Anyone in Staffordshire with a DC5?
- Thread starter DP.
- Start date
well im looking to buy one but I haven't even seen one in the flesh yet hahaha..
I was originally looking at the older DC2 but seems you need to pay like 10k to get a decent one (imported) and then i saw the DC5's for an extra 5kish.
Since then I have just fell in love with them... look absolutely fantastic and the more i read up the more I want one!!! Have been looking around and cant decide whether to arrange to have one imported especially or to travel to a garage and buy one thats already in the country.
I was originally looking at the older DC2 but seems you need to pay like 10k to get a decent one (imported) and then i saw the DC5's for an extra 5kish.
Since then I have just fell in love with them... look absolutely fantastic and the more i read up the more I want one!!! Have been looking around and cant decide whether to arrange to have one imported especially or to travel to a garage and buy one thats already in the country.
i would say that buying a fully prepared DC5 already imported is a hell of alot easier. The SVA test is already done, the car is there in the flesh so you know exactly what you are buying + you can have that all important test drive to make sure its sound as a pound 
I know a couple of the lads on here have imported them themselves and by reading the posts its proved to be a real nightmare on some occasions with hidden costs. I'm not saying it cant be done but from reading about it it can be a bit of a gamble. Another + point about buying from a dealership is that you have a 'little' fallback if things dont go according to plan as i found out. The dealership that i went through were an absolute jem and fixed the 'teething' problems without even so much as a mumble, including driving all the way down from Ipswich (180mile from were i live) with a trailer, picking the car up, fixing it and then paying for my expenses/trainfare if i hadn't had gone through a dealer i would be cira £800 out of pocket
I know a couple of the lads on here have imported them themselves and by reading the posts its proved to be a real nightmare on some occasions with hidden costs. I'm not saying it cant be done but from reading about it it can be a bit of a gamble. Another + point about buying from a dealership is that you have a 'little' fallback if things dont go according to plan as i found out. The dealership that i went through were an absolute jem and fixed the 'teething' problems without even so much as a mumble, including driving all the way down from Ipswich (180mile from were i live) with a trailer, picking the car up, fixing it and then paying for my expenses/trainfare if i hadn't had gone through a dealer i would be cira £800 out of pocket
yea I am kinda edging towards the easier option... but not decided yet.. currently in contact with a couple of importers.. but its the waiting time thats mainly putting me off importing
What 'teething' problems did you have with yours? and what was the dealership? website? they sound quite customer friendly
What 'teething' problems did you have with yours? and what was the dealership? website? they sound quite customer friendly
Thanks T666YPR for the picture.
Can anyone PLEASE give me the part nos. for the HID bulb and the part that the bulb clips into? These are the parts that we need. Dealer faxed Honda UK, Honda UK say "it's not our problem, it's Honda Europe", Honda Europe say "it's not our problem, it's Honda Japan", so we await a fax response from Honda Japan :roll:
Dave at Steels is on holiday this week so unfortunately he can't help and i know he would sort it straight away. Is there anyone else who can help?
Can anyone PLEASE give me the part nos. for the HID bulb and the part that the bulb clips into? These are the parts that we need. Dealer faxed Honda UK, Honda UK say "it's not our problem, it's Honda Europe", Honda Europe say "it's not our problem, it's Honda Japan", so we await a fax response from Honda Japan :roll:
Dave at Steels is on holiday this week so unfortunately he can't help and i know he would sort it straight away. Is there anyone else who can help?
Yep, i know, i know but, when we took the car to our local Honda dealer, the technician explained what had happened.
Apparently, the HID bulbs have to be screwed and then snapped into their holders. When the HIDs were put back in after the SVA, the bulbs were only screwed in. This led to the connection between the bulb and holder getting so hot (due to the high voltage arcing) that the plastic part of the bulbs and holders started to melt together :shock: This would explain the smoke filling up the headlamp - a symptom that other people on this board have experienced.
Anyway, the dealer says that we need new bulbs and holders (which have the leads built into them) - they haven't ruled out that we MAY need new power packs, due to the strain that they have been put under, but for now we'll take it one step at a time, as per the dealer's advice.
The good news is that David at Steels has sorted out all of the parts for us (top guy, who seems to be the only person in the UK who knows his stuff about DC5's AND who cares about the customer) and a big mention goes to the importer, Magnum Motors, who have agreed to foot the bill without any hesitation at all - great people to deal with, who did a very good price on our DC5, so give them a try, especially if you're looking for a silver one with a nice body kit on 8)
Parts arrive next week so i'll keep you posted. Thanks for everyone's help.
Apparently, the HID bulbs have to be screwed and then snapped into their holders. When the HIDs were put back in after the SVA, the bulbs were only screwed in. This led to the connection between the bulb and holder getting so hot (due to the high voltage arcing) that the plastic part of the bulbs and holders started to melt together :shock: This would explain the smoke filling up the headlamp - a symptom that other people on this board have experienced.
Anyway, the dealer says that we need new bulbs and holders (which have the leads built into them) - they haven't ruled out that we MAY need new power packs, due to the strain that they have been put under, but for now we'll take it one step at a time, as per the dealer's advice.
The good news is that David at Steels has sorted out all of the parts for us (top guy, who seems to be the only person in the UK who knows his stuff about DC5's AND who cares about the customer) and a big mention goes to the importer, Magnum Motors, who have agreed to foot the bill without any hesitation at all - great people to deal with, who did a very good price on our DC5, so give them a try, especially if you're looking for a silver one with a nice body kit on 8)
Parts arrive next week so i'll keep you posted. Thanks for everyone's help.
ahh, if you mentioned that you had gone to steels wouldnt have said anything :wink: The only thing is that both DP and myslef have had very bad experiences with certain dealerships being charged silly money and diagnosing the wrong problem meaning more money being parted from are pockets but steels, need we say anymore 8)