Pics of EP3 Civic Type R

[Iron Chef]

Hi guys,

Thought you might like to see what will eventually be my next drive car. Arrives in Australia this week in Brisbane. It's an '01 model with 69000km on it. Looks like it will be some fun.

While I won't disclose what I paid for mine, they look like costing around $26K landed and complied (add a new set of tyres then normal rego costs to that). Given these are now eligible for import, it might be a possible option for those of you looking unsuccessfully for EK9s...

On a separate note, I've got an application in for Integra Type R sedans (DB8), so should hear back if they're also eligible for import too soon.

[barefootbonzai]

That's sweet. Where in brisbane are you?

[Iron Chef]

I'm in the Adelaide part of Brisbane - right on the outskirts ;)

The car will soon be in Brendale.

[DOHCTR Coopz!]

u R 1 lucky sunova!! makes me think abt what my next car is gon' be... :)
iron chef u gotta do a review when it lands!! i wana know everything.. how it eats, sleep, takes a sh!t!!! :D

[Iron Chef]

I actually drove a Pulsar VZ-R N1 the other day, for those who know what it is, so it will be interesting to compare the two.

[Nightrider]

wow nice!!!! who's doing your compliance work and is it a real hassle etc?

[Iron Chef]

Shogun are doing the compliance, and it's not really a hassle so much as a slow process, mainly because of Canberra inspectors being understaffed. Could be 6 months before it hits the road, although I'm obviously hoping it's quicker than that.

[Nightrider]

Fingers crossed its less then that...

Apart from import approval what involvement has Canberra had?
i know when I imported EF9 they only gave import approval and air con approval etc..

[chicken8]

how much does it cost all up

could u give us a breakdown of all ur costs in total?

[Iron Chef]

Because it's the first of its type, Canberra inspectors will come and inspect the car themselves to make sure it complies with all relevant ADRs. Emissions testing is the first step.

chicken8, in very rough terms, you'd be looking at $16K for the car itself, $6K for shipping, customs duties and GST and then $4k for compliance.

[DreadAngel]

EP3 Baby, oh I like it...

[90LAN]

did u import it from japan or england???
whats the k's on your ep3??
looks very nice

[90LAN]

sorry 69K

[Waggy]

Do you import these? I'm pretty damn interested.

[Turko]

Very very nice.

[NightRyder]

Hey Iron Chef, good on ya matey, man I'm sure we're all jealous....

Hey Iron Chef, I noticed there are no side blinkers on the car, make sure you check if whether these are part of the regulations. I heard all cars must have side blinkers.

I believe once the car is here, it has to have its emissions tested, then have to go through the usual seat belt checks and a child seat restraint may need to be added into the car.
Then the Canberra boys from Department of Transport would need to come and inspect the car and review any discussion points.

Man, good on ya Chef! :)

Btw, if you can get the NAV system working I would be interested to know how..

[Iron Chef]

90LAN - the specs from Japan are slightly better, on paper at least, and shipping is definitely cheaper. You can bring in UK ones if you prefer, but I suspect most will come from Japan.

NightRyder - wow good spotting, son! I'm quite surprised at that one - I thought they might be in the mirrors, but obviously not. I suspect they'd have to drill a hole in the guards and fit aftermarket ones, so I'll make sure they use Honda ones off another model at least, rather than bastardising it with VT Commodore repeater lights or something lol.

As for Sat Nav - getting it working would probably cost more than a decent aftermarket one anyway, so not worth the hassle.

[NightRyder]

Hey Iron Chef, I agree, I think the NAV system might not be worth it as you mentioned.

If I am right, the EU civics front guards are the same as the EP's therefore they already have these blinkers readily available if the boys at your compliance centre were to drill holes in the sides.
I noticed some of the UK EP3's have blinkers on their mirrors...why JDM don't have them, no idea! *sigh*

Anyway, keep us posted man!

[TypeG]

i hope it is not japan as japan hardly drive so many km for a 01 model

[TheFranchise]

unbelievable, very beautiful car!

I, along with many many others here will be watching the process of this EP3 very very closely. Maybe once everything is done and its full steam ahead there will be many more potential EP3 owners out there (i'd be interested forsure).

Top effort Iron Chef! Enjoy the car once its on the road!

DB

[Iron Chef]

Type G - Actually many of them DO clock up reasonable kms in cars in Japan - but they're also skilled at winding back odometers ;)

Like most places, there are plenty of genuine low km cars around, but you pay for them accordingly. Personally, I'd rather have a genuine 69000km car than a 40,000km car that has had the odometer wound back.

[industrie]

the car itself is a rocket around the track...that car will own many!!!

[NightRyder]

It is pretty hard for them to wound back the odometer these days, especially because most cars (like the EP) now use electronic reading and not the usual manual type that exists in older cars. If they were to attempt to wound back these electronic ones, the module potentially just fries and dies, hence the car cannot be registered or officially deemed drivable as its Km's travelled is undetermined.
I guess the only way they would get around that would be to replace the whole dash cluster with a new one but even that is then questonable....

