How To Buy A Honda Civic Type R EP3

When looking for a Honda Civic Type R EP3 there is not really anything major to look out compared to other everyday cars. The engine has the well known reliability of being practically bulletproof, and there has not been any major recalls for any sub standard parts. Here is a guide and some tips to how I bought my Honda Civic Type R EP3 and what to look for when buying one.

Do Your Research

Many people rush into buying a car. They go and see one, fall in love with it straight away and hand over the money. When I bought my car I spent a few months beforehand researching to make sure I got the one that I wanted, casually calling sellers and asking questions and browsing sites like AutoTrader and Pistonheads. I also had a look on a few forums for advice however when it comes to buying a car the 'enthusiasts' on the forums seemed to overprice their cars in the for sale sections. Do you know if you want a pre-facelift or a facelift model?

What model do you want?

Civic Type Rs come in two variations, pre-facelifts (2001 to 2003) and facelift models (2004 to 2005). There are over 1,500 different parts on the facelift model, the main changes include different: lights, front bumper, seats, the facelift has a lighter flywheel. Apart from that the only difference within each facelift is whether you have the optional extra of air conditioning. Most of them do have air con however I bought one without as it means the car is lighter and you might need air con in the UK a few days a year if we are lucky!

Questions To Ask The Seller Over The Phone

How many owners has the car had?
Has the car got a full Honda service history?
Has the car ever been in an accident? (Is the car HPi clear?)
When is the MOT and road tax due to expire?
Are there any bad points?

You should always buy an HPi check before purchasing any car. I would recommend doing this after you have seen the car if you can. This will tell you if it has ever been written off mainly along with other things such as if the car is stolen, has had a colour change, has previously had a different registration, number of previous owners or has any outstanding finance.

Inspecting the car

When you go to view the car, pop the bonnet and touch the engine cam (rocker) cover to see if it has been recently driven. Ideally you would like it to be 'cold' so that when you start it up you can see if there is any smoke coming out the exhaust and to make sure it is idling properly. If blue smoke or a lot of black smoke puffs out on startup this can be a bad sign. Blue smoke indicates that oil is leaking.

Look at the lines of the car and make sure they are all straight and true, a bumper that doesn't fit properly or a bonnet that is closer to one wing to another indicates that it has been in an accident.


Haggle The Price
When buying a car don't just go there and hand over your money. The seller is expecting you to offer a lower price, so make them work for your money. Don't feel like you have to buy the car the first time you go to view it. It is fairly easy to get 5% off the advertised price on a used car and a lot of people do get more.

Common Problems

Steering Rack - The most common and costly issue. When you test drive the car have the steering straight and let go, it would usually pull to the right if there is a problem and it was not replaced under Honda's warranty.

Gearbox - Second gear crunching is the other common issue, when the car is cold it is worse and you will just feel it hard to get into gear. This does get better as the car warms up.

Idle Control Valve - When the Civic is warmed up it can feel like it wants to stall. This can be an easy fix that most garages can resolve.

Noisy Valves - If the car has not been serviced properly (and it has done over 75,000 miles) then the engine may sound very 'ticky / tappety'. This means that the valve clearances weren't adjusted but this can also be done at most garages.

Heatshield Rattle - the heatshield can rattle which can just be simply annoying even though harmless. You can either tighten the bolts or remove it completely.

Corroding Alloys - The silver finish on the alloys do tend to bubble and peel away especially if they have been 'kerbed'. Wheels can be refurbished usually costing around £50 per wheel.

Cam / Rocker Cover Paint - The red painted part of the engine does start to look old and can peel off. You can refurbish this and respray it.

Door Handles - The interior silver inserts on the door handles are painted silver which means they easily get scratched. These can be repainted or you can buy new ones from Honda.

Gear Knob - The aluminium gear knob gets scratched by people wearing rings! It may not look very nice.

Any of these points can be things to bring up when buying your Honda Civic Type R EP3 and these can help when haggling the price.

The Ideal Honda Civic Type R

In my opinion the ideal car you are looking for will have a full Honda service history, as low mileage as possible, all four tyres would be the same and a decent make (eg Bridgestone Potenza as they come from Honda), the car wouldn't have been in an accident, the bodywork would be in good condition with no scratches, the interior should be in good condition.