buying a cat c car?
- Thread starter bigal23
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2013
- Messages
- 2,373
- Reaction score
- 937
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Harrogate
- Website
- www.philseagust.co.uk
I would never buy an insurance write off unless I had it checked by the AA or RAC first. Just remember when it comes to selling it you will loose even more money on it.
For insurers to decide that a 10k+ car that it's an uneconomical repair would suggest that damage was pretty high and something was bent pretty badly.
For piece of mind, I'd stay clear.
For piece of mind, I'd stay clear.
I just bought a cat d S3, there will always be knock on effects from a major repair. shortcuts taken, parts re-used when they should have been replaced etc. But you get it cheap. Mine was 8k so rock bottom S3 price, and Im prepared to sort out the niggles. Also it has 68k instead of 90/100k.
dont expect a cat car to be as good as a straight car though. they are always repaired to a minimum cost.
dont expect a cat car to be as good as a straight car though. they are always repaired to a minimum cost.
I've had a Cat C and a Cat D car before. I'd buy a CAT D again, but I wouldn't buy a Cat C.
If your not sure or dont know someone who can look then stay clear but the 10k car been wrote off must have been bad isnt true,as it doesnt take much for bags to go off ,then look at the price of a dash including airbag,seat belts,drivers airbag,then if the car is an S3 xenons,rad pack,front panel,bumper,bonnet,wings,bumper reinforcer,grille for example at least 3k's worth of parts then the labour(big expense),then the paint (big expense),and insurances normally only repair to 60/70% of cars value.
Specs of cars write cars off these days without any major structual damage.
Specs of cars write cars off these days without any major structual damage.
I'd just stay well clear of a Cat especially C write off. Why would you spend £8k on a Cat, when you could just get an extra £3k and buy a non cat? I know it probably won't be he same spec but at least you will have peace of mind your car won't start drifting to the side or any ridiculous outcome after 2-3months driving... But ey that's just my opinion anyways...
for me it was a choice between low miles and good spec vs high miles and low spec. Im finding issues now where shortcuts were taken when repairing the car which Ill have to fix but tbh I quite like tinkering and hopefully none will cost me too much money.
e.g car had adaptive bi-xenons, now has regular bi-xenons so have a warning light on dash.
e.g car had adaptive bi-xenons, now has regular bi-xenons so have a warning light on dash.
Am sure if you have 8k to spend you could loan off the rest to buy something decent, plus how does it make sense to part with 8k for a cat loss car? Would you really part over 5grand for a car that's going to give you problems just because it looks good? It just doesn't make any sense, if it was a car for MAXIMUM 3k that's worth considerably more then I'd have to say maybe an exception could be made but even so I personally wouldn't risk it, either way am not slating anyone am just stating my opinion, it doesn't make sense to me to spend so much for a car that's been involved in an accident. It's that simple lol
I done exactly that. I had 8k, I wanted an S3. boom!
it looks like an S3, drives like an S3 does everything an S3 should do. So cant really complain. Sure there are some niggles and things that need tidied up but reasonably minor and Im more content knowing I have a 60k car vs a 90/100k car. A higher mile car will have its problems too, maybe needs a clutch or suspension is on its way out.
Its very much swings and roundabouts really but I wanted nav/xenons/heated seats etc they are all expensive to retrofit so good to have them.
it looks like an S3, drives like an S3 does everything an S3 should do. So cant really complain. Sure there are some niggles and things that need tidied up but reasonably minor and Im more content knowing I have a 60k car vs a 90/100k car. A higher mile car will have its problems too, maybe needs a clutch or suspension is on its way out.
Its very much swings and roundabouts really but I wanted nav/xenons/heated seats etc they are all expensive to retrofit so good to have them.
Then mate you took a chance and turned out well for you, which I have to say well done, I had a mate that bought a Toyota celica VVTi 190bhp which were worth quite a lot a few years ago for so cheap turned out it was a cat D and the car was drifting to the side considerably he still lost out when it came to re sale and he didn't enjoy the experience. Cats aren't always going to be a walk in the park hence why I personally wouldn't advise anyone nor part away with so much cash my self for a car that's been involved in an accident
to be fair if it hadnt have drove straight and been absolutely spot on in that regard Id have walked away. Niggles are one thing but a bent chassis is another. In your friends case he shouldnt have bought it and looked for something else.
the thing with cat cars is buy cheap sell cheap. you dont get a good price on resale because you didnt pay a good price initially. Thats the idea anyway.
the thing with cat cars is buy cheap sell cheap. you dont get a good price on resale because you didnt pay a good price initially. Thats the idea anyway.
Lol well mate all I am trying to say is my own opinion, you don't always get lucky with cat cars, repaired jobs are pretty much always done to a cheap standard which you said so your self and at the end of the day for me I just wouldn't spend that much on a car that's been involved in an accident, good luck to anyone that does like I said its a gamble you might not even find anything wrong with it straight away and few months later it all comes down like thunder
VAG_BADGER
Ricers in the rear view!
