The Persuit of Integra - Import or Buy Private/Tade?

[mil1lion]

Hi everyone. I've been lurking for the past few weeks getting a good indication of the Honda Integra DC5. I've currently got a Honda Civic vti 96 model with B16A2 engine. It's been a great car to me, still only has 64k on the clock as was mostly used at weekends only, but i've had it over 7years now so looking to upgrade.

I love the look of the Honda Integra DC5, it seems like the ideal upgrade from the vti. I'm looking at getting the Champion White model with red interior in the C pack. I have to admit i'm at a real crosroads as to which route to go down though. I've been searching the classifieds for a little over a month but still not found the right car at the right price as yet.

I'm really torn between whether to buy from a private dealer, trade dealer or just get the thing imported.

Private Seller

Possibly the best deals can be had buying from a private seller, but there are risks. It may come down to getting an RAC or AA inspection done on the car to get a professional opinion. The trouble is i'm less likely to get a car with low mileage if it's already been driven in the UK. Ideally I want a car with similar or less mileage to my vti. I also have concerns about getting one that hasn't been undersealed since being imported to the UK, not many private ads list the car as undersealed.

Trade Seller

Still the same issue with mileage and whether it's been undersealed. More likely to be more expensive because they need the mark up. On the other hand they generally offer at least 3 months warranty for a bit more peace of mind.

Importers

This is the one i'm toying with. This way i'm more likely to get a low mileage version and I can get it undersealed when it arrives. It's probably the more expensive route though, and i'm not sure how long it would typically take to source one. If an importer has one in stock then all well and good, but I can see the white one selling pretty soon tbh.

So i'm not sure whether I should just keep looking or go for the import option. What are peoples experience with buying an Integra?

I've seen a few at SVA imports but i'm a little suspicious that they show a few Integras with the same mileage. I've also read mixed reviews of them, plus they seem pretty expensive too.

Torque GT have some great reviews, albeit a good 5 hours from me (Haverhill, near Cambridge). I'm not sure how long typically you can expect to wait from the day you start the search to the day it's been imported and serviced, mot'd etc and ready to drive away?

Any advice would be aprpeciated. Thanks.

 

[Aly]

If you insist on wasting money using an importer, waste it with Torque GT.

I bought mine from the forum and used the AA to do a inspection.
Do a lil research on the sellers previous posts, can sometimes give you an insight into how the car has lived its life.

 

[mil1lion]

Thanks for the advice.

I'll keep checking the forums to see what's going. I've found one on SVA imports but its £9525 for a 2001 model. I'm sure I should be able to get one for less. It has done 46000 but still seems overpriced.

I'm looking at spending about £10k for the C Pack with cat 1 alarm, undersealed and I need enough to get my ICE installed in the boot.

 

[bee123]

I too was like you when looking so what i did was look at the importers feedback and all the work which is done by them when they bring it into the UK, ie underseal fog light intergrated into cluster. Then sat and waited for the right one to come up for sale. As it happened i did not have long to wait and found one imported by Andy at 200BHP cars.

In my opinion its a waiting game, there is a lot of well looked after Tegs out there its just finding the right one for you.

Welcome to the site

 

[buckley 88]

I agree with Bee, after weeks of waiting for a private sale I got fed up of waiting, I then looked into importing, found a car in japland, bidding started, waited for the Yes or No phone call off my chosen importer....... I had not won it so back to scanning auctions and private sales then voila, A CW DC5 in Britain which met my criteria, previously imported by the same importer and it was a win win...... It's a wating game, take your time and something will crop up :wink:

I don't know why Aly is so negative about importing????? costs a bit more I know but If you get a good importer on the case It's well worth the extra

 

[Aly]

I don't know why Aly is so negative about importing????? costs a bit more I know but If you get a good importer on the case It's well worth the extra

Theres a few well looked after DC5's on here at good prices, they need a good home.
A DC5 is for life, not just for christmas.

