Category D

[George 500]

Does anyone know what the implications of owning a category D Tiv are? Other than the obvious resale value issues how does it affect insurance etc.?

[crackedfinger]

It does not affect insurance as such, just the perceived value of the car.

[jammy_basturd]

crackedfinger said:

It does not affect insurance as such, just the perceived value of the car.

To expand on this, in the event of a claim, your insurance company will value your TVR at 75% of its market value.

[George 500]

Thanks for this.

[blackpoolrocket]

and you'll need more than just good luck with selling it again.

[dingg]

blackpoolrocket said:

and you'll need more than just good luck with selling it again.

not really , there is always a buyer if the price is right

[justin220]

jammy_basturd said:

crackedfinger said:

It does not affect insurance as such, just the perceived value of the car.

To expand on this, in the event of a claim, your insurance company will value your TVR at 75% of its market value.

Interesting! Is that the same with all cars?

[S6 Devil]

If you get an agreed value with the insurer you get the agreed value.
This one looks like a nice car with the price climbing steadily. I would!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

[dingg]

justin220 said:

jammy_basturd said:

crackedfinger said:

It does not affect insurance as such, just the perceived value of the car.

To expand on this, in the event of a claim, your insurance company will value your TVR at 75% of its market value.

Interesting! Is that the same with all cars?

I can answer this from recent experience, my daily hack was written off cat c (flood damage )prior to me buying it at a bargain price.all it neeeded was an airbag ECU.
5 weeks ago someone rearended it when parked outside my house, result was a write off , insurance paid out almost 50% more than I bought it for,
kerching , this was due to their policy of paying out glasses trade value.
I hadn't previously informed them it had been a write off and you do not need to. I even managed to get a few quid extra out of them because I quoted whatcar trade value against the value they came up with.

[Noisy]

I had a cat D Griffith which I wrote off last year, the insurance gave me 3K more than I paid 4 years previous.

As long as the chassis is ok then it should be fine, pay about 25% less than a you would for a unclassified car.

Its also worth remembering lots of tvr's get damaged, those that are repaired by the insurance could have been a write off if they were a few years older and worth less but appear to have a clear history in the eyes of HPI.

[Chimjunkie]

My car is now Cat D after a front end this year. The car is now better than it was before the accident. Accept that the value is dropped 25%, but with good documentation i would buy a Cat D anytime. Great way of getting a good car at a lower price. Documentation, photo's etc of damage and repair stages a must though.

[dan de-lyon]

aside from the valuation issue the quality of the repair needs to an important consideration its what you dont see that bites your ass! buyer beware

[Old Geezer]

dan de-lyon said:

aside from the valuation issue the quality of the repair needs to an important consideration its what you dont see that bites your ass! buyer beware

I 2nd that.

Cracks in welds are almost impossible to detect without expert inspection until they give way.

So it does depend on the extent the damage.

I decided my life was worth more and found a nice straight car.
When you consider the power and stress these cars experience in normal use a back street repair don't bear thinking about.

Having said that, if its done properly it should be OK but I'd want an Auto Engineers safety report first!

[Chimjunkie]

Would have thought most Cat D TVR's would be fibreglass damage and minor mechanical parts only. Any damage to chassis would not be considered a cat D.

[dan de-lyon]

there are five levels of damage category A,B,C,D&F. A is the worst beyond salvage, B&C are heavy damage C being the lighter and in most cases can be repaired,D is light damage but is not always just panels, value issues enter the frame,the CAT D listing means it can be safely and economically repaired, i have seen cat d,s that appear almost un damaged and some that need extensive work. i would suggest if you want to proceed then get an engineers report as a minimum, more so with a performance car.i know its a less costly way initially to enter a car bracket however its obviously relative,you buy for less you sell for less. incidentally cat F is fire damage.

[plasticman]

Old Geezer , how do you know you got a "straight" car . I have repaired many cars for dealers (damaged by the dealer ) that the owners new nothing about and I have seen brand new cars (not TVRs ) that have already had a repair !

[crackedfinger]

Quinny said:

jammy_basturd said:

crackedfinger said:

It does not affect insurance as such, just the perceived value of the car.

To expand on this, in the event of a claim, your insurance company will value your TVR at 75% of its market value.

Sorry, not in my case

I bought a cat C car that was then yet again damaged in another accident
My insurance company offered full market value.

But the garage persuaded them to repair it, as I wanted the car back

The fact that it previously was a cat C never even came into it.

It went from this


to this


then this


moving on


to this



The cost of repairing my car was in excess of £10k

At the time of the accident I was offered £15k which was a good offer.

I know for a fact, my car is as good as if not better than many non damaged cars with rotten outriggers and all sorts of other chassis issues

As for value, its irrelevent to me, as the car isn't and most probably never will be for sale.

Every single element of the repair has been documented and photographed with over 100 photos, showing the quality of workmanship and attention to detail

Edited by Quinny on Tuesday 16th September 23:29

Great example of the most important fact - condition.