Buying my first EP3

[rhino]

Hey guys,

So I haven't bought my EP3 yet, but I think I've landed on the winner and I was hoping someone could either give me a real good reason not to buy it, or to actually go through with the deal.

There are quite a few more EP3's on my local CL and in surrounding areas, but I've driven this one and she's in great condition with just about everything done on her I want to have done initially on the car.

2002 Taffeta White EP3

http://rockford.craigslist.org/cto/3990292497.html

Anything I should look for when buying one with a K20A3? I've seen what looked like every thing that'd ever been done to the car and where it had been owned before this buyer and everything checks out. Even did the Carfax and everything checked out.

TL;DR is she the one?

[typeflex]

It looks to be like a great EP3, and if you've never owned a honda before then I say go for it. BUT at least try to bring him down on the price since it's pretty much stock. (I'm selling my 03 vbp ep3 with 07civic si k20z3 engine and k-pro for $5500!)

If you have experience with hondas, and by experience I mean swapping them. I say buy yourself a shell( seen them going for $1000 to $1500), and swap in something that'll put a smile on your face because the a3 isn't gonna do it.

[rhino]

I should probably preface this a little bit.

I currently drive a '00 Maxima (3.0L 227 hp from factory but curb weight is 3200+lbs, has CAI and cat back) but she's seen better days.
This EP3 is really my first foray into a vehicle I feel comfortable buying and modding, though I have a very moderate amount of experience.
I owned an Accord when I first started driving a long time ago, but she shit out around 225k and I bought the Maxima shortly thereafter.

I've never performed an engine swap, let alone seen one done, so it's all very unfamiliar territory for me; that's why I lurk a lot more than I post.

I'm not sure what my end goal for my EP3 is going to be, but I need it to be a daily driver for the foreseeable future. I don't really need/want a race car, but I do want something I can throw around on the track if I ever do choose to.

[poeticfinesse21]

Mods don't necessarily increase the value. I bought my EP3 with that same mileage and a few less mods for $4500 almost 3 years ago. The owner is asking for way too much.

[superchargedk20]

Mods don't necessarily increase the value. I bought my EP3 with that same mileage and a few less mods for $4500 almost 3 years ago. The owner is asking for way too much.

Mods if anything decrease the value. Lets be realistic whos gona want a modded civic??teenage kids to upper 20's maybe. Whos buying the car for em 90% of the time? Mommy and daddy. U think they will pay for ur modded civic.... nope

[Draw7Seven]

Man that front bumper got scratched HARD. I wouldn't pay 6500 for it. That mileage isn't exactly low and it's had 3 owners. I think you can get a better deal but I know how itchy the old trigger finger gets.

[Kjeezy23]

Yea, owner is a asking way too much. And by the looks of the car and since he had a CAI and Junk2 exhaust, I bet he beat the shit out of it. Don't do it. Try to find a stock one.

[superchargedk20]

Yea, owner is a asking way too much. And by the looks of the car and since he had a CAI and Junk2 exhaust, I bet he beat the shit out of it. Don't do it. Try to find a stock one.

Another nhbp ep3 from ct?!?! Where u from?

[rhino]

Problem is finding something either unmodified or at a reasonable price. I've been looking for weeks and only found one EP3 under $5k in my area, and call me old fashioned, but I need to be able to drive the thing before I buy it, so buying from some place not near me is a no-go. I'm not sure what it is, but all of them are priced way above what they should be priced at. I know when people price a car they're expecting to get less than what they list it for but god damn...

[poeticfinesse21]

You're really not looking that hard....
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/3972864033.html
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/4029873679.html
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/4024051491.html
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/4017009147.html
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/3965967703.html

All are pretty much stock and $5000 or less. Don't be scared of the mileage on those last two, my EP3 has 207k and still runs like a champ.

[L0ki]

that's way too much...i bought mine for 6.9k with 66k miles (02 tw) and minor mods (megan drift spec cat back, rims, another set of rims, spare tires, brembos, mugen grille, stock brakes, stock exhaust, etc)...this was 3 years ago..but then again i guess i got lucky lol

[todaCspec]

Too much, I've got an 02 black with 77k miles for sale. I'm the original owner and asking $6500.

