pdj

Hello gentlemen, as the title states I need some guidance. I'll try to keep this as short and simple as possible.

I'm 20 years old and since I just got back from a semester of studying abroad in europe, I had no intentions of buying a car...that was, until I actually got back to suburbia and had no car to get around with. One day before Christmas I was driving with my brother and he mentioned his friend was selling a fully built 2003 Civic Si (ep3). Since I used to own a 2009 Civic si and I always loved the ep3, I automatically fell in love with the idea of owning the car. I was in a trance and I HAD to have it! A test drive and a couple weeks later, it's sitting outside my house and I simply don't know if I even want it anymore.

A little about the car: 2003, 49k miles on the odo (9k on the built motor), and wayyyy too much money dumped into it. The car was built to be have a big turbo slapped on to it: stage 1 cams, LSD, stage 5 clutch, throttle body, valves, pistons, port polish, exhaust, headers, ect. ect.....

The Bad:
The car is my DD, and although it isn't extremely loud (I had the exhaust taken off and replaced with a near-stock setup) since it has very stiff motor mounts/headers EVERYTHING rattles. I took a girl out the other day and it was a bit embarrassing. I can afford to pay for the car and insurance with money that I had saved up, but if anything really big went bad I could end up being pretty broke. Other things that annoy me: having to warm the engine up for ~5 min if it's cold (different metals in engine expand at a different rate, I could mess something up if I don't warm the car up) and the fact that I feel like a ricer driving the car, and my parents keep bitching at me for buying this kind of car.

The Good:
I bought the car for less than KBB "Fair" price, since it was bought from a friend and he already had another car lined up. I have all of the receipts to what has been done to the car, they total up to about $8k not including some exterior bits and coilovers. The car has an amazing amount of potential, it could easily have 500+hp and be a 10 second car. The car was built at a very reputable shop.

So this is where you guys come in. Do I follow my enthusiast side and patiently wait until I have the funds to turbo the car? Have any of you owned built cars, have they been reliable?

Any advice is really appreciated.

s2kpdx01

Honestly, living with this thing sounds terrible. I hear a lot of "could-bes" and if i did this it would be awesome, etc. Also, the fact that it could take a dump at any point and you would be in trouble affording to fix it means to me it's a problem. Also, a 500HP FWD car is just terrible unless you are drag racing in some kind of FWD class professionally.

I would ditch it as soon as possible. I would use the money you paid for it to finance a nice reliable car if you can or buy a used fun car that is mostly stock. Good luck.

whiteflash

Sell it, asap.

EastS2k

Sell it, pick up a regular civic 5 speed DD.

S2020

East, are you a retinal surgeon? Looks like it.

QUIKAG

I agree 100%.

chubbychu

ep3 holds a special place in my heart, but if it sounds like this thing is more than you bargained for. Try to turn a profit!

TheDonEffect

No question, sell it. When it becomes that much of a pit, it isnt fun anymore, its the reason why i sold my 240sx because car payments became less stressful than an ongoing project. Ironically in this discussion, the car i bought was a new 04 ep3, my idea of a fun car i wouldnt tinker with.

pdj

Wow, these answers have (obviously) been quite one-sided. I'm probably going to drive the thing until I find somebody to take it off my hands, if worst comes to worst I'll keep the car and turn it into a beast. No but honestly, this was by far the worst impulse buy of my entire life and a lesson that I shouldn't be learning.

AngryTurtle

I want to know in what way is this car going to be better to live with by adding 350+ hp to it? If you think it is bad now...