public road) then I find the car starts becoming unsettled at the back, making it feel a bit nervous.

[J4CKO]

Yeah, go for it, its a buyers market for anything expensive to run, just be cheeky with your bids, I just got two grand off my car, was up at nine and got it for seven.