hhkb
Senior Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Hi 
I recently came into ownership of a new FL5 Civic Type R and figured I owe my friends here a success story.
---
Early years
When I got my license my mother wanted me to be more independent so she bought me an Acura RSX. I loved the car, attending Honda-Tech car meets, high school parking lot meets, Hot Import Nights, etc. This car was also started my interest in autocross. I had some basic mods, then through some contacts I had a turbocharger installed. I was addicted to boost, and boost lag was thrilling even though it could be indicative of a bad tune. Nonetheless, I became hungry for power so I continued to throw thousands of dollars at it.
At this time the Integra Type R was always an elusive dream; I could never own one. It's a dream car. They're expensive. Rare. Just something you'd see in an Option or Super Street magazine.
---
Late twenties
My immaturity led me to falling behind in life -- while my friends were graduating and progressing in their careers, I was a failing nomad, unable to decide on a career path and just jumped between various minimum wage jobs. I was approaching mid to late twenties by this point and I really needed to get my stuff together.
I made a lot of costly mistakes, both financially and with my closest relationships. I was tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and abandoning friends left and right out of selfishness. Curiously enough, I found forgiveness and trust through my workplace. I was accepted for all of my mistakes and given the firm guidance I needed to grow up. Long story short, I got my life together.
I swung to become more conservative with my finances so I sold my RSX and picked up a boring old Civic which I would drive for 10+ years and still own to this day. 110,000 miles and it's still running strong with no issues, just ongoing maintenance.
---
Thirties
The 10 years of Civic ownership were quiet but full of personal and professional growth. I paid off tens of thousands of dollars of debt, paid off my school loans, started contributing to my retirement funds, got married, and eventually became a software engineer. But this is not the success story we're here for.
2017 is when the Civic Type R (FK8) was introduced to the U.S. market. I was enamored but still working up the career ladder. The dream remained -- I would never own a Type R.
2022 comes around and the FL5 is announced. Wait, I have a stable career and I have some money? Let's go get one! I joined this community early on, seeing the posts of the first batch of FL5s coming into the port of Richmond. I called every dealer on the west coast hoping to snag one or be put on a waitlist.
Once the FL5 began selling, $25,000 dealership markups plagued the community and my hopes were dashed again. I guess I'm driving the 10 year old Civic forever.
Mid Thirties
I ended up getting a ND2 Miata Club. Boy, what a fun car! I took it to the autocross a few times and every lap was full of smiles. The car was perfectly balanced, the shifter feel was precise, and the light weight made the car feel like a true sports car especially in a world of bloated cars. I sold it after three months to fund my next home. I can't for the life of me find any pics of that car in my photo library but it was white -- exciting.
Since a few months had passed since the FL5 launch I figured dealership markups would have subsided. Nope, still unobtainable -- $15-20,000 markups. So I looked at my bucket list of cars and figured I could get to work on that. My local BMW dealership had a 2024 BMW M3 allocation at MSRP so I ended up ordering one.
The M3 lasted six months in my garage. Don't get me wrong, it's a feat of engineering -- it's comfortable, luxurious, powerful, playful, has tons of grip, the list goes on. I took it on a 2,000 mile road trip, autocrossed it, tracked it, and performed daily duties with it but I never connected with the car. It just... never excited me.
End Game
After selling the M3 I checked back on the FL5 market and hit the phones. I called around 50 dealerships across the nation sweeping from West coast to East Coast. The Motoring Obsession (MO) and CivicXI community came through strong and multiple potential-MSRP leads were thrown my way (if you haven't checked out the Motoring Obsession website and Discord community I highly recommend it as everyone is incredibly open, friendly, and willing to help in so many ways!). Some were bait-and-switch, some were sold just hours before my phone call, but just a few more leads later I had finally secured one!
Performance Honda of Ohio were great to work with, especially Jenny.
---
Final thoughts
So my history of cars includes a turbo'd RSX, a boring Honda Civic, a phenomenal ND2 Miata Club, the perfect G80 M3, and now this FL5.
The FL5 brings everything together in a package that fills my desires in a sports car. It has the turbo noise and lag from a turbo'd RSX, the amenities and low maintenance costs of a boring Civic, the joyous handling and shifter of a Miata, and the wide breadth of capabilities of a M3.
But this isn't the success story we were waiting for.
The real success story: MSRP + no sales tax in Oregon = $46,861.73 out the door.
---
Thank you to the CivicXI community and Motoring Obsession community for being so helpful and especially for keeping my dream alive. To be honest, though, once I have enough money for a 911 GT3 I'm jumping ship. Until then I will smile through every mile in this Type R.
