Do I write off the Cerbie or repair it?
Discussion
As you might know, a few weeks ago someone decided to crash into my Cerbera (A 1999 Speed Six). The car has finally been inspected up at the factory but I've got a bit of a dilema. What would you guys do.....?
The car has been valued at £25,000 but the repairs have come to £18,500. The maximum the insurance company will pay out is £17,500 or they'll write it off. Soooooooo, do I take the money or pay the extra grand out of my own pocket.
Take the money I hear you all say
There are however some benefits if I get it repaired.
The lovely people at TVR have offered the following:
New 2002 uprated chassis
Upgraded brakes & disks
Upgraded 2002 supspension & springs.
All 2002 model enhancements
New 2002 integrated headlight frontend.
Oh... and they're rebuilding the engine.
Basically I'll get a completely new and uprated car which they say will handle and ride a lot better than it ever used to.
..And all for a grand ! (Theres about £5k worth of extras!!)
what shall I do ???
I'm not thinking about selling the car but if you'd known that the car had been in a major prang, but had been repaired by the professionals at the factory (which will give a full report on the work done) would you consider buying it, or would you not touch it with a bargepoll??
Thanks for any thoughts.......
The car has been valued at £25,000 but the repairs have come to £18,500. The maximum the insurance company will pay out is £17,500 or they'll write it off. Soooooooo, do I take the money or pay the extra grand out of my own pocket.
Take the money I hear you all say
There are however some benefits if I get it repaired.
The lovely people at TVR have offered the following:
New 2002 uprated chassis
Upgraded brakes & disks
Upgraded 2002 supspension & springs.
All 2002 model enhancements
New 2002 integrated headlight frontend.
Oh... and they're rebuilding the engine.
Basically I'll get a completely new and uprated car which they say will handle and ride a lot better than it ever used to.
..And all for a grand ! (Theres about £5k worth of extras!!)
what shall I do ??? I'm not thinking about selling the car but if you'd known that the car had been in a major prang, but had been repaired by the professionals at the factory (which will give a full report on the work done) would you consider buying it, or would you not touch it with a bargepoll??
Thanks for any thoughts.......
If you ever come to sell it, it will require some delicate spin-doctoring.
Write-off's. No No, never visit one.
Factory rebuild... Hmmmm, that's sounds quite good.
Will it appear on HPI? - that might be a killer for you, as the soon-to-be owner will be concerned about having even more trouble selling it on.
Write-off's. No No, never visit one.
Factory rebuild... Hmmmm, that's sounds quite good.
Will it appear on HPI? - that might be a killer for you, as the soon-to-be owner will be concerned about having even more trouble selling it on.
I think the only issue you have is re-sale.
Will your fully repaired & improved car be worth the same as a straight non damaged one (that I assume you would buy with the insurance money).
I would guess not, but I would be interested to hear other peoples thoughts.
Personally I wouldn't buy one that's recorded as damaged.
Cheers
Paul
>> Edited by pdavison on Friday 24th January 14:55
Will your fully repaired & improved car be worth the same as a straight non damaged one (that I assume you would buy with the insurance money).
I would guess not, but I would be interested to hear other peoples thoughts.
Personally I wouldn't buy one that's recorded as damaged.
Cheers
Paul
>> Edited by pdavison on Friday 24th January 14:55
goodlife said: If you ever come to sell it, it will require some delicate spin-doctoring.
Write-off's. No No, never visit one.
Factory rebuild... Hmmmm, that's sounds quite good.
Will it appear on HPI? - that might be a killer for you, as the soon-to-be owner will be concerned about having even more trouble selling it on.
The car wouldn't be listed as a write off, but legally you would have to tell the new potential owner that it has been crash damaged. This is what I'm worried about.
Although the car would have been greatly improved, I'm worried that I'd never be able to sell it on if I needed/wanted to.
So upside: I get a hugely improved car
Downside: A potential buyer might not see it that way !
Having just bought a Cat D S&R car I can say it didn't put me off. All the paper work inc. bills etc. meant I could see that the car had been repaired to high standard. A Cerbera, that had been repaired and updated by the factory to include the latest developments would still be in my book a great car to get hold of. This does of course assume that car does not develop any problems post repair, i.e. leaks like a sieve or the like. But I'm sure this would not be the case.
Edited to say that the I have just bought car was priced 'competitively' due to the fact it was S&R even though Cat D's do not appear on the V5
>> Edited by d_drinks on Friday 24th January 15:35
Edited to say that the I have just bought car was priced 'competitively' due to the fact it was S&R even though Cat D's do not appear on the V5
>> Edited by d_drinks on Friday 24th January 15:35
How long is the warranty the factory are offering for the repairs?