From what I heard, the Japanese people are very picky in what they drive, if it is not made in Japan or Germany then chances are they would sell their cars after 2 years fairly quickly. And as a result, most of the cars will have low Km's ranging from 20,000 to 60,000Kms.

Iron Chef, can I ask how much is the car itself? before adding the importation costs etc?

[Iron Chef]

NightRyder - you forget that Japan is home to probably the greatest per capita number of computer geeks in the world lol. Changing a digital odometer in Japan costs around $250 and takes all of about 5 minutes and it's almost totally untraceable. Sad but true. It pays to buy a car with service records...

The way registration works in Japan is that you get 3 years' worth when you buy the car, and then you buy it in two-year lots after that. Back in the boom period of the early 90s, cars were considered worthless at 3 years of age, but belts have tightened significantly in Japan since then, and the norm is for cars to be re-registered and sold at around the 5 year mark these days, and my car is a case in point. So 69,000km on a 5 year old car is hardly unusual.

For the first time ever, cars in Japan, particularly turbo RWDs, are holding their value exceptionally well. When I worked at the auctions there back in 2000, I bought a 1998 R34 Skyline for 1.25 million yen for a customer. I actually paid 1.306 million for basically the same car in March this year (and that was my own drive car..).

Ball park prices for EP3s seem to be in the 1.4-1.5 million yen mark (included in this is 100,000 in FOB charges in Japan) for ones in good nick. I think I said $16K higher up, which is around about right given the current exchange rate.

[kn1ghtm4r3]

iron chef you make me very jealous hahaa

nice ride man =)

[matt]

i hope it is not japan as japan hardly drive so many km for a 01 model

it is a jdm one, see the 8400rpm redline, this car has a K20A in it (tho 215hp i believe) while the UK ones have a K20A2 with 7900rpm redline.

[lovesil]

it looks very tempting if the driveaway price comes down to around 26 - 27K. I wonder after the compliance has past, how long the entire process will take to import one?

[Spicey]

Nice, I have been looking for where to import these everywhere!!! Geoff from prestige said he couldn't get one for me!!! I even looked into getting one from the UK (pleased I didn't now as I didn't know they had different engines!)

Is your car a personal import or did you go though a import company!? If you went through a company, who was it??? and if it was personal can you get me a white one please:p

Who compliances them in Aus????

[NightRyder]

Iron Chef - Oh I see, so it is possible somehow?...gosh...then with all those cars for auction to be sold off to overseas buyers, how do you know if one has not been tampered with etc?...what would you have to go by?

I was checking out one fo those auction sites, obviously cannot read it but some go up to even around $20,000 when converted to AUD.
I know a japanese guy who said that the less Km ones normally cost around that much so I guess prices range from 16K to 20K AUD.

Would be interested to see how it all goes bud, good luck with it and like I mentioned, keep us posted! :wave:

Black one looks nice...*drool*

[Encor3]

i would also like to know how u imported, could u pm me please?

[Iron Chef]

I'm an importer myself, to answer the last question first, but really only as a hobby. I'm a school teacher by trade. The importing stuff is getting more and more busy at the moment, so I'm in the process of setting up a website and doing it all properly. I won't mention my company as it was never my intention to advertise on here, I just wanted to show you the car and let you know they were coming. If you want to know, you can ask via PM.

The company doing the compliance is Shogun in Brisbane, but they also trade as www.evidenceonline.com.au The reason they're taking this one on is because they do evidence packages so that other workshops don't have to go through the rigmarole of doing all the testing for their first cars - they basically buy the information from these guys. Please note that, other than obviously using their services, I'm not receiving anything in return for mentioning them on here or anywhere else.

Matt - you are correct. Japanese spec has more power, 158kW to be exact.

lovesil, once my car is through and they can start complying regularly, the normal timeframe for importing and complying a car is 6-8 weeks. Oh and they'd be able to comply 100 cars a year - I hope that prospect excites you all!

Spicey - they're virtually all white over there anyway. I was stoked to find a non-white one!! It's been a while since I've owned a black car, so the horror of washing it every week has faded over time! Will let you know when everything is up and running though.

NightRyder - it pays to have a VERY good buyer in Japan. The guy I use has been doing it for 12 years, so he knows what to look for. Aussie bloke too.

[shinji112]

must...win..lotto...

[BLKek]

Here's an excerpt from correspondence from one of my contacts:


Recent sales are showing round Y1300000 ($14,631.42 AUD) for 60 kms 6 speed and Y1500000 ($16,882.27 AUD) for 48kms 6 speed

:thumbsup:

[Spicey]

Compliancing and Tyes would be the killer though I spose!?

Maybe we should organise a EP3 CTR group buy with discounts :p

[Iron Chef]

BLKek - those prices you've listed are correct. The ones I wrote on the last page were FOB prices, so 1.3 million - 1.4 million car cost.

At 1.4 million FOB , that translates to $15579 for the car, then you pay approx $2000 in shipping and associated dock charges back here, $3439 to our Govt in Stamp Duty and GST, and at this stage I've allowed $4000 for compliance, although it may be a touch cheaper.

If you pay a broker to import the car, using myself as an example, that's be an extra $400, taking the total to $25733 and allowing for unexpected costs, round that to $26K. I always tend to quote a little higher. Better to overquote and get it cheaper than have costs blow out.

