nowhereboy Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) Looking for a little advice. Ive Found a mint looking 03 plate ep3 with 85k for 2,500. The current owner has gave the car a recent service and new tyres all round but it has no previous history as the owner before him misplaced it. Its a private sale, am i mad for considering a car with no history or could it still be considered if everything is good on the test drive? Ive owned a type r before so ive got a good idea what to look out for. Ive never bought a car privately before so im a bit concerned. Edited January 21, 2015 by nowhereboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano94 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 could try calling Honda,see if they have any history on their records. If not id leave it imo. Plenty of ep3s out there with service history. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I wouldn't buy a car with zero service history. I wouldn't expect a car that age to have a full history, but something would be nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 I wouldn't buy a car with zero service history. I wouldn't expect a car that age to have a full history, but something would be nice! ^^ What Dan said (and Deano too). Plenty of Type R's for sale so I'd say leave that one if you can't find out the history & keep looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Get a Honda mechanic to look at it, or get an AA Report as I'm sure they give you some sort of warranty with the report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 That won't help when you come to sell it on with no service history... It could be worth a punt, but only if it is dirt cheap and treated as disposable. £1200 would work for me, but that's not going to work for the seller I suspect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowhereboy Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 I offered 1900 and he stopped replying to my messages It was probably a bad idea anyway, the car is for my other half and it has to be reliable as she will be using it for work. She owns a 1.6 astra and its been a complete nightmare, so unreliable from start to finish and the engine has finally gave in altogether at 70k. Ive got three grand to play with so i should be able to pick up a good one with that, gotta be quick tho, these type rs dont hang about when they are priced right. Missed out on two already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowhereboy Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201412019365402/sort/default/usedcars/radius/1500/page/3/maximum-mileage/up_to_100000_miles/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/make/honda/model/civic/postcode/ne126sz/keywords/type%20r?logcode=p Got my eye on this one. Full history, on bridgestone potenzas all round and only two owners from new. Its a bit over what i want to pay but i could always try to haggle em down to three grand. Always had a soft spot for these motors since owning one years ago, certainly wont look bad sat next to the Z on the drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 I think the front looks very dated on the none facelift ones now. Great bang for buck though! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 I agree that model does look very dated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 You would get a nice 3 series Beemer for £3k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowhereboy Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Not a bmw fan and neither is the missus, jap all the way Personally i like the front end better on the pre facelift civics, i like that oldschool look, the rear lights are much better too. Im looking at it tomorrow anyway so I'll get it all cleaned up and get some better pics up if i go ahead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Not a bmw fan and neither is the missus, jap all the way Personally i like the front end better on the pre facelift civics, i like that oldschool look, the rear lights are much better too. Im looking at it tomorrow anyway so I'll get it all cleaned up and get some better pics up if i go ahead +1. The face-lift EP3 Type R's have those horrible "Lexus" style rear lights. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeezeebaba Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Loved my EP3 aside from the assisted steering which was quite frankly pants. The face lift had around 150 subtle changes including the dreaded rear lights,however I believe they also changed the castor settings on the rack to try and improve things.The pre face versions Ironically had a more reliable rack with most steering warranty claims coming from face lift owners. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowhereboy Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Just back from a 160 mile round trip and came home without a type r. For a start the salesman was near impossible to contact this morning and the car was in a secure lock up with only a small company logo above the door, the place just didnt fill me with confidence. The car Itself had rust on the passanger door and both rear arches, the car had also been running and i couldn't see it started from cold. On the test drive the car wouldn't engage into vtec properly and bogged down, probably due to bad or low oil. Im amazed the dealer hadnt even bothered checking the car was running properly or maybe he just hoped i wouldn't notice, who knows. My poor girlfriend was all exited and hopeful to be driving home in a type r but unfortunately she had to settle for passenger seat in the Z again Off to view another tomorrow and this time its a 300 mile trip, hopefully I'll have better luck this time. On a brighter note the Z didnt miss a beat today (as usual) and it was a joy to drive the whole way, great motorway car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock_Steady Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 That's a real shame. Such an arse wipe for not checking the car over. You'd think they'd want a sale. Fancy making someone come all the way down there just to drive a car below its par. Hopefully you'll find a winner. Plenty out there 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Get a Honda mechanic to look at it, or get an AA Report as I'm sure they give you some sort of warranty with the report. The report I got from the AA on the Zed was helpful but is a big negative on the warranty. They take no responsiblity for teling you the car is safe to buy on the report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowhereboy Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 Update.... Think I've made a mistake I went to view three ep3 type r's at a place called cheshire car sales. It's a three hour drive but the add's on autotrader looked great and I thought with a choice of three cars which all had full history I should be able to find one I was happy with. I tried to research the company name to no avail and decided