How bad is Catogory C accident damage?
Discussion
Looking at the Evo shown...........
The insurance co have classified it as a D. Therefore in the opinion of their engineer it could have been repaired at a cost of less thn the value of the car. It has been "written off" (I hate that phrase) simply because the insured is probably entitled to a new car under the terms of his policy.
I would be interested to see the car once the damaged panels had been removed. The door gaps appear to be OK which is always a good sign. It could also have been re-shelled.
The insurance co have classified it as a D. Therefore in the opinion of their engineer it could have been repaired at a cost of less thn the value of the car. It has been "written off" (I hate that phrase) simply because the insured is probably entitled to a new car under the terms of his policy.
I would be interested to see the car once the damaged panels had been removed. The door gaps appear to be OK which is always a good sign. It could also have been re-shelled.
My husband recently bought a catagory D 2005 Honda to repair and possibly sell on. When he showed me the pictures of the car and it's damage I was amazed that it could have been catagorised at all as it only needed a new bumber, radiator and front near side light with the passenger airbag and seatbelt deployed but no drivers or side airbag deployment. The car is now fully repaired and looks brand new. Anyway my question is directed to Steve. How would you go about selling the car. Do you divulge all the details to any potential buyer i.e. show them pictures before and after, or is it best just to suggest to them to get an independant check from a mechanic and leave it up to them to check the vehicles history.
heres some pics of our written off car, all the important bits where pretty much trashed, brakes, wheels, engine, gear box moved back, air bags deployed. The cost of the airbags alone was 1k each!
a few weeks later back on the road, would I buy it, or even drive it, no f****g way. To my mind there is no way a repaired car is ever going to be as good as before.
I can't see how anyone could repair the car with known good parts, eg calipers, gearbox, windscreen, headlights, AIRBAGS etc and make a profit.
As for that Evo, deathtrap!
www.photobox.co.uk/album/3237651
a few weeks later back on the road, would I buy it, or even drive it, no f****g way. To my mind there is no way a repaired car is ever going to be as good as before.
I can't see how anyone could repair the car with known good parts, eg calipers, gearbox, windscreen, headlights, AIRBAGS etc and make a profit.
As for that Evo, deathtrap!
www.photobox.co.uk/album/3237651
It does beg the question what are you actually buying when you purchase a car. A straight Evo, either brand new or secondhand has been built, checked and quality assured within a Mitsubishi factory that builds presumably thousands of cars a year.
What is the person who buys that Evo in the picture going to get? In reality they are buying a bunch of metal and plastic, put together in a back street bodyshop with an Evo badge stuck on it. Worthless.
What is the person who buys that Evo in the picture going to get? In reality they are buying a bunch of metal and plastic, put together in a back street bodyshop with an Evo badge stuck on it. Worthless.
Hello all, This is my first post, I need advice, I have just purchased a CAT B golf, I would like to know if anybody knows how or even if you can have the car re checked and if ok re categorised? its a 2002 and for all I can see the damage is very light needs a drives door and wing! little dent on the sill, car drives is taxed and tested and comes with the log book, any advice?
ing post you would realise that you can't re-sell it. Thus you wouldn't ever be able to register it on the road again. You shouldn't have bought, or been able to buy that car.How many brand new cars are actually un damaged, Anyone who is in the trade will tell you that cars often suffer damage between the production line & the garage. I know of someone who worked in a body shop near a major port where cars are imported, they had a contract with a Japanese car company & fixed all the cars that had been damaged when they were loaded or unloaded, that was mainly scraped corners but they had the odd door & even repired one that some **** had rolled onto its side driving it off the boat.
Ive had a couple of repaired salvage cars & they have been fine. Re inspections, a lot of the assesors who work for Insurance companies are independant companies & can do inspections for the general public, they are often cheaper than the AA & probably better qualified to asses damage repairs as they do it every day & probably know all the dodges the body shop could try.
Another way to reassure yourself, a brand new car worth 20,000 has 8000 worth of damage & it will be repaired, 2 years later its worth 10,000, same accident, same 8000 of damage & its totalled on financial grounds yet when properly repaired its just as good
Lastly if your a save the planet type person then you have to buy totalled cars, its called recycling !!.
