How bad is Catogory C accident damage?
Discussion
A - Not for resale. Fire damaged (burnt-out), flood damaged (contaminated or salt water), severely damaged with no serviceable parts, or heavily stripped (shell).
Notification of Destruction required. (To be crushed). Recorded at DVLA & HPI.
B - Not for resale. Damaged beyond economical repair and/or severe structural damage.
Notification of Destruction required. (Parts can be removed and sold). Recorded at DVLA & HPI.
C - Repairable salvage. Generally applies to older vehicles. Can be sold for repair but must now have VIC inspection.
Recorded at DVLA & HPI.
D - Repairable salvage. Minimal damage sometimes stolen and found after claim has been paid, or cost of repair combined with difficulty obtaining new parts to enable a swift repair.
Recorded with HPI.
X - Repairable salvage. Not recorded on any registers such as HPI. Limited or very light damage, or vehicle is new or less than 12 months old. Usually requires minimal repair work.
NOT Recorded with HPI.
(Don't you just love Google)
You should find out what repair work was done on it.if you go to look at it/them, then take a good mechanic with you,he/she should be able to tell you if its ok (in my opinion)
>> Edited by bimmer-e30 on Saturday 29th October 19:49
Notification of Destruction required. (To be crushed). Recorded at DVLA & HPI.
B - Not for resale. Damaged beyond economical repair and/or severe structural damage.
Notification of Destruction required. (Parts can be removed and sold). Recorded at DVLA & HPI.
C - Repairable salvage. Generally applies to older vehicles. Can be sold for repair but must now have VIC inspection.
Recorded at DVLA & HPI.
D - Repairable salvage. Minimal damage sometimes stolen and found after claim has been paid, or cost of repair combined with difficulty obtaining new parts to enable a swift repair.
Recorded with HPI.
X - Repairable salvage. Not recorded on any registers such as HPI. Limited or very light damage, or vehicle is new or less than 12 months old. Usually requires minimal repair work.
NOT Recorded with HPI.
(Don't you just love Google)
You should find out what repair work was done on it.if you go to look at it/them, then take a good mechanic with you,he/she should be able to tell you if its ok (in my opinion)
>> Edited by bimmer-e30 on Saturday 29th October 19:49
Much appreciated, will stay clear and get the Trophy 160 for the wife instead! bimmer-e30 said:
You dont need to stay clear,i have had a couple of repair damaged cars a rover and a clio and they are both good cars,but like i say you need to find out what damage was done.
It may be worth investigating further then, it's a 2002 MX5 1.8 for just under £6K! She plans to keep the car for a long time, so resale value isn't a big issue, I just want to be 100% sure she won't kill herself due to the car having previous accident damage.
Cat C cars can have been absolutely slaughtered, believe me/ I would not buy anything that was classified as more than a Cat D and even then I'd want to pay peanuts for it..
As to value - take 30% off the value of an equivalent non-registered car and that'll be what you should be paying. ...and be prepared to keep the car forever as you'll have trouble selling it on in the future - in 3 years' time, the equivalent non-registered car will be chea enough to render yours scrap.
10-15 years ago, the relatively high price of new cars kept the price of used cars high enough to make write-offs worthwhile considering, but not any more.
As to value - take 30% off the value of an equivalent non-registered car and that'll be what you should be paying. ...and be prepared to keep the car forever as you'll have trouble selling it on in the future - in 3 years' time, the equivalent non-registered car will be chea enough to render yours scrap.
10-15 years ago, the relatively high price of new cars kept the price of used cars high enough to make write-offs worthwhile considering, but not any more.
yertis said:
I think that's probably true of boring cars but a well-repaired/restored/maintained Cat D Quattro, for example, will be woprth more than its shoddily maintained, rust-ravaged equivalent with no HPI history. I hope.
Absolutely no chance - if anything, it's 1000% important to the future provenance of such cars that their history is totally clean. However, if the car was written off as a stolen/recovered, then yes, that's a different matter.
rubystone said:
Cat C cars can have been absolutely slaughtered, believe me.
What absolute Tosh !
A Cat C car is defined as a vehicle with a repair cost higher than the value of the vehicle. A low value vehicle is easily "written off" by minor damage only.
See the link to the Punto which Hales have on their website. A bonnet and headlight will have this back on the road in no time - hardly "slaughtered" !!
www.dhales.co.uk/cgi-bin/osa/ViewPage.cgi?templateName=item_form.htx&itemNumber=567649
Steve
towman said:
Cat C cars can have been absolutely slaughtered, believe me.
What absolute Tosh !
A Cat C car is defined as a vehicle with a repair cost higher than the value of the vehicle. A low value vehicle is easily "written off" by minor damage only.
