Will an HPI check whether I'm being told porkies?

[elanfan]

Hello chaps,

Daughter has just passed her test and I'm looking at a car for her. It's a great spec and is up to £1500/2000 cheaper than it would otherwise be because it is a Cat D . The trader says it is a stolen recovered car with NO damage. I'm struggling to understand why it is so cheap if this is the truth. Am I missing something? Is there a way of ascertaining what actually happened -call the first owner I'm thinking. But will an HPI tell me anything - in fact would any of you guys help if I pm you the reg no?

Thanks for your thoughts

[IvanSTi]

If it's Cat D it would only be panel damage at worst anyway, so just confirm that. If it was panel damage, would it matter as long as the repair is decent? Chances are it's going to need some repairs in a couple of years time anyway.

[elanfan]

Trader is stating NO accident damage. If I can verify then it's a bit of a bargain and would still have at least 2 years manufacturers warranty still on it.

Anyone know if an HPI can clarify things?

[hornetrider]

Probably stolen/recovered in which case you'll be buying your daughter a car which has been nicked and abused as a first car.

Nice.

[geeks]

Not sure if I am right or not, Loon would be able to confirm, but I think Cat D's can be harder/more expensive to insure.

[andy-xr]

A HPI, the detailed one, should (and I'm saying should) give you the reason for the insurance write off. Not like 'Mrs Miggins stuffed it into a tree' but something like 'stolen / recovered'

I'd expect that there will still have been some damage, but you could say that of half the cars on the road in that price bracket

[elanfan]

It's a 14 plate VW Move Up - these are normally around £6500

[AngryPartsBloke]

Becuase it will be forever marked as CAT D and it is no longer worth as much based on how people perceive it. While in some cases that may be deserved, we all know in many cases it's underserved (remember the thread on the E90 M3 that was repaired to a much higher standard than when it left BMW)

Means you get the chance oat some absoltue bargins, but you might end up with a dog.

[elanfan]

Even if the car was ragged a bit most cars can handle that and if there's anything wrong it goes back to VW to fix under warranty.

[hornetrider]

elanfan said:

Even if the car was ragged a bit most cars can handle that and if there's anything wrong it goes back to VW to fix under warranty.

What a lovely present for your daughter as her first car, well done.

[Amused2death]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

The insurance could have paid out before the car was recovered.....so Cat D no damage is possible.

[anonymous-user]

hornetrider said:

What a lovely present for your daughter as her first car, well done.

its a car, not a used pair of trousers, if it looks good and checks out it shouldn't be a problem, 1.5k is a lot of money. I wuld look at older cars over stolen first thou.

[R8Steve]

hornetrider said:

elanfan said:

Even if the car was ragged a bit most cars can handle that and if there's anything wrong it goes back to VW to fix under warranty.

What a lovely present for your daughter as her first car, well done.

Not sure why you are so negative here? I wish i was bought a 5k car when i passed my test!

[hornetrider]

R8Steve said:

hornetrider said:

elanfan said:

Even if the car was ragged a bit most cars can handle that and if there's anything wrong it goes back to VW to fix under warranty.

What a lovely present for your daughter as her first car, well done.

Not sure why you are so negative here? I wish i was bought a 5k car when i passed my test!

Well, a first car has a potential to be special. If I was spending 5k on one for my own daughter it wouldn't be a Cat D stolen/recovered. I'd be looking at a cherished low owner nice example of something. If it's a year older who cares?

I probably wouldn't get anything so small either.

[Galileo]

elanfan said:

Even if the car was ragged a bit most cars can handle that and if there's anything wrong it goes back to VW to fix under warranty.

If it's cat D there's a fair chance it isn't covered under warranty any more. Best to check that first.

I've been in the trade for 30 odd years and wouldn't touch a cat D with anything, let alone put my child in one. Ask yourself how you'll feel IF something breaks due to being abused or repaired badly, and it ends up in a ditch somewhere. Not worth it.

[boyse7en]

hornetrider said:

Well, a first car has a potential to be special. If I was spending 5k on one for my own daughter it wouldn't be a Cat D stolen/recovered. I'd be looking at a cherished low owner nice example of something. If it's a year older who cares?

I probably wouldn't get anything so small either.

If it's a first car, why buy a nice cherished example? Your son/daughter is highly likely to hit it with something in the near future. It won't be a "cherished" example after a year's ownership by a newly-qualified driver.

[hornetrider]

boyse7en said:

If it's a first car, why buy a nice cherished example?

Because I'm nice like that. Your angle is just buy an old stter. I'd rather not do that as a gift to my daughter for her first car.

[R8Steve]

Galileo said:

elanfan said:

Even if the car was ragged a bit most cars can handle that and if there's anything wrong it goes back to VW to fix under warranty.

If it's cat D there's a fair chance it isn't covered under warranty any more. Best to check that first.

I've been in the trade for 30 odd years and wouldn't touch a cat D with anything, let alone put my child in one. Ask yourself how you'll feel IF something breaks due to being abused or repaired badly, and it ends up in a ditch somewhere. Not worth it.

In your 30 years experience has nothing broken due to being abused or repaired badly without any CAT status on it? If so i'd say you were very, very, lucky!

[elanfan]

I've just spoken to the dealer he claims its come straight from the insurers and was stolen with the keys so there's no damage. It is a 16000 mile April 2014 car so hardly a snotter. Have asked for previous owners details and I intend to talk to them.

[elanfan]

Couple of things - there's no link up between insurers, the DVLA and VW dealerships so how would they know. I've just spoken to one and Cat D or even C do not invalidate the warranty. If there's a fault they fix it, if the fault is from accident damage then obviously it isn't. If the ECU shows its been ragged, redlined regularly they'd probably be a bit unhappy if there was engine damage but that's what their warranty covers.

Just need to confirm the story and then we'll go have a look.