Probably not long enough for the next buyer to worry about, but if it's enough to ensure it's completely sorted then that might re-assure the buyer.
When I took one of my old cars on a farming expedition, had a truck load of repairs done by what turned out to be a dodgy place that the insurer recommended, three years later turned out my oil leak is due to a cracked sump that wasn't spotted at the time - no come-back of course.
Personally, much as it might seem very tempting to have a factory repaired and uprated car returned, I'd go for the right-off option.
Probably not long enough for the next buyer to worry about, but if it's enough to ensure it's completely sorted then that might re-assure the buyer.
When I took one of my old cars on a farming expedition, had a truck load of repairs done by what turned out to be a dodgy place that the insurer recommended, three years later turned out my oil leak is due to a cracked sump that wasn't spotted at the time - no come-back of course.
Personally, much as it might seem very tempting to have a factory repaired and uprated car returned, I'd go for the right-off option.
bandit said:
goodlife said: If you ever come to sell it, it will require some delicate spin-doctoring.
Write-off's. No No, never visit one.
Factory rebuild... Hmmmm, that's sounds quite good.
Will it appear on HPI? - that might be a killer for you, as the soon-to-be owner will be concerned about having even more trouble selling it on.
The car wouldn't be listed as a write off, but legally you would have to tell the new potential owner that it has been crash damaged. This is what I'm worried about.
Although the car would have been greatly improved, I'm worried that I'd never be able to sell it on if I needed/wanted to.
So upside: I get a hugely improved car
Downside: A potential buyer might not see it that way !
If a crash-damaged car has been repaired professionally to 'as new' condition, there is no legal requirement to disclose this fact when selling. As far as I know...
Have you asked the insurance co. if they would allow you to buy it back if they write it off? If so how much for? If they'll give you 25K for it and sell it back to you for 5K then do that and get the factory to fix it. Basically if this works out cheaper for you then consider it. A few hundred quid is probably not worth the cat D status but a grand or more? Your choice if they'll let you. If they won't let you buy it back then it's a different choice. I would peronally spend the grand to get the upgrades your mileage (finances?) may differ.
Some people will be put off on resale but a cat D write-off is only an un-economical for repair and if you show all the bills etc from the factory for the work then you should be able to sell the car with no loss of value.
As a private seller you have NO legal obligation to tell a prospective buyer ANYTHING about the car. Only traders have this obligation. However, an insurance repair won't show up on HPI a write-off will.
Mind you in either case it would still be better if you are honest at sale time so you can give them all of the bills and explain about all of the 2002 bits that have been added.
Some people will be put off on resale but a cat D write-off is only an un-economical for repair and if you show all the bills etc from the factory for the work then you should be able to sell the car with no loss of value.
As a private seller you have NO legal obligation to tell a prospective buyer ANYTHING about the car. Only traders have this obligation. However, an insurance repair won't show up on HPI a write-off will.
Mind you in either case it would still be better if you are honest at sale time so you can give them all of the bills and explain about all of the 2002 bits that have been added.
It looks like you've only had the Cerbie for a year or so, is that right? If so how long would you have intended keeping it for, anoth couple of years maybe more? On that basis I'd go for the repair's (try to negotiate TVr down a little, try to up the insurance complany?). By the time you come to move it on it will hav edepreciated somewhat and so any loss should be minimal and you've had an as new car for comparativly little expense. Rich...
I had a similar dilemma a few years ago, my car was a financial write off which I bought back and had repaired by a highly recommended coachworks company. They did an awesome job but the car NEVER felt the same afterwards and it always niggled me, after six months I part ex’d it. The car came up as a financial write off on a search and I lost a fortune.
Is the insurance company going to pay 25k if you don’t have the repairs done? I’m sure you can get it upped a little too, plus the grand you were going to spend – you might have 27-28k and there’s some pretty good Cerbera’s to be had for that money.
Paul
Is the insurance company going to pay 25k if you don’t have the repairs done? I’m sure you can get it upped a little too, plus the grand you were going to spend – you might have 27-28k and there’s some pretty good Cerbera’s to be had for that money.
Paul
Just as I thought, about a 50-50 split of opinions - DOH ! 
