'Category D' Griff....

[pupp]

Just enquired after a T plate Griff 500 to be told by the seller that it is a 'Cat D' repaired car. A rear quarter apparently replaced early in car's life and notification only registered as owner had 'new for old' insurance cover. Not seen the car (or even decided whether it's worth the 40m drive) but seller says repair is pukka and he has photos etc to prove what damage was. How does this story tranlate to value/future resale prospects assuming condition checks out ok etc?

[corin denton]

Really comes down to price and wether you are happy with it? How much is the car? If it is repaired properly and cheap enough then maybe but it consider these things. Some Griffiths are starting to appreciate in value, this one won't. Insurance companies won't value the car highly either so another claim might not be prosperous. If you are not planning to keep the car long term you may find it more difficult to sell on. To coin a phrase I'm not writing it off (someone else did that!!) just be cautious.

>> Edited by corin denton on Friday 16th May 18:37

>> Edited by corin denton on Friday 16th May 18:38

[julianhj]

Cat D means beyond economical repair - if the original owner who stuffed it got a new Griff in the process, then this one would still be Cat D regardless - it would have been sold for salvage and somebody decided to rebuild it.

Beyond economical repair on a c. £30k car means the ins. co. estimated the cost to put right as perhaps £18k - £20k plus! (60% of the value of the car). Thats a significant amount of damage to contend with.

Edited as I didn't want to duplicate Corin's points!

>> Edited by julianhj on Friday 16th May 18:46

[Leadfoot]

You'd be surprised how high repair costs for Tivs can be, depending on who quotes for the work!
For example, my Griff was sideswiped a few weeks back. Initialy I thought 4-5k's worth of damage (front wing repair/door respray/suspension wishbones etc) - the quote came in at just over 12k

[burriana500]

Pupp - don't let Cat D put you off, my Griff 500 had a nearside front corner bump, new suspension arm and a nose job, but still enough to get it a Cat D rating!

Got a full 'Autolign' inspection done on mine which not only showed the car to be in A1 condition, but also gets it shown on the insurance register as "Cat D once upon a time but officially OK now", or something like that!

Rule of thumb is 20% less than full market value. If the guy wants to sell it badly enough, you may be able to persuade him to get the inspection done (about £250)... I did and now have a belter of a car!

If you need Autolign's details I have them at home - let me know if you need them.

Al

[steve-p]

julianhj said:Beyond economical repair on a c. £30k car means the ins. co. estimated the cost to put right as perhaps £18k - £20k plus! (60% of the value of the car).

There are other factors, as well as the cost of the damage repair. The cost of providing a courtesy car for the period the car is likely to be off the road can be very high too. I remember seeing a car at David Hendry that had just been repaired and they said it had been off the road for several months due to delays getting a new front end, and in the meantime the owner had clocked up a five figure bill with a rented top-end 5 Series that the insurance company was apparently going to pay for.

[SMiles]

Pupp, I think I know the car you are talking about........is it in Leicester by any chance. Mail me directly and I'll tell you what I know.

cheers

SMiles

[julianhj]

steve-p said:

julianhj said:Beyond economical repair on a c. £30k car means the ins. co. estimated the cost to put right as perhaps £18k - £20k plus! (60% of the value of the car).

There are other factors, as well as the cost of the damage repair. The cost of providing a courtesy car for the period the car is likely to be off the road can be very high too. I remember seeing a car at David Hendry that had just been repaired and they said it had been off the road for several months due to delays getting a new front end, and in the meantime the owner had clocked up a five figure bill with a rented top-end 5 Series that the insurance company was apparently going to pay for.

I'm in the insurance replacement car hire business - I'm well aware that some companies (credit hire cowboys) do absolutely take the pi$$! Thankfully for all of us, insurance companies are wising up to this stuff and offering alternatives immediately after liabilty is established. This shoots the credit hire co.s out the water.
Even so, bills can still get large. The ABI (Assoc. of British Insurers) have an agreed rate of £175+VAT per day for the top car - S Class or similar. I put one out two months ago for 31 days to a DB7 driver - you can imagine the bill...

AFAIK the estimates carried out by insurance companies are related entirely to the cost of repairing the car. Courtesy car rental is a totally separate issue, and would not affect what category a vehicle is given - just as an injury claim is treated as a separate issue. Car hire is treated as an uninsured loss - it can be organised by the at fault insurers, or a claim may be submitted for the cost of the hire if the innocent party has paid for it themselves.