[shinji112]

its nuts how for the price of a jazz over here you can get a EP3 over there! the jazz must cost the price of a EG civic over there!

[Terrible One]

Wow that's cool mate.

I've found a few over in Japan that I can import but there were no RAWS workshops to do the compliancing a few months back. They have been on the SEVS register for a while, I suppose a workshop finally got around to compliancing one!

Mmm. I'm in Brisbane too...might give Shogun a call.

[Iron Chef]

It may surprise you to learn that they've been eligible for years....as a new car rather than used! Putting two and two together, you'd suspect that Honda originally had plans to bring them in, right down to an odd kW figure that didn't match with either UK or Jap spec motors, so they must've pulled the pin at some point. I just took a lot of the info from that application and re-applied for it as a used car. The eligibility as a used car only came through a month or so ago.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm waiting on a reply about eligibility for the Integra Type R sedan (DB8) and at some stage I'll also get around to doing the Accord/Torneo Euro R (CL1).

[BLKek]

As I mentioned earlier, I'm waiting on a reply about eligibility for the Integra Type R sedan (DB8).

Is this the one?

http://www.carsales.com.au/pls/carsales/!cs_content.private_vehicle?search_distance=25&keyword=type&category_id=3&current_rec=4&selected_model=10&search_type=20&state_id=-1&make_id=19&selected_region=0&used_rec=15&vehicle_id=3364952&total_rec=54&model_id=66

[Iron Chef]

^^That's the one (although it'll be closer to half that price once they become eligible - hope he sells it soon!)

[THE_MASS]

hey,
do you have any specs on the engine itself?
its a nice ride btw... love it :thumbsup:

[MURCHO]

have pmed you iron chef

[VT3C]

On a separate note, I've got an application in for Integra Type R sedans (DB8), so should hear back if they're also eligible for import too soon.

please let me know if DB8 import approval comes through !!! if you need any help in the process let me know also..

:thumbsup:

[MURCHO]

very keen to do this if it happens, definately a white one although that black one looks great

[matt]

please let me know if DB8 import approval comes through !!! if you need any help in the process let me know also..

:thumbsup:

looking for an upgrade bede?:D

[Iron Chef]

VT3C - cheers for the help. I actually got help from a regular on nissansilvia.com! Who would've thought there were Honda fans on there!! He gave me the magazine article necessary to make them eligible for import, so all the hard work is pretty much done - just have to wait for those slow-turning cogs in Canberra to grant the approval.

[Civic Type R]

You will like the EP3.
Takes a bit of getting used to the gear lever being from the old place to the dash. Seats are hell cumfy too and give a little more 'butt' space than the old EK9 recaros. O..btw, they sound nice too :P

Congrats on the purchase!

[MURCHO]

i so want one! a nice championship white one!!!

[Spicey]

Seems like everyone wants a white one :P

What colors are available Iron Chef??? White, Black and Red I would have thought!?

[NightRyder]

Yeah I think the 'butt' space was widened for the european market. Since the old EK9 ones were a bit tight. Not that I am saying that the europeans have bigger asses.... :)

Can imagine how a sumo wrestler would fit.......


You will like the EP3.
Takes a bit of getting used to the gear lever being from the old place to the dash. Seats are hell cumfy too and give a little more 'butt' space than the old EK9 recaros. O..btw, they sound nice too :P

Congrats on the purchase!

[tseesinngwailo]

Man, u r lucky, I wish I could afford one haha, may have to sell the wife and kid.. :) Please do a write up when you get it, would be interesting to see life on the road with one, Cheers, Chris

[vtegra]

thats pretty mad, wuldnt mind 1 of them

[TypeRice]

from the front it looks like a jazz
from the back it looks like an odyssey

[Iron Chef]

TypeRice, please tell me you know the two girls in your avatar...

Anyway back on track, Spicey I think black, white and silver are the three colours I've seen, with almost all of them being white. Not sure on red.

Will be doing a write up as soon as I get it on the road, hopefully for HPI magazine too.

[Perry]

nice pics dude for the ppl in syd ages ago there were 1 roaming around in parra area black, dont know if the owner still has it or not

[NightRyder]

Perry, are you certain it was an EP3?...I've been in this area for a while and still no see...hehe

anyhow, Iron Chef please do tell how it all goes...now that I sold my car I am open for suggestions on what car to buy...haha



nice pics dude for the ppl in syd ages ago there were 1 roaming around in parra area black, dont know if the owner still has it or not

[Perry]

Perry, are you certain it was an EP3?...I've been in this area for a while and still no see...hehe

anyhow, Iron Chef please do tell how it all goes...now that I sold my car I am open for suggestions on what car to buy...haha

For 100% certain it was an EP3 this was like way way back ago, I remember one of the member mention it was an private import sooo yeah

[NightRyder]

Damn...that would have been a sight!

Wonder if it was from UK or NZ, anyhow a nice car indeed......


For 100% certain it was an EP3 this was like way way back ago, I remember one of the member mention it was an private import sooo yeah

[Perry]

yeah i was like WTF a real EP3 in syd =)