-edit

Im sure someone will confirm, dont SVA Imports just import any old excremente in bulk?

If you want i can try find the username / password for the aution site the importers use if you wanna see the cars yourself? its quite interesting tbh

 

[buckley 88]

Theres a few well looked after DC5's on here at good prices, they need a good home.
A DC5 is for life, not just for christmas.

Yes I know what your saying mate but when people are willing to purchase a 10k plus Dc5 they would like a specific car, the most likely way to get that specific car would be to import (more cars, more variants, more choice)

You may be fortunate to get your desired Teg in Britain like I did but expect to bide your time, I waited 12-13 weeks for it to crop up, whatever route the individual takes It Is a good route imo

As for SVA imports..... all I will say Is do your research

:xcheers:

 

[Aly]

If you are unlucky in the private market then it can take the same amount of time as getting one imported.

I like to look at the cars when im bored, its pretty cool tbh. This is a site an importer would use and can be handy if your buying or have time to kill.

https://bzl.cis6200.jp/e/index.asp
username: W76841

Follow the steps, its in english. Then click the top part "text > picture" once youve picked the car you want to see.
Cars come on and off daily, today there are 11 integras for sale.. 3 of them DC5's. However that is normal on a sunday. Also worth mentioning that alot of the importers will only import from certain docks / locations, which narrows down the amount of DC5's you can actually buy. Its not like shooting fish in a barrel when importing a DC5, it can take months to find a car that you want and can afford, then even longer for it to be shipped.

 

[buckley 88]

lol I do this aswell..... link below:

http://www.japaneseusedcars.com/auction/auctions.htm

 

[cameroon95]

lol I do this aswell..... link below:

http://www.japaneseusedcars.com/auction/auctions.htm

Honestly mate you get ripped off when buying from a car dealer of any kind.

I bought my car private from a member on here- 04 NHB with 38k miles and its a unblemished. Paid £9000 for it, you'd be hard pressed to get that kind of car from torque gt or anyone else.

Obviously there are risks involved, you just have to do your homewrk.

 

[eg9_dc2]

the waiting game is good, but if you have the cash to splash then the amount your ready to pay should and will probably get you a good car, equally there are cars already here that have been well looked after and near new condition.

there is/was a facelift on ebay for 8k, which is a very good price and it looked spot on...well looked anyway.lol.

 

[Aly]

I remember paying just under £9,000 for mine with something like 36k miles on the clock.
To have one imported...Car of the same year (or maybe a year newer) with 45,000 miles on the clock was somthing like 11 grand OTR.

This was at the time, might be a different story now but i doubt it.


My advice would be to forget SVA Imports and get in touch with torque GT.
If i remember correctly the link i gave above is the one that everyone uses to import cars from, you can ask torque GT what ports they buy from.
That way they can source you a car but at the same time you can check it every 5 minutes if you want to and ask how much they would charge for a car OTR.

Theres always a couple of full mugen dc5's on the JDM every month, sadly they never stuck around long enuff to bid on..

 

[mil1lion]

Thanks for the replies.

Found one with 26k on the clock, was imported in 2005 by a mature man who only drives it at weekends. He had the DC 2, then traded it for a DC 5 and now has an
S2000. It's from a car dealer and it costs £9k. It comes with full service and MOT with AA inspection. It already has a CAT 1 alarm as well.

It is the blue version with blue interior, but the more I think about it the more I like the blue version. A lot easier to keep clean for one. In truth I love both the White and Blue versions anyway.

I'm test driving it on Saturday, just put a deposit down for it so it doesn't sell before I can get up there.

 

[Aly]

Nice one

You know blue is the slowest colour tho? Something to do with saving money on parts when they built the engines for them.

 

[mil1lion]

Lets hope the guys who built it were colourblind then :green:

It's also Honda approved with 12 month warranty. I just gotta check it's the C pack. I know it has air con, the windows do look tinted in the photo though. I'll have to have a good look at it anyway.

