Buying a previous Cat C/D

[Memorise97]

I was just wondering whether buying a car that is a cat c or d will make a difference on my insurance ( will be 18 when I get the car if that makes a difference )

[MrAverage]

i've never found it too make a big difference (if any at all). i'd avoid cat D cars as alot of them are never actually repaired and are the easiest ones to get stung on, atleast cat C's have to go through a vic.

[Matt UK]

Pretty sure it does.

[cj2013]

Memorise97 said:

I was just wondering whether buying a car that is a cat c or d will make a difference on my insurance ( will be 18 when I get the car if that makes a difference )

Depends on the insurer.

Essentially, you'd get much less if you needed to claim.

Further to that, it also depends on why it was written off. You can get paintwork damage cat C or D's and you can get structural damage Cat C or D's.

Even further, my experience of buying previously written off cars has been that they are normally bought, bodged and sold on - making them even more dangerous.


Not a blanket rule at all, just making the point that there's many variables involved in the matter. Contrary to popular belief, a VIC check (required for Cat C) is only to confirm the identity of the vehicle, not the quality of the repair; the MOT does the latter,but in no different way to any other MOT.

[Memorise97]

Ah yeah never thought about that, could be dangerous, will not be getting a cat c/d

[RobinBanks]

cj2013 said:

Memorise97 said:

I was just wondering whether buying a car that is a cat c or d will make a difference on my insurance ( will be 18 when I get the car if that makes a difference )

Depends on the insurer.

Essentially, you'd get much less if you needed to claim.

Further to that, it also depends on why it was written off. You can get paintwork damage cat C or D's and you can get structural damage Cat C or D's.

Even further, my experience of buying previously written off cars has been that they are normally bought, bodged and sold on - making them even more dangerous.


Not a blanket rule at all, just making the point that there's many variables involved in the matter. Contrary to popular belief, a VIC check (required for Cat C) is only to confirm the identity of the vehicle, not the quality of the repair; the MOT does the latter,but in no different way to any other MOT.

As the OP is turning 18, I would say that at this level it's very possible that a Cat C car could be that way purely as a result of a keying or bumper replacement.

Of course, I don't know what he's buying but if his budget is anything like mine was at 18, I doubt he's buying a 911 or M3 or something!

[daemon]

MrAverage said:

i'd avoid cat D cars as alot of them are never actually repaired and are the easiest ones to get stung on, at least cat C's have to go through a vic.

You mean its had its identity checked? How does that make the repair better?

Edited by daemon on Sunday 16th November 22:00

[cj2013]

Memorise97 said:

Ah yeah never thought about that, could be dangerous, will not be getting a cat c/d

They're not all, I've just had a few that have been shockers.

One, a W(2000) reg 306 had a slightly funny looking sill - they curve inwards towards the middle of the car, but one side looked a bit odd.

I hacked all the then suddenly obvious filler back and found that a bit chunk of sill had been cut out and replaced with some thin metal held in with 2 rivets and smeared in filler. Luckily, mum's fella was a welder and it got sorted. Can't imagine how it would have folded in an accident.

As with most things, I'm surprised you can put anything structural back on the road as it ignores cyclic fatigue to an extent and makes a vehicle less safe than it previously was. Obviously any aesthetic or bolt on parts can be excluded, but you'd struggle to find a well repaired Cat C or D in a sea of bodged 'fix it flog it' cars.