So you wanna buy an EP3?

You don't know meee

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Originally Posted by -JC-

Hey Guys,

My name is Joe and I made a mistake . . . I sold a fantastic Corolla Sportivo I had owned from new and put about $17k into in order to buy a new Mitsubishi Triton (In my defence, Im 33 and have 2 kids . . . lol).

So, fast forward 2 years and the Triton spends it's last night at my house tonight after being sold, and I was about to dive straight into buying another Sportivo, when I came across this healthy dose of goodness you call the EP3.

I've read all the buyers guides etc and Im pretty confident that I know what I want. I would dearly love to drive one before getting on a plane to head to Sydney to have a look at them (I live on the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane), so if anyone has one in Brisbane, or within a few hundred km's for that matter, I would love to catch up with you.

Otherwise, talk to me about the pro's and con's of these things? It will be my daily (20km round trip to work and back each day), but it will also be my weekend toy (we already have the family Camry), so I'm keen to get it going a little harder than the factory intended.

Any tips/help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

JC

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Hey Buddy I am living on the southside of Brisbane..

About 6 months ago I was also hunting for a Car, originally I was looking @ the Fn2 Type R Civic and a couple of other small cars, when my mate suggested checking out the Ep3. Instantly liked it and as i researched it more, the more i was convinced i had to have one.
As there are F/All for sale in brisbane I sourced a couple out from the sydney area then narrowed it down to two..
Hopped on a plane, Chose the niceest one and drove home the next day..
I have owned it for around two months now and am loving everyminute of it...!!! Atm all i have done is put the injen intake on it and im happy as cant really find ANYTHING i dont like about the car....

OhHHH Check the engine mounts out !!!!!!!!

chuck out the rust under the car as well

All good thanks guys, ended up flying to Sydney myself and picked up an 05 from IMG, engine mounts are fine, no rust, 48k on clock, couldn't be happier, bloody fantastic car!

joe could you give a comparison with the sportivo for us?

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Originally Posted by unl3a5h

joe could you give a comparison with the sportivo for us?

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Sure, but to be honest they are chalk and cheese. Performance/Handling wise the EP3 is pretty much on par with my Corolla (probably slightly better in all departments). Having said that, the Corolla had: CES Intake, Headers and Exhaust, Koni Shocks, Whiteline Springs, Front Strut Brace, Camber Bolts etc etc etc, where my EP3 is stock.

I tossed up buying another Sportivo but I would have had to pay around $15-$16k for one with 80,000ks on the clock and then spend another $10k making it go as hard and handle anything like an EP3. I didn't spend anywhere near that on my EP3.

Overall, the Sportivo is a Corolla with a great engine and a leather interior, it wasn't ever marketed as a 'Type R' kind of car, whereas the EP3 was a much more purpose built performance car. I don't really have a bad word to say about my Corolla, I loved every minute of owning it, 100,000ks without an issue whatsoever, but it isn't in the same league as the EP3 performance wise (stock for stock anyway), the EP3 is better at everything (except the turning circle, but thats the price you pay for having an LSD in a front driver).

If your looking for a comfortable, practical car with a great engine and chassis that you can make handle when you throw a bit of coin at it, buy the Corolla. If you want a performance car, buy the EP3.

how much did you get it for? just wondering due to dealerships listing at 20k but eventually dropping it to 17k, wondering if you had a similar case