Buying A Used Cts....

[Nick-Johnson]

All, thanks for the responses - didn't mean to bring up the heated debate of which car is better, hence my carefully worded question at the start. I still haven't had time to test a CTS yet tho which is a shame.

Back to the topic of knob head drivers (not trying to stir it up), you get them driving all sorts of cars, including the CTS! I guess you come across less of them in CTS's cos it's a much rarer and relatively unknown car. Look at all the hot hatch reviews in mags, hardly ever feature the CTS, which is unfair IMO. The praises the CTR has had from the motoring press has simply placed it at top of the shopping list of every boy racer, which doesn't help. I'm just glad the ITR was kept quiet 

Nick, what you're saying is exactly what I'm thinking (It all down to what you want from the car, I went from the CTS to a CTR as it suited my more than the Corolla. The Type-R is much more of a drivers car than the T-Sport but the Corollas the better car if you rack up the miles!). Main reason why the CTS is high on my list is I could be starting a new job soon, doing 30k miles a year as well as moving to a rough area. Want a CTR but the potential eye-watering £2400 quote for insurance and lack of sound-proofing doesn't help my 3 hour daily drive.

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Glad you found some of my info interesting do mine me asking what your buget is?

Nick

[WhiteLightning]

About £11k.

[Nick-Johnson]

Ok no problem, the reason I asked is because on the facelift models all the wheel arches are insulated this does make a big difference to the sound in side the car. A facelift car can be picked up as cheap as £13795 on the Civic forum but you will have to be patient. :)

[Fmrl]

Ok no problem, the reason I asked is because on the facelift models all the wheel arches are insulated this does make a big difference to the sound in side the car. A facelift car can be picked up as cheap as £13795 on the Civic forum but you will have to be patient.  :)

Why would a CTS appear on the Civic forum? ;)

[Nick-Johnson]

Ok no problem, the reason I asked is because on the facelift models all the wheel arches are insulated this does make a big difference to the sound in side the car. A facelift car can be picked up as cheap as £13795 on the Civic forum but you will have to be patient.  :)

Why would a CTS appear on the Civic forum? ;)

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I was talking about an 04 Civic Type-R!

[WhiteLightning]

Thanks for the info Nick, I didn't know that. Looks like I'll also have to add a facelift CTR to my list - never know, my budget might go up! But then I'd still have to overcome the insurance....

[charlaph]

This thread seems to ask the questions that I want answers to, so I'll drag it back to life rather than starting a new one.

I'm going to be test driving an 02 CTS this week with an eye to buying it. What should I be looking for and are there any specific things I should do during the test drive to highlight potential problems?

I know about the rattles, so I'll be aiming for every pothole/raised cover. I know about the noisy clutch, so I'm hoping to book a long test drive to get it up to temps and then try decelerating in the lower gears at a variety of speeds.

What else? how should the gearchange feel on the earlier cars? what about the clutch pedal? biting point etc... how much brake travel and so on.

I know it's a lot of questions and some aren't easy to answer in words without being able to gesture or imitate with noises :D but any pointers would be great. If I buy it then it'll have to last me a good few years as everyday transport so I want to avoid a lemon, even though the assured scheme will cover everything major for up to 7 years.