[Waldo129]

Too much, I've got an 02 black with 77k miles for sale. I'm the original owner and asking $6500.

Damn good deal!

[rhino]

that's way too much...i bought mine for 6.9k with 66k miles (02 tw) and minor mods (megan drift spec cat back, rims, another set of rims, spare tires, brembos, mugen grille, stock brakes, stock exhaust, etc)...this was 3 years ago..but then again i guess i got lucky lol

See, that's a fuckin steal man. All these kiddos have modded them out to hell and expect the mods to hold their value. Cars with 140,000 miles being sold for 6k? It's all seemed too pricey to begin with. Thanks all for your help. Keep the info coming, it's ​invaluable!

[typeflex]

See, that's a fuckin steal man. All these kiddos have modded them out to hell and expect the mods to hold their value. Cars with 140,000 miles being sold for 6k? It's all seemed too pricey to begin with. Thanks all for your help. Keep the info coming, it's ​invaluable!

Hopefully my advice will give you some insight, but if not, I wish you the best on your purchase either way.

You're looking at it the wrong way. Anybody who buys an si, even with the slightest of mods purchased it for the sole intent of "wanting" to go fast. Unfortunately, uninformed people didn't know the a3 is one of the slowest motors honda ever produced, yet they still ragged the sh*t out of it.

Unless you're buying a completely stock si from an old man that you can tell never stomped on the car, they're all going to be mistreated. Thus, the real going price for the kind of si you're looking for should be $3500-$4500.

http://mcallen.en.craigslist.org/cto/3980766354.html
http://mcallen.en.craigslist.org/cto/4006303342.html

PEOPLE ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, mods don't hold value, BUT any real honda enthusiast will tell you that since these cars are practically going for the same prices they'd rather buy gsr than an ls, the ep3 with a swap or an rsx-s rather than a stock ep3 because no matter what, they've equally been abused.

[rhino]

Just if anyone's monitoring this:

Found a 2004 EP3 in NHBP with 120k. Guy was asking $4k and I talked him down to $3.5k. She needs an O2 sensor and a little bit of love here and there, but she's the one.

He put an eBay header on there, which makes me quite nervous. Should it? If I do anything to my car it's not gonna be the cheapo route, which I feel like was the antithesis of his thought process (except for the TEIN springs... :inlove:)

[Draw7Seven]

The header has likely done no damage to the car and you can replace it with stock or whatever you'd like. I can imagine that a poorly designed header could make a car sound like shit or have exhaust leaks maybe, but other than a shitty install (tapping new holes to mount the shitty header or stripping bolts) I can't imagine any permanent implications.

The biggest thing any "bad" mod says about a previous owner is that he made a poor choice about modding the car: maybe he also made poor choices when driving it? But you're buying a 3500 car with 120k miles on it. I agree with typeflex that at that age it's seen a ricer in its lifetime. It's just the sad truth of the matter. At least you'll have money left in your budget for reversing whatever impact previous owners had on the car. I'd have your mechanic give it a very solid look right after you buy it. While you've got the extra money, keep it for the rainy day when the engine blows up because the last guy ragged the shit out of it at stop lights or whatever.

And best case scenario he was actually very careful with it and you've just been cautiously pessimistic and you have money in the bank.

[rhino]

I do understand the aversion to buying a car that's been ragged on, but isn't that what we all end up doing to them as well? Maybe some more than others. I suppose its just that you know who (me myself and I) ragged on it, how much, where, and for what reasons.

First thing that's happening is she's getting a once over at the shop, though.

[Draw7Seven]

Yeah we're saying the same thing here. The less miles it has before you buy it, the less ragging they could have possibly done. My concern is more about break-in periods and what kind of condition the clutch/syncros are in. If a professional driver banged through gears in my car I'd feel better about it than a high schooler doing the same thing because I figure he has a working knowledge of how to minimize damage to the components (given that it'll be ragged either way).

But it's all so conjectural that at the end of the day you just buy a car and prepare for the unexpected.