See the link to the Punto which Hales have on their website. A bonnet and headlight will have this back on the road in no time - hardly "slaughtered" !!
www.dhales.co.uk/cgi-bin/osa/ViewP
Steve
So pray tell me, what's the definiton of a Category A, B or D write-off then????? Surely a car falling into these may also be defined as a "vehicle which has a repair cost greater than the value of the vehicle" too?....
As a recovery operator, I am sure you know only too well that it's about the degrees of write-off. What category do you think a flood damaged car would fall into?...
Let's take it further?...when does a car tip over from being Cat D to Cat C?....is it based on cost of repair or type of damage?..or was it just down to what sort of day the assessor had when he looked at the car?
Your statement that a low value car may be written off with minor damage is obviously true, but this chap is talking about a 2002 MX5 - which, despite being Cat C, is still priced at £6k - to my mind, that's not a "low value car".
As an impecunious student, I bought a number of written -off cars. I saw plenty of "medium front", "s/rec" "light panel damage" cars and the degree of damage of thse vaired massively, yet all were classified in categories C and D.
rubystone said:
I think that's probably true of boring cars but a well-repaired/restored/maintained Cat D Quattro, for example, will be woprth more than its shoddily maintained, rust-ravaged equivalent with no HPI history. I hope.
Absolutely no chance - if anything, it's 1000% important to the future provenance of such cars that their history is totally clean. However, if the car was written off as a stolen/recovered, then yes, that's a different matter.
Well, I'd rather have a beautifully prepared Quat with a dodgy history than a ratty Quat with a beautiful history. Obviously the ideal is a beautiful car with an immaculate history but there are precious few of those around. Even car with supposedly good "provenance" often turns out to have anything but. At least buying a car with Cat C/D you know what you're getting into. It's honest, in other words.
Ultimately it depends on whhether you possess cars to drive and enjoy, or enjoy possessing them and keep them safe from harm.
Insurance write-offs cat C / D are because it would cost too much using manufacturers brand new panels and materials etc... So it is possible to repair cat C / D cars using genuine but second hand panels - this will in no way be detrimental to the car in term of safety.
Get an AA inspection if the MX-5 is so cheap - it's cheap because of the knee-jerk "Avoid it like the plague" reaction.
All IMHO of course!
Get an AA inspection if the MX-5 is so cheap - it's cheap because of the knee-jerk "Avoid it like the plague" reaction.
All IMHO of course!
rubystone said:
So pray tell me, what's the definiton of a Category A, B or D write-off then?????
OK...
Cat A ....There is no Cat A !
Cat B.....So badly damaged that the insurer wants it broken up for spares.
Cat C.....Cost of repair is more than value of the car.
Cat D.....Cost of repair is less than value of the car
Cat X.....Vehicle has been subject to a claim, but may have little or no damege. Or has been repaired to manufacturers standard.
Nothing wrong with buying a Cat C car - obviously depends on the value of the vehicle in the first place. But as usual, buyer beware.
Cat D is a good bet as they are usually s/rec where the insured is paid out before the vehicle is found, or may be a new ehicle where the insured is given replacement rather than repair.
Cat X is the best bet - usually a good version of Cat D.
Even if you only want i for spares, you cannot buy a Cat B car unless you are licensed.
Hope this helps.
Steve
Edited to add - I`ve just realised that you have me repeating what was in post two of this thread.
So do you now relise why your "absolutely slaughtered" comment could be considered "complete Tosh"
>> Edited by towman on Sunday 30th October 16:40
towman said:
So pray tell me, what's the definiton of a Category A, B or D write-off then?????
OK...
Cat A ....There is no Cat A !
Cat B.....So badly damaged that the insurer wants it broken up for spares.
Cat C.....Cost of repair is more than value of the car.
Cat D.....Cost of repair is less than value of the car
Cat X.....Vehicle has been subject to a claim, but may have little or no damege. Or has been repaired to manufacturers standard.
Nothing wrong with buying a Cat C car - obviously depends on the value of the vehicle in the first place. But as usual, buyer beware.
Cat D is a good bet as they are usually s/rec where the insured is paid out before the vehicle is found, or may be a new ehicle where the insured is given replacement rather than repair.
Cat X is the best bet - usually a good version of Cat D.
Even if you only want i for spares, you cannot buy a Cat B car unless you are licensed.
Hope this helps.
Steve
Edited to add - I`ve just realised that you have me repeating what was in post two of this thread.
So do you now relise why your "absolutely slaughtered" comment could be considered "complete Tosh"
>> Edited by towman on Sunday 30th October 16:40
Cat D - ROFLMAO - if it's less than the cost of the repair of the effing car, why write it off??????...in fact, Cat D is a category designed to inform the interested buyer that the insurance company is actually quite happy about having the car back on the road!!!!! I believe the phrase is something like "ought to be repaired"...
...now I'll quite happily accept the fact that a car may be a Cat D simply because the total cost to the insurance company exceeds the market value of the car - but this takes into account the cost of repair PLUS the costs incurred by the insurance company - including car hire, recovery, storage and so on...and I'll go further in stating that an assessor may "write off" a car if the owner refuses to accept it back or if the cost of repair is marginal ref. its market value...but that is very much the exception rather than the rule....