And what exactly makes you think that a car hasn't been in a smash because it's not recorded on HPI? I own an insurance approved body shop and have insurance repair contracts with Aviva & Zurich. I can say that I have repaired cars that have been destroyed as part of an insurance claim and then returned back to the owner with no 'record of damage'. I've driven round in nothing but damaged repaired cars since I passed my test, with no issues whatsoever. I've also sold countless cars that have been repaired here, Cat C, D, X or unrecorded. It really pains me to see people talking about 'write offs' like they have the Ebola virus, if they've been repaired right they are back to factory standard. Even someone with no car knowledge can see if the car is a lemon and has been repaired improperly, in which case you don't buy. People that write such things as this come across, to me anyway, as quite ignorant. You're advising people not to buy something that you have no knowledge about at all? Calling it 'just your opinion' doesn't exempt you from criticism. I would say there is a very good chance the car you're driving now has seen a hit or two in the past, but that must be ok because it either wasn't subject to an insurance claim of the car was repaired by a body shop and handed back to the owner.... To tarnish everyone in the vehicle repair business with the label that 'corners are cut' infuriates me. You will very often find that people in my trade, myself included, are extremely picky with finished vehicles and will very often turn them out better than any used vehicle you can find. You will also find that you make a smaller percentage loss in terms of devaluation than if you'd have bought the equivalent second hand car with no history, take it from mine & my customers experience.
i like badgers point. nearly new cars not even involved in accident can suffer problems for example engine/turbo problems and be repaired and sold on to no knowledge of the buyer, and depends on the job and pot luck sometimes the problems can be repaired or end up reoccurring later on. possibly just as equivalent to risk of a cat car but without the awareness?
Never trust anyone ,Dealers or private sellers. I had an A4 on a 57 plate in for some coding etc and asked the owner if he wanted it scanned, he said no as he had owned the car 3 months and it came from an Audi dealer with HPI reports etc. I scanned it anyway and it came up with all airbags and crash sensors had been replaced. so had been in a big accident and still wasnt on HPI.
VAG_BADGER
Ricers in the rear view!
Great way of putting it in terms of pot luck with any car. I'd say if you want a car with no history then go and pay a visit to the dealer for a new car, but even a percentage of those have had repairs carried out before the point of sale. We used to do a lot of body repairs for the Toyota dealership in Sheffield on unregistered vehicles, anything from a scratch to a rear wing replacement. Many of the cars were damaged during transport etc. So many of our customers own cars that show signs of accident history when we work on them, these are the cars that have 'no accident history'. In all the insurance write offs we've had, I've only ever had one that had clearly had a poor repair carried out prior to the damage caused in the accident that wrote the car off. We also see a lot of customers these days settling with the insurance company in the form of a lump sum and keeping the car post accident, which we then repair and is not on HPI. I guess it's just a case of buyer beware!
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2009
- Messages
- 987
- Reaction score
- 53
- Points
- 48
I have a portfolio of 26 cars bought salvage and have had no problems whatsoever.
my last one had a superficial front damage . the car was only a year and a half old with
one owner and 7400 miles on the clock, hence almost brand new.
I would have paid the dealer £8500 more to buy the same type of car.
I used a mixture of second hand and new parts and a good body shop
to get the car going.
I have done speeds of up to 141 mph and the car was solid.
there are a lots of administrative reasons to write off cars which don't even relate to the nature of the accident.
here is a practical example of what I could buy. I would be lokking to knock him down to 4000£-4200£
2011 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF S TDI SILVER DAMAGED SALVAGE | eBay
my last one had a superficial front damage . the car was only a year and a half old with
one owner and 7400 miles on the clock, hence almost brand new.
I would have paid the dealer £8500 more to buy the same type of car.
I used a mixture of second hand and new parts and a good body shop
to get the car going.
I have done speeds of up to 141 mph and the car was solid.
there are a lots of administrative reasons to write off cars which don't even relate to the nature of the accident.
here is a practical example of what I could buy. I would be lokking to knock him down to 4000£-4200£
2011 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF S TDI SILVER DAMAGED SALVAGE | eBay
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2009
- Messages
- 987
- Reaction score
- 53
- Points
- 48
most cat c write off cars are done to generate more funds for VOSA.
in most cases it has no bearing to a harder damage as originally conceived.
in most cases it has no bearing to a harder damage as originally conceived.
as with any used car, test-drive the life out of it, any genuine seller will allow it, especially if you offer to put fuel in, proves you're seriously interested too
Not too sure, most traders would want the cheapest repair possible! Having a few mates who buy cars from copart, literally do the bare min to repair it then sell it on, make quite a tidy profit. But yes that does not mean it will always been a shortcut repair, however after seeing how some cars get repaired even if its not cat C/D would put me off buying a crashed car.
Of course a lot garages do repair these cars to an exceptionally high standard, there will always be poorly repaired ones out there too. Just the way the cookie crumbles.....
Of course a lot garages do repair these cars to an exceptionally high standard, there will always be poorly repaired ones out there too. Just the way the cookie crumbles.....
