Would you buy a CAT C Tamora
Would you buy a CAT C Tamora
Author
Discussion

five_belliez

Original Poster:

47 posts

233 months

Saturday 12th July 2008
quotequote all
Hi all,
i'm considering buying a 2005 Tamora, which is CAT C repaired and about £7-10k less than similar undamged cars. If i did it would get me a newer model, with lower mileage, and leave a much bigger slush fund for rebuilds etc.
Is this a really bad idea - given the car was probably worth circa £25-30k when it was damaged, and the insurer has decided not to repair it, the damage must have been extensive? I've emailed the seller for more details.

Zippee

14,131 posts

264 months

Saturday 12th July 2008
quotequote all
IMHO if it was a CAT D and I could see what damage was done to cause this then maybe if the price was low enough - but a CAT C? Not for me.
Would be a b!tch to sell on and more to insure.
Personally I'd opt for a slightly older but more genuine model...

five_belliez

Original Poster:

47 posts

233 months

Saturday 12th July 2008
quotequote all
That’s roughly what I’m thinking. The guy selling it also sounded a bit like he was about to tell me i have a long lost cousin who has left me £250,000, all i need to do to get it is fly to Nigeria and sign a piece of paper.

BJWoods

5,018 posts

314 months

Saturday 12th July 2008
quotequote all
Cat d - make an offer

cat C think harder. and much lower offer

Littletidnock

328 posts

220 months

Saturday 12th July 2008
quotequote all
its a buyers market, if your not bothered either way bid the man in the town halls and if you end up owning it, OK, and if not, OK.
£7-10 no more like £15-18 if he says no you still have your money and he still has the car.

That said if he said yes to a low bid, are you sure you would be happy

Edited by Littletidnock on Saturday 12th July 20:38

Targarama

14,786 posts

313 months

Saturday 12th July 2008
quotequote all
Don't buy it if you ever want to sell it. Its not about the price, its about finding someone else who wants the car at all. Personally I'd just get an early model Tamora.

shake n bake

2,221 posts

237 months

Sunday 13th July 2008
quotequote all
i wouldn't buy it if i was in your shoes. in my opinion, seriously crash damaged tvrs don't drive the same after a rebuild, they lose that solid feeling. also, i've seen some horrifying rebuilds, its shocking what some bodyshops will turn out. you could have the vehicle inspected by a proper tvr garage?

dingg

4,548 posts

249 months

Sunday 13th July 2008
quotequote all
my opinion

drive it , if it drives ok and the repair is good by a reputable firm, go for it as long as you're happy with the price.

In my experience the category does not always relate to the amount of damage to the vehicle,

eg my chim was cat c it was 3 years old when involved in a shunt , new lights front and rear, new screen , new rad,new front end, new back end ,no suspension or chassis damage, total repair cost over 16k (about half of which was labour ) at a main tvr workshop, can anyone tell it was in a shunt ? no way , the car drives perfectly has a good paint job and looks an excellent example of the marque.But it was still a cat C

I paid less than normal book price obviously BUT got a newer car than I could have bought at the same price, am I pleased? you bet I am. At the end of the day who cares whether its on the register or not . I got a bargain and even went and bought another car on the register, my daily driver bought last year at salvage auction cat C peugeot 307sw one lady owner 23k miles absolutely immaculate and I mean not one single mark on the vehicle.

Flood damaged whilst in storage , she had part exd it against another and it was at the compound in Yorkshire during the floods, written off cat C , all I needed to do to it was put in another airbag ecu, no wet carpets, no odours, no other electrical probs. go figure why it was cat C

Will I buy another car on the register, YES but you must do your research and make sure its not a lemon, same as with all car purchases.



