Cat D buying and insuring
Discussion
As far as I know from 'phoning around, many insurance companies will not touch them but others, like Admiral, will. You will probably have to show a recent MoT certificate - even if the car is under three years old - or provide an engineer's report of roadworthiness. Receipts of the work done and before/after pictures will help too. Naturally, the value is heavily discounted both at purchase and on resale. Someone I know was after a Z4M Coupe which was up for £17,500 compared with a standard value of about £24k
A friend of mine in the used car trade advised extreme caution and, if in doubt, run...
A friend of mine in the used car trade advised extreme caution and, if in doubt, run...
bazking69 said:
The biggest headache will be when you come to sell it. Most people will be put off period, narrowing your market down to people who will want to know the ins and outs of a ducks ass about what the damage was and others will make you silly offers because it is recorded.
ExactlyI bought a cat D E36 M3, and it didn't bother me at all. In actual fact one of the 3 cars I looked at one had had a much harder impact than mine and wasn't recorded.
I would look at when it was registered, a 10 year old car which is cat D would have had a much smaller accident than if it was cat D at a year old.
My M3 was cat D at 8 years old, a similar accident on a 1 or 2 year old car would have just been fixed.
Biggest problem as mentioned above is selling the car afterwards
I would look at when it was registered, a 10 year old car which is cat D would have had a much smaller accident than if it was cat D at a year old.
My M3 was cat D at 8 years old, a similar accident on a 1 or 2 year old car would have just been fixed.
Biggest problem as mentioned above is selling the car afterwards
I asked this a few days ago and should be picking the car up any day now....
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Am I missing something regarding 'insurance'?
I don't remember ever being asked anything about cat C's or D's when getting quotes and why would it make one single bit of difference to an insurance company? If you have a smash and your car is repaired without it being recorded you then sell it, the new owner isn't going to be paying any more to insure it than a straight car is he?
Anyway Mrs Raceboy has just insured her new MX5 prior to picking it up and obviously it's done via a Number Plate refereance and the price she's just paid is exactly the same as the price she was quoted when shopping round for quotes and using a 'straight cars' number plate, so I think that proves my point...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Am I missing something regarding 'insurance'?
I don't remember ever being asked anything about cat C's or D's when getting quotes and why would it make one single bit of difference to an insurance company? If you have a smash and your car is repaired without it being recorded you then sell it, the new owner isn't going to be paying any more to insure it than a straight car is he?
Anyway Mrs Raceboy has just insured her new MX5 prior to picking it up and obviously it's done via a Number Plate refereance and the price she's just paid is exactly the same as the price she was quoted when shopping round for quotes and using a 'straight cars' number plate, so I think that proves my point...
SwineFluPirate said:
I realise this has probably been covered on numerous occasions, but would you let it put you off a purchase?
Also, would my insurance company charge me more for a Cat d car over a normal example?
Any help appreciated.
A lot of insurers won't touch a Cat C or Cat D.Also, would my insurance company charge me more for a Cat d car over a normal example?
Any help appreciated.
We do have about 5 companies who we use who will cover them but in general they are more expensive to insure than a car that hasn't been previously written off.
andye30m3 said:
I bought a cat D E36 M3, and it didn't bother me at all. In actual fact one of the 3 cars I looked at one had had a much harder impact than mine and wasn't recorded.
I would look at when it was registered, a 10 year old car which is cat D would have had a much smaller accident than if it was cat D at a year old.
My M3 was cat D at 8 years old, a similar accident on a 1 or 2 year old car would have just been fixed.
Biggest problem as mentioned above is selling the car afterwards
That is not necessarily the case. The Z4M Coupe I mentioned above was, if I recall, a wing, bonnet, bumper, and two headlights only but because it was on a 'new-for-old' policy and the insurers knew what they'd get for it as a cat D, they paid up and sold the damaged car for enough to make it worth their while. Repair costs by a BMW workshop versus the difference in value of the car damaged and undamaged added up satisfactorily. A smart chappie bought it, paid an independent workshop to repair it with some new parts and some parts he'd sourced from Ebay, and he ran it for a few months before advertising it on PH for about 70-75% of it's non-cat D book value. It sold.I would look at when it was registered, a 10 year old car which is cat D would have had a much smaller accident than if it was cat D at a year old.
My M3 was cat D at 8 years old, a similar accident on a 1 or 2 year old car would have just been fixed.
Biggest problem as mentioned above is selling the car afterwards
I've had experience of both sides of this:
I bought a 205 GTI a few years ago for what was, then, quite a high price. It was low mileage and looked smart, but various niggles rapidly started to emerge. When the logbook came through it transpired it was a category D. I was furious and contacted the seller who pleaded ignorance. It was a private sale 'sold as seen' so I could do very little to contest that. When I came to sell the car the following year I found that the going rate for an honestly declared Cat D was less than half what I'd paid for it.
However...
