Write off & V5 Question

[R360]

What part of a V5 shows that a car is a write off?
Im currently selling my car which I have owned for about 10 months, I bought it from a well respected auction house. The car has a fully documented history 90% of which is main dealer, the last 2 services; whilst I have owned the car have been a BMW specialist. Had the car MOT’ed earlier this year and at no point has anything flashed up.
Just had a call from a prospective buyer that has said he will offer me 25% of the advertised price due to the car being a Cat B write off.
I have just done a text check thing and it’s coming out as clear, got a feeling this guy is trying it on.
So if it’s a Cat B, as this bloke is claiming, surely it will have this printed on the V5, if so where, cant see anything on mine?
Quite worried now, what are the chances of the Text check being wrong? Surely if it was a write off the MOt centre of even my garage that service the car would mention something?

[ridds]

Cat A and B are both scrappers in 99% of cases.

C & D can be returned to the road.

[AndrewW-G]

Sounds like a scam, Cat B = parts only

[ridds]

Yep, correct my statement there it's ALL A & B's are to be torn down for parts only.

[R360]

The issue is its very unlikely that the auction centre would sell a write off, i always thought that all cars going through the auction centre were checked.

[AndrewW-G]

ridds said:

Yep, correct my statement there it's ALL A & B's are to be torn down for parts only.

No, A = car destroyed, no parts can be reused

[Blue Oval84]

Cat B is illegal to be sold for use on the road, it's parts only.

The V5 may not state specifically if the car was written off, only if it was scrapped (that means broken up, not just written off). Writing a car off is simply a financial decision taken by the insurance company that it isn't worth fixing.

[R360]

So where do I stand? Are the text checks accurate, tried twice and both times it's showing clear

[Blue Oval84]

Sorry I must have skim read your first post, thought you were buying not selling.

Tell the buyer to bog off, it's not Cat B, it can't be Cat B based on where you bought it from. If it was Cat B then no one in their right mind would buy it. It would be scrap.

He's trying to rob you mate.

Edited by Blue Oval84 on Tuesday 30th November 00:16

[AndrewW-G]

R360 said:

So where do I stand? Are the text checks accurate, tried twice and both times it's showing clear

Yes the checks are accurate, you could always do a proper HPI check if you realy wanted to get something in writing.

As for the person offering you 25% . . . . . just somebody trying to scam you, no doubt there are a few people out there, who would fall for it and sell a car on for a quater of its value

[CampDavid]

I don't believe it is illegal for a Cat B car to be put back on the road. I'm sure it's policy for them to only be used for parts but it's in no way illegal.

I've seen a few Cat B cars advertised for sale so some do get out there.

OP should just HPI the thing

[Blue Oval84]

I wouldn't even waste my money HPI checking it, the text check would show it if it were Cat B.

Also, no legit salvage firm would ever sell a complete Cat B, the only ones that make it back onto the roads are from very dodgy sources. There will of course be thousands of cars on the road that should have been written off as Cat B but were un-insured when crashed and hence will be totally unrecorded!

[R360]

My car is in absolute pristine condition and i paid over the odds when i got it simply due to the fact it was in such good condition with a great spec. Im sure if it had been in a knock and had a repaint i would have noticed a difference in colour on some of the panels.
Again done another text check today, well got a mate to do it using his phone and again coming back as all clear.

The guy called again this morning and told him i had done a check and he said he uses the text check a lot and they are never accurate, apparently he is a trader and the check they use is 100% accurate and not available to the general public, is this true?
Either way told him i am not selling it for what he offered but he is now telling me that i could potentially get in trouble with the BIB, all he has to do is send them a link to the ad.

[rottie102]

R360 said:

My car is in absolute pristine condition and i paid over the odds when i got it simply due to the fact it was in such good condition with a great spec. Im sure if it had been in a knock and had a repaint i would have noticed a difference in colour on some of the panels.
Again done another text check today, well got a mate to do it using his phone and again coming back as all clear.

The guy called again this morning and told him i had done a check and he said he uses the text check a lot and they are never accurate, apparently he is a trader and the check they use is 100% accurate and not available to the general public, is this true?
Either way told him i am not selling it for what he offered but he is now telling me that i could potentially get in trouble with the BIB, all he has to do is send them a link to the ad.

1)Tell him that he can collect the car,
2)Get this ready :

3)When he shows up do society a favour and kick the living st out of the scumbag

[aruck]

If you take it into most dealers and ask them to value it they will do a quick check on the vehicle. Might be worth just popping into a local dealers?
I don't think it would hurt to get a full written HPI check so youve got the peice of paper. Can only help with other potential buyers.

[R360]

aruck said:

If you take it into most dealers and ask them to value it they will do a quick check on the vehicle. Might be worth just popping into a local dealers?
I don't think it would hurt to get a full written HPI check so youve got the peice of paper. Can only help with other potential buyers.

Yup i think you may well be correct, just done a google search for HPI check and it brings back lots of results, can anyone recommend a reputable website to use, thats likely to be accurate. Alternatively any dealers here that can point me in the direction of the one they use that this chap is claiming is 1005 accurate?

[Denis O]

I always use RAC which uses the Hpi database.

I suspect your prospective purchaser is alluding to the use of Hpi which is what the trade usually use; Oh, and the public do have access to Hpi checks but it costs more than the trade pay.

[R360]

Well i have got a full check done and as i suspected the car is totally clear!!

The absolute donkey cum drinking fking pikey tt is trying it on, maybe i should tell him to come pick up the car and give him a random address hundreds of miles away.