...the guy who mentioned the fact that a car may be written off due to the cost of OEM parts pushing it over the edge is spot on, but caveat emptor on that one too. I very nearly bought an Integrale a few months ago - it was Cat D, driveable, little, if any, body damage and a mint car, clearly been well looked after pre shunt....but after some serious research, I acutally managed to speak to the owner (the car had no papers y'see) and from there I got hold of the specialist who prepared the repair estimate. Sure enough, it was a close thing, but the cost of Lancia parts decided the car's fate....so did I buy it?...no - because the parts included diff carrier and all 4 suspension corners....so is the car straight then?...it ought to go on a jig really with that kind of damage (the owner spun it, clobbered a kerb on one side which pulled it round to kerb the other side too)...and it had a sunroof - did the shunt weaken the A pillars?....was that a slight crease I saw in the roof?...all of a sudden the car doesn't look like such a good buy....
...and yes, one can buy a Cat B car - complete, without the need to be "licensed". There's a chap who quite happily sells Cat B cars on ebay week in, week out without making any secret of that fact.
Cat X - sorry, never heard of it - you aren't talking about autoligned cars - i.e those on the "other" register are you?
...and you still didn't answer my question on what category water damaged cars would be found under....
Have a look at the Universal Salvage website. They just about created the categories.
There is a cat X. It is not recorded and is normally a straight car, but will be sold as part of the salvage sale.
There is a cat A. The car is so badly damaged that it must be crushed and sold by weight to a metal recycler. This is normally done in house so the public don't get to see them.
To trade in Cat B vehilces require a local authority waste processing licence which involves premesis inspections etc. While people may sell them, you are only allowed to sell as spare parts. You will be shafted by plod too as you can't MOT or insure a Cat B.
There is a cat X. It is not recorded and is normally a straight car, but will be sold as part of the salvage sale.
There is a cat A. The car is so badly damaged that it must be crushed and sold by weight to a metal recycler. This is normally done in house so the public don't get to see them.
To trade in Cat B vehilces require a local authority waste processing licence which involves premesis inspections etc. While people may sell them, you are only allowed to sell as spare parts. You will be shafted by plod too as you can't MOT or insure a Cat B.
towman said:
...and you still didn't answer my question on what category water damaged cars would be found under....
Apologies. I was expecting the application of logic......
It depends on the cost of repair and the value of the vehicle!
No logic involved here mate - any car that has been written off due to water damage is categorised as a Category B.
As a previous post explained, CAT A cars cannot be broken for spares and must be crushed/recycled. CAT X cars are usually stolen/recovered with very little damage.
I have bought quite a few Cat C/D cars over the years but prefer to stick to Cat D nowadays as they are easier to sell. Whilst both Cat C & D cars should be shown on an HPI check (although I had a Cat D car that came up clear), only Cat C cars have a statement on the log book stating that the car has been involved in a major accident. As long as the car is repaired properly there is nothing wrong with either Cat C or D. My wife currently drives our children around in a Cat D 52 plate Renault Scenic (total cost including repairs £2500), and a colleague has a Cat C Megane on an 03 plate that cost about the same. I prefer to buy them as write off's and have them repaired myself because a) they are really cheap, b) I know what the damage is and C) I know they have been properly repaired. You can usually buy them, have them repaired then drive them for 6/12 months before selling for a healthy profit. The latest addition to the fleet is a Cat D 04 plate diesel Laguna estate with all the extras (including sat nav), cost £2700 plus about £1000 to fix.
The best bet is do buy them from someone like Bluecycle, do the donkey work of replacing bolt on panels/doors etc yourself then pay a professional for the finishing/spraying etc.
I have bought quite a few Cat C/D cars over the years but prefer to stick to Cat D nowadays as they are easier to sell. Whilst both Cat C & D cars should be shown on an HPI check (although I had a Cat D car that came up clear), only Cat C cars have a statement on the log book stating that the car has been involved in a major accident. As long as the car is repaired properly there is nothing wrong with either Cat C or D. My wife currently drives our children around in a Cat D 52 plate Renault Scenic (total cost including repairs £2500), and a colleague has a Cat C Megane on an 03 plate that cost about the same. I prefer to buy them as write off's and have them repaired myself because a) they are really cheap, b) I know what the damage is and C) I know they have been properly repaired. You can usually buy them, have them repaired then drive them for 6/12 months before selling for a healthy profit. The latest addition to the fleet is a Cat D 04 plate diesel Laguna estate with all the extras (including sat nav), cost £2700 plus about £1000 to fix.
The best bet is do buy them from someone like Bluecycle, do the donkey work of replacing bolt on panels/doors etc yourself then pay a professional for the finishing/spraying etc.
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