 

[Aly]

C pack is folding mirrors, push to start and rear wiper i think.

mirrors and push to start are pretty cool but the wiper looks like excrement, even if removed.

 

[PeteMTBer]

Push start was an option I think. Privacy glass, rear wiper and powed folding mirrors is what ya get.

I too went from a EK4 VTi to the DC5. When you first drive the teg you will not believe the handling!
I still miss my vti, I think its the sound I miss, as the Teg is still standard.

Definitely a good upgrade!

 

[Dan B]

Have a look on here, it's very clear to see what's going through and when

http://japautoauctions.com/aj

Username and password: guest

 

[mil1lion]

I checked out the car yesterday, and although the test drive didn't go to plan I was still impressed. It was a long 3 and a half hour journey to Stoke on Trent to check out the car over at Holdcroft Honda. It was definitely worth it though. It was the C pack as well as I thought.

I had a good look over the car. It's recently been serviced so looked really good, all fluid levels nicely topped up. The engine oil looked nice and golden. No stone chips I could see, the colour didn't look faded anywhere, the underside looked good, the alloys were in good shape too with only a minor mark here on one, the tires looked good with even tread all round, the spare tire looked good too.

Inside the car was very clean. The drivers seat was slightly freyed but nothing serious. I really loved the feel of the seats as well, you really sink into them. The electircs all work well and the air con was running good too. The seats moved nice and freely. I checked out the glove box which had a bunch of receipts and MOT certs as well as the service book. Everything looked fine in the book, regularly serviced, a few thousand miles between each years MOT.

All in all it looks to be well looked over. The clock reads 25200 odd. The owner has added a sports exhaust of some type but it doesn't stick out or anything and looks like a normal stock exhaust. The sound was find too. He also had some Eibach springs fitted and some new brake pads in 2009. I was definitely happy with what I saw though.

I took the car out for a spin. I agree with Pete, the handling felt great, very responsive. The sound isn't quiete the same as the VTI but still sounds good to me. I did notice that extra bit of torque over the VTI though which really seemed to help pulling past people. I was already doing 70 on the main road without breaking so much as a sweat. Everything was feeling good until on the main road I felt the steering was pulling slightly to the right.

I mentioned this to the dealer and hew said we'll have to get that checked out. So I pulled off the main road and turn back round at the roundabout. All of a sudden we start hearing a strange sound. We couldn't work out what it was, at first we thought it was the plate they put on the dashboard, but it wasn't. As I slowed down the sound seemed to dissapear, but then came back. We opened the windows and noticed a burning.

I'm sure you've probably guessed by now, but we had a puncture. It was on the drivers side front and obviously would explain why the car was pulling to the right. It was a proper flat as well, and it had gone down pretty quick. I can only imagine we git something somewhere but I didn't spot anything in the road. Unbelievable really. I've never had a flat in my life and I get one test driving for about 15 mins.

Hopefully the rims haven't been damaged as a result, but they'll have the tire replaced (I can't imagine it will be repairable). So what started out as a nice test drive ended sadly. Yet I still feel happy about the car. A burst tire can happen to any car so there's not too much can be done about it. I just need them to sort the tire out and check the rim for any damage. There was also some part they ordered in for one of the sensors, which they'll have done on Monday.

I just need to sort the money out now and i'm sorted. I'm very happy with how soon I have found such a car. I thought it may take a couple more months at least. It's very rare to find a motor like this in such great condition, very well looked after and such low mileage. It was definitely worth the trip. I can't wait to get it now, I have the deposit put down for it and hope to pick it up on 20th August.

I'll be sure to post pictures when I get it.

 

[buckley 88]

Brilliant news Mike, as you say the DC5 Is a enjoyable car to drive, so postive in every aspect, bad luck with the puncture but that Is only miniscule, could have happened with any car, she sounds like a good example and you sound very happy with It so win win, oh and pictures or It never happend :lol: