Buying A Car That has a history?

Worth finding out exactly what the damage was, and getting somebody who repairs them to check its been fixed properly.

Aside from that it could be a good buy, assuming the car is in as good condition as is promised

Just bide you time and wait for the right one pal.

I agree, Cat D can be very difficult to sell on. If you intend to keep it until it dies, then a Cat D can be a real bargain, but if you intend to sell it within a few years you could end up stuck with it as Beerzo says.

The bodyshop behind my work got a 50k 2001(Y) S3 for £7k on a cat D. Think the ones your looking at are worth £5k tops.

i think they can be a bargain if they've been repaired properly. a friend of mine does this for a living and he always uses genuine parts and if it's been accident damaged then they always go an a jig to check alignment.

he's just bought a 51 plate Golf GT TDI which he's repairing for his daughter to use which had been rear ended into the car in front. it needed a tailgate, rear bumper, front bumper headlights, fogs etc. the cost of the parts from VW made it an uneconomic repair but sourcing secondhand parts made it viable (tailgate complete with wiper and trim, £15 from Ebay). there are DVLA approved inspectors who will, if the repair is good enough, take the car off of Schindlers so potentially you could buy a car, get it inspected then get the cat D rescinded.

the fact that you're considering one tells me that there's other people out there considering them too and he's never had any problems selling them on. he always keeps photographic records of the repair process and is totally up front about the history so people knw exactly where they stand.

i can understand why some people can be wary of damaged repairables but at the end of the day a car is just a collection of nuts, bolts and components and as long as they're put back together with all the damaged bits replaced i can't honestly say they're any worse than any other car on the road.

as stated above, the key is to ensure you get a detailed discription and photos of what was damaged then make sure it's inspected by a qualified mechanic then start enjoying the 2 to 3 grand you've saved. just don't expect to get full book price for it when you sell it.

Be wary of write off's, even a cat d. The damage is always worse than it sounds (I.E. light damage), you be amazed at just how bad it can be. You need to find out exactly what has been damaged as it could be that the cost of repair parts, paint, labour, courtesy car etc made it uneconomical to repair. On the other hand it could have been quite a mess! I also get an independent vehicle check done on it to make sure it has been repaired properly, and ubove all remember that it will only ever be worth a maximum of 2/3 of the going rate for similar undamaged cars. Check the motors board in the community area of ebay, there is loads of advice on buying damaged/repaired cars in there and other users (traders) will give you an answer to any questions you have pretty quickly...

i used to work in a bodyshop and ive had one before but i repaired it myself, so i knew it was right. when people buy them to sell they repair them as cheap as poss to make maximum profit so you can end up with a right load of trouble- cheap parts, cheap paint, loads of filler and broken bits glued back together!. unless you are in the bodywork trade its not worth the risk.

I know of a guy up my way that bought a R34 Skyline that i assume had a history. He took it to get rolling roaded and they couldnt do it. Due to the fact it had been in a bad accident and repaired and the cars chassis or something was off and when the car was driving it was all over the palce on the rollers because something was not true and straight.
Something that you prob wouldnt be able to notice looking at the car but would obviously make a difference.

Another point to raise on this issue is how would an insurance company look at the car if it has been involved in an accident and repaired.