Ive had a couple of repaired salvage cars & they have been fine. Re inspections, a lot of the assesors who work for Insurance companies are independant companies & can do inspections for the general public, they are often cheaper than the AA & probably better qualified to asses damage repairs as they do it every day & probably know all the dodges the body shop could try.
Another way to reassure yourself, a brand new car worth 20,000 has 8000 worth of damage & it will be repaired, 2 years later its worth 10,000, same accident, same 8000 of damage & its totalled on financial grounds yet when properly repaired its just as good
Lastly if your a save the planet type person then you have to buy totalled cars, its called recycling !!.
My Cav was written off Cat C. Some smeghead levered the door open to nick £50 worth of CD player. To replace the door with a new one (as insurer would have to do) and touch up the paint etc. would have cost more than the car was worth. If I'd wanted to I could have bought it back, gone down the scrapyard and sourced a door for £50, then got the certification up to speed. Didn't seem worth the hassle when I got a decent value for the car. Bit of a waste though, with that quick fix it would have run for another 50k miles/ 4 years I reckon.
peter2008 said:
Hello all, This is my first post, I need advice, I have just purchased a CAT B golf, I would like to know if anybody knows how or even if you can have the car re checked and if ok re categorised? its a 2002 and for all I can see the damage is very light needs a drives door and wing! little dent on the sill, car drives is taxed and tested and comes with the log book, any advice?
Oh and by the way welcome to PH !!
Hello..........my first post so please be easy with me 
My son is looking to buy a Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi Zetec 3dr Diesel on a 54 plate (2005)
and it was stolen recovered, catd - the damage has been repaired (rear quarter) and the asking price
of £4000 looks to be about £1500 less then the market value of the car - its done 35000 miles
and has a service history.
Reading through the posts in this topic, my question really is the car worth buying and what
will the problems be in selling the car two years down the road? whould we get what the
car is worth in two years time or less because of the catd damage?
Also do we need to tell the insurance company thats its a catd (they would know anyway
by the reg number) and will it cost more to insure cos its a catd? The reason for asking
was that I phoned a insurance company looking for a quote (but never gave the reg number) told
them that it was a catd and they said that they would need a inspection report first, is this
true and if so how much would it cost?
Sorry for so many questions but I dont want the boy to lose his money 2 years down the road.
My son is looking to buy a Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi Zetec 3dr Diesel on a 54 plate (2005)
and it was stolen recovered, catd - the damage has been repaired (rear quarter) and the asking price
of £4000 looks to be about £1500 less then the market value of the car - its done 35000 miles
and has a service history.
Reading through the posts in this topic, my question really is the car worth buying and what
will the problems be in selling the car two years down the road? whould we get what the
car is worth in two years time or less because of the catd damage?
Also do we need to tell the insurance company thats its a catd (they would know anyway
by the reg number) and will it cost more to insure cos its a catd? The reason for asking
was that I phoned a insurance company looking for a quote (but never gave the reg number) told
them that it was a catd and they said that they would need a inspection report first, is this
true and if so how much would it cost?
Sorry for so many questions but I dont want the boy to lose his money 2 years down the road.
Sorry to Jump an old Topic back up to the top, but just to reassure some people that CAT 'C' cars aren't always too bad, I have recently bought a '98 BMW 528SE for £400 from my neighbours. FSH, immaculate condition, but it had been written off and classed as a Cat 'C' after a front end 'minor' accident.
I spent under £200 on parts, a new plastic bumper for £90, new bumper bar for £40, and a headlight and front wing from a scrap yard for £50. A quick DIY re-spray of the bumper and wing and the car was as goos as new, it was VIC'd and back on the road in under a week.
The point is that insurance write off cars may not always as bad as you may think.
I spent under £200 on parts, a new plastic bumper for £90, new bumper bar for £40, and a headlight and front wing from a scrap yard for £50. A quick DIY re-spray of the bumper and wing and the car was as goos as new, it was VIC'd and back on the road in under a week.
The point is that insurance write off cars may not always as bad as you may think.
I have had a few Cat C's.
Clio with a rear end shunt, buckled boot floor and tailgate. New tailgate, torch and lump hammer on the boot floor and my daughter drove it for 3 years at uni.