I recently came into ownership of a new FL5 Civic Type R and figured I owe my friends here a success story.
---
Early years
When I got my license my mother wanted me to be more independent so she bought me an Acura RSX. I loved the car, attending Honda-Tech car meets, high school parking lot meets, Hot Import Nights, etc. This car was also started my interest in autocross. I had some basic mods, then through some contacts I had a turbocharger installed. I was addicted to boost, and boost lag was thrilling even though it could be indicative of a bad tune. Nonetheless, I became hungry for power so I continued to throw thousands of dollars at it.
At this time the Integra Type R was always an elusive dream; I could never own one. It's a dream car. They're expensive. Rare. Just something you'd see in an Option or Super Street magazine.
---
Late twenties
My immaturity led me to falling behind in life -- while my friends were graduating and progressing in their careers, I was a failing nomad, unable to decide on a career path and just jumped between various minimum wage jobs. I was approaching mid to late twenties by this point and I really needed to get my stuff together.
I made a lot of costly mistakes, both financially and with my closest relationships. I was tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and abandoning friends left and right out of selfishness. Curiously enough, I found forgiveness and trust through my workplace. I was accepted for all of my mistakes and given the firm guidance I needed to grow up. Long story short, I got my life together.
I swung to become more conservative with my finances so I sold my RSX and picked up a boring old Civic which I would drive for 10+ years and still own to this day. 110,000 miles and it's still running strong with no issues, just ongoing maintenance.
---
Thirties
The 10 years of Civic ownership were quiet but full of personal and professional growth. I paid off tens of thousands of dollars of debt, paid off my school loans, started contributing to my retirement funds, got married, and eventually became a software engineer. But this is not the success story we're here for.
2017 is when the Civic Type R (FK8) was introduced to the U.S. market. I was enamored but still working up the career ladder. The dream remained -- I would never own a Type R.
2022 comes around and the FL5 is announced. Wait, I have a stable career and I have some money? Let's go get one! I joined this community early on, seeing the posts of the first batch of FL5s coming into the port of Richmond. I called every dealer on the west coast hoping to snag one or be put on a waitlist.
Once the FL5 began selling, $25,000 dealership markups plagued the community and my hopes were dashed again. I guess I'm driving the 10 year old Civic forever.
Mid Thirties
I ended up getting a ND2 Miata Club. Boy, what a fun car! I took it to the autocross a few times and every lap was full of smiles. The car was perfectly balanced, the shifter feel was precise, and the light weight made the car feel like a true sports car especially in a world of bloated cars. I sold it after three months to fund my next home. I can't for the life of me find any pics of that car in my photo library but it was white -- exciting.
Since a few months had passed since the FL5 launch I figured dealership markups would have subsided. Nope, still unobtainable -- $15-20,000 markups. So I looked at my bucket list of cars and figured I could get to work on that. My local BMW dealership had a 2024 BMW M3 allocation at MSRP so I ended up ordering one.
The M3 lasted six months in my garage. Don't get me wrong, it's a feat of engineering -- it's comfortable, luxurious, powerful, playful, has tons of grip, the list goes on. I took it on a 2,000 mile road trip, autocrossed it, tracked it, and performed daily duties with it but I never connected with the car. It just... never excited me.
End Game
After selling the M3 I checked back on the FL5 market and hit the phones. I called around 50 dealerships across the nation sweeping from West coast to East Coast. The Motoring Obsession (MO) and CivicXI community came through strong and multiple potential-MSRP leads were thrown my way (if you haven't checked out the Motoring Obsession website and Discord community I highly recommend it as everyone is incredibly open, friendly, and willing to help in so many ways!). Some were bait-and-switch, some were sold just hours before my phone call, but just a few more leads later I had finally secured one!
Performance Honda of Ohio were great to work with, especially Jenny.
---
Final thoughts
So my history of cars includes a turbo'd RSX, a boring Honda Civic, a phenomenal ND2 Miata Club, the perfect G80 M3, and now this FL5.
The FL5 brings everything together in a package that fills my desires in a sports car. It has the turbo noise and lag from a turbo'd RSX, the amenities and low maintenance costs of a boring Civic, the joyous handling and shifter of a Miata, and the wide breadth of capabilities of a M3.
But this isn't the success story we were waiting for.
The real success story: MSRP + no sales tax in Oregon = $46,861.73 out the door.
---
Thank you to the CivicXI community and Motoring Obsession community for being so helpful and especially for keeping my dream alive. To be honest, though, once I have enough money for a 911 GT3 I'm jumping ship. Until then I will smile through every mile in this Type R.
Sponsored
. All kidding aside this is a great post. It sounds like you’ve came a long way. Congrats on the FL5 SP!
