Jethro
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 2,133
- Location
- Rathfriland
I'm not really sure where to start with this, but I'll try to briefly summarise.
Since selling my Porsche 911 Turbo and MK2 Escort to clear my mortgage I basically fell out of love with having a "nice" car and drove a Honda Civic 2.2 Type S. The Type S was meant as a gap car but it has been my little work horse from 2016 and just wants to keep going.
I had a plan in my head from last summer to buy a Tesla Model 3 Performance, the idea of 0-60 in 3 seconds just blew my mind, along with free charging at work the plan seemed perfectly workable.
My thinking was to buy it around March time and that plan lasted until 4 weeks ago when I was checking the prices of 1.6 idtec Civics for my wife and a 2018 Civic 1.6 idtec popped up.
Suddenly the wise head figured out that I could lose literally thousands in depreciation. on a Teslla. I thought about it for a day or 2 and then decided to sell my Type S and buy the sensible Civic at £8k and drive away merrily at it. I still had not fallen back in love with nice cars yet remember !
Anyway, I got the cash out and was ready to book a flight and ferry until an HPI check showed it as a category N write off, the owner did not inform me of this so the deal turned sour.
For the last few months some news has seriously played on my mind,. A work colleague of mine that started the same time as me was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Many a great evening we had on the lash after work and I found it difficult to get the news out of my head.
So after readng through many members cars threads and I will admit the @CharlySkunkWeed GTR thread got me thinking . Why am I trying to save money and for who ? Just enjoy it and have something nice to look at in the drive or something nice again to put a smile on my face when I open up the garage.
I realised then that I was back in love with the idea of a nice car so the search for a Type R Civic was stepped up a gear.
I had looked at FK2 Civics about a year ago and they never really left my head, even though my head was infected with Tesla thoughts and other silly things.
So a few weeks back I narrowed my search down to a few different Type R Civics . I was determined to buy privately as any dealer was just reading off exactly what information I could see on screen in front of me and trying to push finance and plans and all the other dung.
I made that many phone calls to different owners that I was confusing myself and them with questions , getting names , locations, mileage etc mixed up .
I knew I had a budget and now FK8 Civics were within my range so it was narrowed down to a red one or a blue one, both were the same age and pretty similar miles, after more calls and haggling...... the blue one was the winner.
I headed over on Tuesday to collect it and was back home again by 7.30 Tueday night and very happy owner.
There's a lot to learn with different suspension settings etc
New plan is have fun and enjoy the Type R and keep the old Type S for work commutes and general duties.
Brief spec..
2018 FK8 Type R Civic Turbo
44,000 miles with FHSH
20" rims with new 255/35 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres
Mishimoto air intake system
Alcantara lower centre console retrim
Alcantara instrumrnt panel retrim
Brembo calipers replaced under warranty (laquer peel)
A/C condensor replaced under warranty (fins corroded)
For the first time in many years the whole of Saturday was spent cleaning ,claying, polishing and waxing.
Over the years I have always waited until I gave my new cars their first deep clean before I knew exactly what I had bought. We've all bought cars that have something untoward about them, be it a strange noise, sprayed panel, a run in the paint , dents/scuffs or hidden damage, but I can honestly say that I have never had a car that is so perfect in my opinion.
Few pics from a spin out today
Since selling my Porsche 911 Turbo and MK2 Escort to clear my mortgage I basically fell out of love with having a "nice" car and drove a Honda Civic 2.2 Type S. The Type S was meant as a gap car but it has been my little work horse from 2016 and just wants to keep going.
I had a plan in my head from last summer to buy a Tesla Model 3 Performance, the idea of 0-60 in 3 seconds just blew my mind, along with free charging at work the plan seemed perfectly workable.
My thinking was to buy it around March time and that plan lasted until 4 weeks ago when I was checking the prices of 1.6 idtec Civics for my wife and a 2018 Civic 1.6 idtec popped up.
Suddenly the wise head figured out that I could lose literally thousands in depreciation. on a Teslla. I thought about it for a day or 2 and then decided to sell my Type S and buy the sensible Civic at £8k and drive away merrily at it. I still had not fallen back in love with nice cars yet remember !
Anyway, I got the cash out and was ready to book a flight and ferry until an HPI check showed it as a category N write off, the owner did not inform me of this so the deal turned sour.
For the last few months some news has seriously played on my mind,. A work colleague of mine that started the same time as me was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Many a great evening we had on the lash after work and I found it difficult to get the news out of my head.
So after readng through many members cars threads and I will admit the @CharlySkunkWeed GTR thread got me thinking . Why am I trying to save money and for who ? Just enjoy it and have something nice to look at in the drive or something nice again to put a smile on my face when I open up the garage.
I realised then that I was back in love with the idea of a nice car so the search for a Type R Civic was stepped up a gear.
I had looked at FK2 Civics about a year ago and they never really left my head, even though my head was infected with Tesla thoughts and other silly things.
So a few weeks back I narrowed my search down to a few different Type R Civics . I was determined to buy privately as any dealer was just reading off exactly what information I could see on screen in front of me and trying to push finance and plans and all the other dung.
I made that many phone calls to different owners that I was confusing myself and them with questions , getting names , locations, mileage etc mixed up .
I knew I had a budget and now FK8 Civics were within my range so it was narrowed down to a red one or a blue one, both were the same age and pretty similar miles, after more calls and haggling...... the blue one was the winner.
I headed over on Tuesday to collect it and was back home again by 7.30 Tueday night and very happy owner.
There's a lot to learn with different suspension settings etc
New plan is have fun and enjoy the Type R and keep the old Type S for work commutes and general duties.
Brief spec..
2018 FK8 Type R Civic Turbo
44,000 miles with FHSH
20" rims with new 255/35 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres
Mishimoto air intake system
Alcantara lower centre console retrim
Alcantara instrumrnt panel retrim
Brembo calipers replaced under warranty (laquer peel)
A/C condensor replaced under warranty (fins corroded)
For the first time in many years the whole of Saturday was spent cleaning ,claying, polishing and waxing.
Over the years I have always waited until I gave my new cars their first deep clean before I knew exactly what I had bought. We've all bought cars that have something untoward about them, be it a strange noise, sprayed panel, a run in the paint , dents/scuffs or hidden damage, but I can honestly say that I have never had a car that is so perfect in my opinion.
Few pics from a spin out today
. In all seriousness, spend your money while you can enjoy it. You can always sell the car if the **** hits the fan.
good way to get yourself back into groove!
