Cat S Ford Transit connect help.

[robert-shetland]

Hi All
I am currently looking at a Cat S Ford Transit connect and am very keen on it.
Looks like a great van but for the write off part.
He showed me pictures of superficial damage and i wonder if the lockdown and thus the insurance companies ability to get it fixed may have played a part.
The van is in great condition inside and out and the damage was only to the front bumper, seems mad it was a cat s in the first place to me
I have attached pics of the damage sustained and now after its fixed and images of the top cross member inside.
What do you think, i will be keeping this van long term for work so wont be reselling it for a gd while.
Thanks in advance

[robert-shetland]

[robert-shetland]

[joropug]

Cat S is structural isn't it ?

That might not be the damage from the write off that might be something else.

Can you be sure it's the same van even?

[robert-shetland]

I did an HPI check and it came out as having a front end write off in march, the dealer i am speaking with said he bought it and got it repaired albeit minor repairs as u can see

[robert-shetland]

joropug said:

Cat S is structural isn't it ?

That might not be the damage from the write off that might be something else.

Can you be sure it's the same van even?

He has sent me 2 seperate videos of the same van in the same driveway, 1 damaged like the screenshot above and the other fixed

[joropug]

Fair enough, doesn't look bad from those photos surprised it's 'structural' .

Sometimes claims become uneconomical due to hire costs etc , it's often cheaper to settle quickly and not repair. Will always be worth less though,

[robert-shetland]

joropug said:

Fair enough, doesn't look bad from those photos surprised it's 'structural' .

Sometimes claims become uneconomical due to hire costs etc , it's often cheaper to settle quickly and not repair. Will always be worth less though,

Is there any way i can send you the two videos to see what u think?

[robert-shetland]

joropug said:

Fair enough, doesn't look bad from those photos surprised it's 'structural' .

Sometimes claims become uneconomical due to hire costs etc , it's often cheaper to settle quickly and not repair. Will always be worth less though,

Yea exactly that, i will probably keep it for many years so it being not worth much wont matter. Itll be a work van so being cheap to begin with is good.

[Sir Bagalot]

robert-shetland said:

I did an HPI check and it came out as having a front end write off in march, the dealer i am speaking with said he bought it and got it repaired albeit minor repairs as u can see

Running a HPI was your first mistake. Run a VCheck on it. If it went through a salvage auction they will have access to pictures

[robert-shetland]

Sir Bagalot said:

robert-shetland said:

I did an HPI check and it came out as having a front end write off in march, the dealer i am speaking with said he bought it and got it repaired albeit minor repairs as u can see

Running a HPI was your first mistake. Run a VCheck on it. If it went through a salvage auction they will have access to pictures

Whats a V check when its at home?

[robert-shetland]

Sir Bagalot said:

robert-shetland said:

I did an HPI check and it came out as having a front end write off in march, the dealer i am speaking with said he bought it and got it repaired albeit minor repairs as u can see

Running a HPI was your first mistake. Run a VCheck on it. If it went through a salvage auction they will have access to pictures

Just ran a v check, no salvage auction history or pictures. Only these details, same as i got from the HPI

[Belle427]

I'm not sure I'd be happy buying that, seems odd to me.

[sbk1972]

Ive brought a number of CAT Ds / Ss.

You need to go look at the van and make a decision. I always assume more damage than what is shown however that doesnt mean it's not a good deal especially if you plan to fix and use for a number of years and dont mind the cat title on your van. Doesnt take much to write off a car, you would be surprised how costs start to rise once you start looking at new prices for parts and dealer hourly rates.

So go take a physical look at the van, check underneath, check front wheel gaps, check what fluids have been lost, check chasis arms, and go from there. Buying from a few pics is like Russian roulette. A number of auction cars have already been through the auctions, are then tidied up and then re-sold but this time looking better / less damage.

I always enter this situations as ..... the seller is out to phuck me.... :-) However, there are some deals out there.

SBK

[robert-shetland]

sbk1972 said:

Ive brought a number of CAT Ds / Ss.

You need to go look at the van and make a decision. I always assume more damage than what is shown however that doesnt mean it's not a good deal especially if you plan to fix and use for a number of years and dont mind the cat title on your van. Doesnt take much to write off a car, you would be surprised how costs start to rise once you start looking at new prices for parts and dealer hourly rates.

So go take a physical look at the van, check underneath, check front wheel gaps, check what fluids have been lost, check chasis arms, and go from there. Buying from a few pics is like Russian roulette. A number of auction cars have already been through the auctions, are then tidied up and then re-sold but this time looking better / less damage.

I always enter this situations as ..... the seller is out to phuck me.... :-) However, there are some deals out there.

SBK

The biggest issue is im in north Scotland and the van is in the south of england so im struggling to know what to do. Its a cheap deal, and looks a great van, but just not sure.
On the videos and pictures it looks great, has sent another one looking down the back of the bumper and up from underneath this morning and it all looks good as new, he swears to me that it was only the minor knock and cracked bumper in the pictures was wrong with it. He had the bumper off to replace it and said there was no damage behind what so ever.

[Nickp82]

I would be VERY surprised if that crack was the extent of the damage, it’s clearly not structural so would be Category N if uneconomical to repair.

[robert-shetland]

Nickp82 said:

I would be VERY surprised if that crack was the extent of the damage, it’s clearly not structural so would be Category N if uneconomical to repair.

Thats exactly what i thought, but at the same time the 2 front cross members look original and undamaged in the videos, also the rest of what i could see, thats why i got him to tske the videos for me.
When i initially inquired about the van. He said to me once you see the damage you wont believe how little it was. And he seems to do this for a living, fix Cat S and N cars and resell them.

[Paddymcc]

Ive bought and sold a number of cat N and S vans from auctions.

Theres no way that will have been categorised as CAT S for just that crack on the bumper especially on a fresh enough van like that. CAT S is nearly always more serious damage that are repairable.

The chances are it has been repaired before and that damage has happened since the repair.

You would be best going to view it so you can see has been replaced

Whats the miles on it as it looks clean in the engine area?

Edited by Paddymcc on Wednesday 29th July 13:05

[oakdale]

I think but I'm not absolutely sure, that flood damaged vehicles which have sustained some impact damage during the flooding can be classed as cat s structural.

[robert-shetland]

Paddymcc said:

Ive bought and sold a number of cat N and S vans from auctions.

Theres no way that will have been categorised as CAT S for just that crack on the bumper especially on a fresh enough van like that. CAT S is nearly always more serious damage that are repairable.

The chances are it has been repaired before and that damage has happened since the repair.

You would be best going to view it so you can see has been replaced

Whats the miles on it as it looks clean in the engine area?

Edited by Paddymcc on Wednesday 29th July 13:05

Its 12k miles, he has just sent me videos of every inch under the bonnet with the engine running and not a thing out of place, van is 1 year old and 12k miles, he said he bought it from the auction with only that 1 mark on it.