Oh I dunno, on one hand I know that my cars fairly sorted now (after 2 years ownership I've got the bills to prove it !!) and on the other hand I would be able to get another nice Cerbera for 25K which wouldn't have the resale worry.....
hmmmmmm
Oh I dunno, on one hand I know that my cars fairly sorted now (after 2 years ownership I've got the bills to prove it !!) and on the other hand I would be able to get another nice Cerbera for 25K which wouldn't have the resale worry.....
hmmmmmm
Oh well here is my view for what its worth ?
If you took the money what would you buy ? if its not another speed 6 cerbie take the money and run.
1. Speed 6 cars are notoriuosly very very hard to sell and one with crah damage will probably put most normal punters off or else you will get some joker wanting such a great deal you will loose a fortune.
2. No dealer will touch it with a barge pole (been ther tried that) so your only option would be to sell it privatly and if you have ever tried to sell a TVR privatly it a bl**dy nightmare.
3. If you wnat another cerbie speed 6 then my advice would be to take the money and buy another one or a 4.5.
4. If I was buying a previously crah damaged car no matter how well it was repaired I would want a bl**dy big discount maybe up to 30 /40 %.
And finally the most annoying point will come as it does to all of us when you find your next dream car in a couple of years and you can't have it becausse you can't unload the cerbie, and then you will kick yourself big time !!!!!!!
Only my opinion
If you took the money what would you buy ? if its not another speed 6 cerbie take the money and run.
1. Speed 6 cars are notoriuosly very very hard to sell and one with crah damage will probably put most normal punters off or else you will get some joker wanting such a great deal you will loose a fortune.
2. No dealer will touch it with a barge pole (been ther tried that) so your only option would be to sell it privatly and if you have ever tried to sell a TVR privatly it a bl**dy nightmare.
3. If you wnat another cerbie speed 6 then my advice would be to take the money and buy another one or a 4.5.
4. If I was buying a previously crah damaged car no matter how well it was repaired I would want a bl**dy big discount maybe up to 30 /40 %.
And finally the most annoying point will come as it does to all of us when you find your next dream car in a couple of years and you can't have it becausse you can't unload the cerbie, and then you will kick yourself big time !!!!!!!
Only my opinion
Maybe I'm being thick ..... If the car is valued at £25k and the insurance co. want to write it off if repairs are more than £17.5k.
Will you not get the £25k the car is worth if written off?
Maybe you have a max value clause in the small print?
Paul
Edited to add, if you get the full value, cut & run. You would need to give a very large discount to move it on in the future.
>> Edited by ultimapaul on Friday 24th January 17:09
Will you not get the £25k the car is worth if written off?
Maybe you have a max value clause in the small print?
Paul
Edited to add, if you get the full value, cut & run. You would need to give a very large discount to move it on in the future.
>> Edited by ultimapaul on Friday 24th January 17:09
What I would do is take the money and get it upgraded. Would be nice and from what I hear the 2002 spec Cerbera is loverly. If it costs you a grand then fine - not a bad upgrade is it? Mind you be carefull of the "incidental" costs - make sure you can afford those. Collection, delivery etc.etc.etc...
Mind you comments on "written-off" are a little unfair. I would keep all of the documentation and if you can get some form of waranty or guarantee from the factory on the work (where possible). The only problem is that the car will be registered as a write-off. All you do is spend the extra £500 notes and take it to AutoLighn (SP?) in the midlands and get them to check it. Wont be a problem passing it due to the work being done at the factory... then it will pass off the written off list and on to the "condition checked" list... Ok, so it isnt off the register altogether, but with the documentation I real buyer wont be put off - though a trade-in might be a problem.
Imagine if you went looking for one privately and found yours. Checked and passed the tests, upgraded by the factory and virtually new? Bite the hand of the seller probably....
Worth doing if you can afford it mate.
Cheers,
Paul
P.S. Never remember the categories for the write-off register. Is it cat B and cat d or something?
Mind you comments on "written-off" are a little unfair. I would keep all of the documentation and if you can get some form of waranty or guarantee from the factory on the work (where possible). The only problem is that the car will be registered as a write-off. All you do is spend the extra £500 notes and take it to AutoLighn (SP?) in the midlands and get them to check it. Wont be a problem passing it due to the work being done at the factory... then it will pass off the written off list and on to the "condition checked" list... Ok, so it isnt off the register altogether, but with the documentation I real buyer wont be put off - though a trade-in might be a problem.
Imagine if you went looking for one privately and found yours. Checked and passed the tests, upgraded by the factory and virtually new? Bite the hand of the seller probably....
Worth doing if you can afford it mate.
Cheers,
Paul
P.S. Never remember the categories for the write-off register. Is it cat B and cat d or something?
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