Before that she had a Rover 216 stolen recovered. New set of locks, ignored the scratches and it gave 12 months service until she was rear ended on the M1 and wrote it off, thus paying for the Clio. Insurance paid out more than we had paid for it for some reason.
Volvo 850 T5 stolen recovered with knackered gear box, missing spare wheel and scratch on the bonnet. Ran that for 5 years and 150,000 miles and only ever had to put anothger 2nd hand box in.
Don't expect any value at the end but cheap motoring. Not sure I would spend over £5k because there is decent stuff that might have some value left but for a few thousand I wouldn't hesitate if it was SR or checked out by a mechanic. Last years floods must have left a few Cat C';s??
Clio with a rear end shunt, buckled boot floor and tailgate. New tailgate, torch and lump hammer on the boot floor and my daughter drove it for 3 years at uni.
Before that she had a Rover 216 stolen recovered. New set of locks, ignored the scratches and it gave 12 months service until she was rear ended on the M1 and wrote it off, thus paying for the Clio. Insurance paid out more than we had paid for it for some reason.
Volvo 850 T5 stolen recovered with knackered gear box, missing spare wheel and scratch on the bonnet. Ran that for 5 years and 150,000 miles and only ever had to put anothger 2nd hand box in.
Don't expect any value at the end but cheap motoring. Not sure I would spend over £5k because there is decent stuff that might have some value left but for a few thousand I wouldn't hesitate if it was SR or checked out by a mechanic. Last years floods must have left a few Cat C';s??
Rimante said:
Hello everyone,
I want to buy my first car and that's Vauxhall Corsa '01. It is only £800, but in the ad the owner said that it has cat c damage. it hasn't been repaired, and from the picture it is very light damage on the front door and wing. if I buy it, how does that affect the registration of this car and the insurance costs?
Thanks
cat c will mean it needs inspecting before being registerable - has that been done?I want to buy my first car and that's Vauxhall Corsa '01. It is only £800, but in the ad the owner said that it has cat c damage. it hasn't been repaired, and from the picture it is very light damage on the front door and wing. if I buy it, how does that affect the registration of this car and the insurance costs?
Thanks
Why not spend £1200 on an undamaged one?
I think I know the answer to this one already but what do you guys and girls think of this? http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1466436.htm I have contacted them and they dont have any pre repair pictures but have advised me that the car has been VOSA and VIC verified, still has the V5c and is taxed and MOT'd. Please let me know your thoughts..........
dsmason said:
I think I know the answer to this one already but what do you guys and girls think of this? http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1466436.htm I have contacted them and they dont have any pre repair pictures but have advised me that the car has been VOSA and VIC verified, still has the V5c and is taxed and MOT'd. Please let me know your thoughts..........
Find out where the damage was, I'd say rear as the bumper has a different gap above it on the offside. If I'm right and it is misaligned then I'd avoid a the photos are dire!Just another example. My MG Midget was reversed into by some impatient neanderthal waiting at the Dartford tolls. In insurance terms its gets quite expensive quite quckly in parts (Bonnet = £400, Wings = £385 each) even before you get to paint and labour.
So they CAT C wrote it off and sold it back to me. By the power of ebay I got NOS wings for £100/pair and a good bonnet for £20 etc. A few quid for paint and sprayed it at home. Came out on top financially (with my personal £0/hr labour rate) but lost the car for a year whilst I did the admin, accumulated the parts and did the work.
I've had it for 17+ years and dont intend to sell it so the Cat C was just an annoyance. had to have the VIC check - which was short and sweet but a pain working out what order you do the whole MOT/VIC/Tax paper trail
So they CAT C wrote it off and sold it back to me. By the power of ebay I got NOS wings for £100/pair and a good bonnet for £20 etc. A few quid for paint and sprayed it at home. Came out on top financially (with my personal £0/hr labour rate) but lost the car for a year whilst I did the admin, accumulated the parts and did the work.
I've had it for 17+ years and dont intend to sell it so the Cat C was just an annoyance. had to have the VIC check - which was short and sweet but a pain working out what order you do the whole MOT/VIC/Tax paper trail
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