The Honda Civic Type R Might Be Hard To Get When It Comes To America

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Photo credit Freddy Hernandez for Jalopnik

Brace yourselves, the Honda Civic Type R is coming. The once forbidden fruit will brave its way across the ocean so that we in the Land of the Free may finally enjoy the ultimate Honda hoon-machine. With an estimated price around $35,000, it won’t be too bad when the payments kick in, yo—if you can find one.

I have been told by a dealer contact that these will be incredibly limited; some dealers may only get one, while other dealers may get none at all. It’s likely the Civic Type R will be a bit more difficult to get your hands on compared to other uber-compacts. You may want to start calling your local Honda store to see when they are taking deposits.

According to Honda, the first batch of Civic Type R hatchbacks will reach dealerships late spring. While Honda has not yet given specific pricing, they did say the Type R will have an MSRP in the mid-$30,000 range. That seems about right compared to other 300+ horsepower pocket rockets that are on the market, like the Ford Focus RS, Volkswagen Golf R and Subaru WRX STI.

A six-speed manual will be the only transmission offered. And unlike the competition which allows you to chose various trims and options the Type R will exclusivity come in Touring trim.

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Honda says the Civic Type R is set to make its American debut at the New York International Auto Show on April 12. Of course, the Civic Type R isn’t for everyone with its over the top aero kit, and front-wheel-drive layout, but you know what they say: “It ain’t a tight car if it’s not a Type R.”

Tom McParland

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Tom is a contributing writer for Jalopnik and runs AutomatchConsulting.com. He saves people money and takes the hassle out of buying or leasing a car. (Facebook.com/AutomatchConsulting)

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DISCUSSION

Goofnik

3/17/17 10:27AM

I’ve played the “low/super-low” allocation game for the best part of 15 years now. Getting very desirable cars (including Porsche GT cars) isn’t too hard so long as you understand how the game works, and are willing to play.

Here we go:

First, identify the 10 largest dealers in your area by sales volume. The more cars a dealer sells (particularly of the model you want to buy), the more allocations they’re going to get from the manufacturer. This means they have more cars being allocated to them to sell to you.
Next, call up these dealers (ask for the general manager) and see if they are willing to take a fully refundable deposit of $5,000 for a 2018 (or 2019) Civic Type R that you will custom order. The fully refundable is key. Even if they say “You only need $500, but it’s non-refundable”, move on. If a dealer wants more than $5,000 also move on — $5K is all you need (save for a few US markets) for Porsche GT cars, so if I Honda dealer wants more than that, they can pound sand.
They’re willing to take a deposit? See if they’re also willing to sell for MSRP. Not over MSRP. Not a penny under MSRP. Save for certain markets, there is no markup on Porsche GT cars. If you can get a GT3 or GT4 for MSRP, why the hell should you pay a premium for a Honda (or VW or Ford, etc.)?
Got your list of who will play ball? Great. Go place your deposit(s) and get everything in writing. For some cars, yes, you may want to place several. For a Lancer Evolution VIII MR, the local dealer knew he had the allocation, I was first, so I only placed one and was one of the easiest purchases ever. For a Boss 302, I had to place three (and ended up not buying one). For a Cayman GT4, I placed five (two turned into allocations, but I didn’t buy one). For a Boxster Spyder I also placed five, and was lucky to actually end up getting one.
For super-high demand cars, you want your deposits in as early as possible. For example, if you want a 991.2 GT3 RS, you really wanted your deposit in around this time in 2016. At this point, those cars are already mostly spoken for. GT2? They’re gone unless someone backs out. Ferrari 488? Hahaha! This isn’t about money or when you got your deposit in. That’s a very different game that’s played a very different way from every other manufacturer.