CAT S. Opinions on this one

[Mawer]

Hi all,

Thinking to buy CAT S car. See pictures below of before and after repair.
Price is more than half off comparing to same with no CAT.

I'm thinking to spend money to hire mechanic to check the state of repairs and everything that can be checked in place (I understand that there's always a change of something to appear, but looking only at pictures and if mechanic report would state that everything been repaired in good standards would I be then right to think that it's a good buy?

Any thoughts welcome.

[Krikkit]

Wouldn't touch that with someone else's barge pole until I'd offered up a new rear door and checked the suspension mounting at the back on a jig. Looks pretty bent to me.

[Turbojuice]

Never understood this personally. Just buy a car that hasn't been bent.

[blue_haddock]

If you know what your doing then they can be a source of cheap vehicles.

If you dont and are having to employ someone to check it i'd probably say just buy an older car or one with more miles that is within budget that hasnt been a write off.

[mike74]

I drive a 17 plate Peugeot van (don't ask me what model, transit size)

I've had 2 minor, manoeuvring speed scrapes, one to the front wing, one to the rear quarter, each time I was amazed at the level of damage, on a par with this one... looks more like it's been T-Boned by a freight train each time!

I think drinks cans must be more robust.

[Gary C]

Turbojuice said:

Never understood this personally. Just buy a car that hasn't been bent.

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[Turbojuice]

Gary C said:

Turbojuice said:

Never understood this personally. Just buy a car that hasn't been bent.

??????????????????

OP is talking as if it's going to be used as their everyday car (apologies if that's not the case). I don't know why on earth you'd buy a Cat S car to drive everyday. If it's a project and you know what you are doing ok it can be profitable but even so, it's so very easy to get caught out too.

[Mawer]

Any car might been bent before. I would pay for someone to check any used car anyway.
If only bad thing about it would be slightly bent back door I would be happy to save £9000 on it.

I understand that it might be totally bad repair with many issues and any price for it is too much. But that's why I would spend £xxx to check it and eliminate at least main/obvious risks.

[Gary C]

Turbojuice said:

Gary C said:

Turbojuice said:

Never understood this personally. Just buy a car that hasn't been bent.

??????????????????

OP is talking as if it's going to be used as their everyday car (apologies if that's not the case). I don't know why on earth you'd buy a Cat S car to drive everyday. If it's a project and you know what you are doing ok it can be profitable but even so, it's so very easy to get caught out too.

I think the reason to buy a cat S is plainly obvious, its (can be) cheaper ! (or more expensive if it goes pear shaped)

But its easy to understand I would have thought.

[Weekendrebuild]

6x big tubs of filler, 1 gallon of hardner some spray putty an 5 cans of Halfords of the shelf silver an your away

[Mawer]

Thanks for all your comments.
From first not experienced look it seemed like a good car for sale. Will rather stay away from cars with CAT.

[anonymous-user]

I would go for that personally if it's half price and been repaired to a reasonable standard. As mentioned previously any car could have been damaged and repaired previously without your knowledge. The UK seem to write cars off with seemingly little damage compared to elsewhere.

Get a 4 wheel alignment done. If it can be aligned to factory specs then it should be fine looks like panel damage to me.

(I live in central Europe where 90% of the vehicles on the roads are re built write offs from other countries. This looks barely touched in comparison )

[Lukas239]

Doesn't CAT S have to be re-engineered to put back on the road? IIRC Cat S is the new Cat C which means it needs a qualified garage to ensure its safe enough to MOT.

I'm not a safety conscious human but is the saving enough to justify driving a potentially dangerous vehicle?

[Jakg]

Lukas239 said:

Doesn't CAT S have to be re-engineered to put back on the road? IIRC Cat S is the new Cat C which means it needs a qualified garage to ensure its safe enough to MOT.

I'm not a safety conscious human but is the saving enough to justify driving a potentially dangerous vehicle?

Cat C never required a MOT for safety reasons - just a (now discontinued) VIC - but some insurance companies asked for a reMOT.

Still doesn't mean the repair is any good though.