Edited by dingg on Sunday 13th July 09:45

Littletidnock

328 posts

220 months

Sunday 13th July 2008
quotequote all
there is a stolen recovered Tuscan, black, no damage, cat d, on ebay, looks well priced, what do you think, have a look.

pwd95

8,459 posts

268 months

Sunday 13th July 2008
quotequote all
Just get the chassis inspected. If it's straight & it's a good repair then it's no different to any other TVR physically. My Griffith is a cat C & you can see where the outrigger has been repaired but the car is straight & drives as good as any other, bargain IMHO. Buy low, sell low, job done. Enjoy. thumbup

ETA, see vid on my profile. biggrin

Edited by pwd95 on Sunday 13th July 11:08

WazzaL

960 posts

239 months

Monday 14th July 2008
quotequote all
Littletidnock said:
there is a stolen recovered Tuscan, black, no damage, cat d, on ebay, looks well priced, what do you think, have a look.
Looks ok from the pics, but can't really tell. When they say it's damaged, why don't they show any decent pics of the damage..

Littletidnock

328 posts

220 months

Monday 14th July 2008
quotequote all
WazzaL said:
Littletidnock said:
there is a stolen recovered Tuscan, black, no damage, cat d, on ebay, looks well priced, what do you think, have a look.
Looks ok from the pics, but can't really tell. When they say it's damaged, why don't they show any decent pics of the damage..
I dont think it is damaged, look in the sub title

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TVR-TUSCAN-DAMAGED-REPAIRABL...

Edited by Littletidnock on Monday 14th July 12:34

stainless_steve

6,052 posts

288 months

Monday 14th July 2008
quotequote all
Littletidnock said:
WazzaL said:
Littletidnock said:
there is a stolen recovered Tuscan, black, no damage, cat d, on ebay, looks well priced, what do you think, have a look.
Looks ok from the pics, but can't really tell. When they say it's damaged, why don't they show any decent pics of the damage..
I dont think it is damaged, look in the sub title

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TVR-TUSCAN-DAMAGED-REPAIRABL...

Edited by Littletidnock on Monday 14th July 12:34
It says not recorded,so if he is correct it's not a cat d.

Littletidnock

328 posts

220 months

Monday 14th July 2008
quotequote all
you are quite correct and the advert does not say catd my mistake

Rocket Pepper

1,281 posts

246 months

Monday 14th July 2008
quotequote all
Whilst I have no objection to salvage repairable stuff, it might be of interest to know that there exists NO law or regulation that states anyone selling a salvage repaired vehicle, whether categorised or not, is obliged to disclose such information. I imagine there are many thousands of vehicles on the roads right now that are salvage repaired, and their drivers/owners have no knowledge of such.

five_belliez

Original Poster:

47 posts

233 months

Monday 14th July 2008
quotequote all
some interesting and useful points. cheers everyone. the car has done about 8,000 miles, but has no history either, so it just doesn't add up to me.

V8 GRF

7,299 posts

240 months

Monday 14th July 2008
quotequote all
Interesting,
According to the DVLA site the car hasn't been taxed since 2004!

Date of Liability 01 06 2004
Date of First Registration 15 06 2002
Year of Manufacture 2002
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 3996CC


So that would add up to the low miles and no records if it was nicked and stuck in a garage.



Edited by V8 GRF on Monday 14th July 18:19

potato muncher

613 posts

245 months

Monday 14th July 2008
quotequote all
can you find out what the damage was, fibreglass cars seem to be able to take a lot more impact than metal without chassis damage.

Littletidnock

328 posts

220 months

Monday 14th July 2008
quotequote all
five_belliez said:
some interesting and useful points. cheers everyone. the car has done about 8,000 miles, but has no history either, so it just doesn't add up to me.
Not many cars have any history at 8,000 miles, in fact, it may have only missed one mileage service

stainless_steve

6,052 posts

288 months

Monday 14th July 2008
quotequote all
V8 GRF said:
Interesting,
According to the DVLA site the car hasn't been taxed since 2004!

Date of Liability 01 06 2004
Date of First Registration 15 06 2002
Year of Manufacture 2002
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 3996CC


So that would add up to the low miles and no records if it was nicked and stuck in a garage.



Edited by V8 GRF on Monday 14th July 18:19
Looks expensive to me,needs a full respray say £2k that takes it to £16k and no history.Will probably need further work due to long term storage too.