to take a punt and drive down. On arrival I was a bit disapointed as the area was not good, the garage was not as clean as it looked in the pictures and the cars were in a big lock up and not a showroom. Anyway the sales guy seemed polite enough and after a nosey around the cars one of them stood out to me http://www.cheshirecarsalesltd.co.uk/used-cars/honda-civic-2-0i-vtec-type-r-3dr-furnace-street-201501180252480 I asked for a test drive but the sales guy got in the driving seat, for reasons that I'll never know I didn't ask him if I could drive the car after that. I asked him from the passanger seat to show me various things, vtec engaging, clutch tests etc and everything seemed fine. When we got back to the office I checked the paper work and the car has full history, It also passed its MOT in july with no advisorys. To be honest I still felt uneasy about the whole thing due to the attitude and profesionalism of the staff and the area itself but having drove about 600 miles in the last few days I was desperate to just buy a car and stop spending my time and money traveling all over the place. I paid a 200 pound deposit and agreed to pay the ballance on the weekend when I could come back with my girlfriend who would be driving the car home. On the way out I noticed a sign saying "cheshire performance" on the same lock up I had just been in. I stopped at a service station on the way home and googled "cheshire performance" and quickly found loads of threads on the impreza and evo forums with people saying these guys are practically criminals and to avoid at all costs, countless horror storys just a click away. The postcode for "cheshire performance" and "cheshire car sales" is exactly the same but because they have seperate websites I didn't pick up on this. Had I known this before setting off I'd not have bothered, now I'm faced with a choice. Walk away from the sale, a potentialy fine car and more than likely loose my deposit along with the time I spent traveling and the fuel costs. Or go back down and demand to drive the car myself without putting another penny down, I could pay for a AA check on the vehicle and if all seems ok I could then finish the deal. This option is going to cost me more money and if I don't go ahead I've wasted even more cash and time on this. I can't believe I've even managed to get myself into this situation and it's pretty stressfull especially as my partner still has no car and is having a hard time getting to work and back. I'm swaying towards just cutting my losses on this one and chalking it up to a learning curve and waiting for a car to come up locally. In the mean time we could buy a little run about but this means digging into the savings for the Type R. What are peoples opinions on this one? For all I know the car may well be great, it looks fine on paper but I'm worried after reading loads of horror storys and don't really feel comfortable giving these guys another 3,800 of my hard earned cash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Bradders- Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I dont see all the fuss with the service history milarky. i mean im a car enthusiast, everything i've ever owned i've serviced it myself. i cant stamp my own books. but i'd rather own one from someone like myself (regular checks/oil changes), than someone who dumps it in kwik fit once a year for a stamp in the book. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjf1985 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) If the car seemed fine when you were out on the test drive and it looks OK, then I'm sure it will be fine. You've checked the service history too so shouldn't be anything to worry about mate. Did the guy even ask if you wanted to drive the car? That's the only thing that sounds iffy to me... If not when you do go back ask to drive it yourself before handing over all the cash. Is there any warranty included? Edited January 21, 2015 by pjf1985 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Drive it. If it's all good then you have a decision to make, but I'd be pouring over every MOT and Service reciept in there and contacting the garages that did the work and confirming details, as a minimum. You could always see if a local Honda type from a forum will go down and look it over with you. Edited January 21, 2015 by SuperStu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grundy Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Don't always believe what you read on the internet. Loads of people on here have bad mouthed Junction 17 or what ever they are called, but at the same time loads of people have bought their zeds from them with no problems... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floydbax Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I'm from Cheshire and TBH I've never heard of them!! BUT..... having just done a little reading, I see their car sales are pretty much based around cheap old cars. I suspect generally 'one' is always going to get a few niggles if 'one' buys cheap. That said their customer relations appears to be a bit sh1t. It's also worth remembering that they probably sell a large number of cars, most of which have no problems, or generally problems that are to be expected of cars at this part of their lives and the new owners sensibly expect that long term wear and tear items do need attending to. It's also important to know that most people who have a good buying experience do not give any feedback, but EVERYONE who has a problem will give as much negative feedback as they possibly can. I am not associated with these guys - like I said I never heard of them! Just giving another perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowhereboy Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 See thats the thing "cheshire car sales" do some cheap and old cars but they stock some cars in the same place as "cheshire performance" and they are not cheap. I'm pretty sure the two companys are ran by the same people anyway. I wouldn't say 4 grand for a 03 plate type r is cheap anyway, I'd expect the car to be spot on for that price. you're right about the reviews tho, I understand the internet can give a wonky perception of a company but some of the stuff on the impreza forum is really bad. The company has changed name and ownership more than once to avoid being held accountable for court cases etc. I do need to drive the car, shame it's 130 mile away from me. I can't believe I put a deposit down without driving it to be honest, what an idiot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Don't ever buy a car you've not driven. Ever. I've done it twice and got away with it, but they were both main dealer purchases and I was young and naive Go with your gut. Ask them about warranties, ask to see the HPI check too. At this point it's all a bit irrelevant as you've committed to buy the car, but I'd rather lose £200 than end up with a £4K stinker. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.