Spin forward a few years and I was looking for an S-Series TVR. I looked at numerous 'cherished examples' which weren't, before finding a mint example (rather better informed this time). The only problem was it was again a Cat D. This time, however, I negotiated an according price; I scoured engineers reports and photos of the car before and after the damage, as well as during the repairs. I was confident the car was better than most had left the factory, following a comprehensive and well documented rebuild. I declared it to the insurance company who didn't add any additional loading whatsoever. The car was the best I've owned, and when I reluctantly sold it to fund a track day car I listed everything openly in the ad and got every penny of the purchase price back from the first guy who looked at it. I'd buy it back for the same again if I had the space and the money...
So, basically, go into it with your eyes open and it can be a very cost effective way of getting a nice car. One thing I would say is that it's probably easier to justify on rare-ish cars (where finding a nice is more difficult and people buy on condition rather than status) and those with a separate chassis, where it's easier to gurantee that no strutural damage remains.
I bought a 205 GTI a few years ago for what was, then, quite a high price. It was low mileage and looked smart, but various niggles rapidly started to emerge. When the logbook came through it transpired it was a category D. I was furious and contacted the seller who pleaded ignorance. It was a private sale 'sold as seen' so I could do very little to contest that. When I came to sell the car the following year I found that the going rate for an honestly declared Cat D was less than half what I'd paid for it.
However...
Spin forward a few years and I was looking for an S-Series TVR. I looked at numerous 'cherished examples' which weren't, before finding a mint example (rather better informed this time). The only problem was it was again a Cat D. This time, however, I negotiated an according price; I scoured engineers reports and photos of the car before and after the damage, as well as during the repairs. I was confident the car was better than most had left the factory, following a comprehensive and well documented rebuild. I declared it to the insurance company who didn't add any additional loading whatsoever. The car was the best I've owned, and when I reluctantly sold it to fund a track day car I listed everything openly in the ad and got every penny of the purchase price back from the first guy who looked at it. I'd buy it back for the same again if I had the space and the money...
So, basically, go into it with your eyes open and it can be a very cost effective way of getting a nice car. One thing I would say is that it's probably easier to justify on rare-ish cars (where finding a nice is more difficult and people buy on condition rather than status) and those with a separate chassis, where it's easier to gurantee that no strutural damage remains.
Edited by Chris71 on Thursday 22 October 10:41
from my experience what a load of tosh and scare-mongeering!
- This thread (and the comments in it) suggest that anybody driving around in a cat c / cat d car is unisured!! b****cks - I've never even been asked in relation to "has the car ever been in an accident"!!!! LOL!
...If that was the case, then every body would HAVE TO HPi ANY car before buying it.
Over the years I've had many insurance write off's (obviously including Cat D's) and it's purely a stigma - It's been great for me as it means I have got great cars for less money (due to the crazy rules of the insurance industry and repair "standards") and had them repaired my self - usually just a light repair to paint and the odd panel.
The Category of the write off is not and can not be an accurate representation of the damage sustained. Some CAT C's are lighter than a Cat D simply due to the age of the vehicle and it's value.
...as long as it's MOT'd and taxed (as per usual) there will be no problems insuring it as far as I can see - Accident history has nothing to do with insurance premiums as long as the car is legally driveable on the road with an MOT test, and having passed a VIC check if Cat C which is nothing to do with damage, but just a confirmation of the Vehicle's identity belonging to that car.
The only time you may run in to an issue is with the "current market value" if you make a claim, but that all depends if the insurance company actually checks it first or even bothers to make an adjustment even if they know...
My 2p's worth.
- This thread (and the comments in it) suggest that anybody driving around in a cat c / cat d car is unisured!! b****cks - I've never even been asked in relation to "has the car ever been in an accident"!!!! LOL!
...If that was the case, then every body would HAVE TO HPi ANY car before buying it.
Over the years I've had many insurance write off's (obviously including Cat D's) and it's purely a stigma - It's been great for me as it means I have got great cars for less money (due to the crazy rules of the insurance industry and repair "standards") and had them repaired my self - usually just a light repair to paint and the odd panel.
The Category of the write off is not and can not be an accurate representation of the damage sustained. Some CAT C's are lighter than a Cat D simply due to the age of the vehicle and it's value.
...as long as it's MOT'd and taxed (as per usual) there will be no problems insuring it as far as I can see - Accident history has nothing to do with insurance premiums as long as the car is legally driveable on the road with an MOT test, and having passed a VIC check if Cat C which is nothing to do with damage, but just a confirmation of the Vehicle's identity belonging to that car.
The only time you may run in to an issue is with the "current market value" if you make a claim, but that all depends if the insurance company actually checks it first or even bothers to make an adjustment even if they know...
My 2p's worth.
Edited by Gallen on Thursday 22 October 12:43
t box, I heard no more on the issueThat's a beautiful car and a nice repair. I'm guessing here but maybe it matters only when a write off in the second case means paying out the cars 'market value'. I have searched a V5 and cannot see any overt mention of any category so it's possible it gets overlooked withut an HPI.
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