Independent Vehicle Checks / Cat N

[peld]

Has anyone used RAC / AA vehicle check, or know of any other alternatives?

I've found a good car but its in London (im in Edinburgh) - so dont really want to travel to just to do an inspection. Its not a common car and the one for sale is much cheaper/lower miles than others of the same age.

However it is a Cat N. I have bought the vcheck report, and has links to the salvage auction pictures. (everything else looks ok). It was 1 year old when written off, about 1 year ago - it was probably an £80k car brand new. What im concerned about is to me, the damage didnt look enough to write it off. My guess is they came off a country road - the pics show the front bumper and grill has gone, some repairable alloy scrapes, and a dent in a rear wheel arch which could probably be repaired. The airbags did not deploy. They had a shot of the iDrive showing a service after the auction, and ive called BMW who verified that service was done at BMW Park Lane, which gives me some comfort its been seen by BMW.

To my untrained eye id guess £10k of damage - is that enough to write off a car probably worth £50k at the time??

I've never bought a written off car before - would any sort of independent check could give me comfort ?!

Edited by peld on Tuesday 27th May 10:56

[EmailAddress]

I had an RAC version done a while back. (Long distance sale.)

The guy was extremely thorough, reported on a loose bolt in the depths of the engine bay, and a missing trim rivet somewhere I would never have looked myself.

[andrewcliffe]

Maybe, if were was a lengthy delay on the supply of new replacement parts, and the cost of an appropraite hire car during that period, then that could have been sufficient reason to write it off.

[jimmsy]

I wonder if a specialist in the car is better than a general inspector of cars.

You see what Ricky at REPerformance does for the VAG cars (R8s, Lambos) that he knows and you can see the value of a specialist.

There must be quite a few well respected M Car (guessing it's an M Car) specialists around that could take a look for the hourly fee plus petrol.

Might there be other reasons to write off a car? I've heard of parts shortages potentially doing that before I believe.

[QuartzDad]

peld said:

To my untrained eye id guess £10k of damage - is that enough to write off a car probably worth £50k at the time??

My son bought a car for £15k a few months back, hit a muntjac that resulted in a cracked bumper and a slightly realigned radiator.

Admiral's first response before even viewing it was it's a write-off. Their second response after viewing it was it's a write-off. Son asked for a third opinion and he got it back a week or so later after £5k of repairs.

I can see a lot of people taking the first or second offer.

[ScoobyChris]

Don't know if it's still a thing but some insurance companies used to replace a vehicle in the first year rather than repair it so that might be the reason fairly insignificant damage has written it off...

Chris

[maz8062]

peld said:

Has anyone used RAC / AA vehicle check, or know of any other alternatives?

I've found a good car but its in London (im in Edinburgh) - so dont really want to travel to just to do an inspection. Its not a common car and the one for sale is much cheaper/lower miles than others of the same age.

However it is a Cat N. I have bought the vcheck report, and has links to the salvage auction pictures. (everything else looks ok). It was 1 year old when written off, about 1 year ago - it was probably an £80k car brand new. What im concerned about is to me, the damage didnt look enough to write it off. My guess is they came off a country road - the pics show the front bumper and grill has gone, some repairable alloy scrapes, and a dent in a rear wheel arch which could probably be repaired. The airbags did not deploy. They had a shot of the iDrive showing a service after the auction, and ive called BMW who verified that service was done at BMW Park Lane, which gives me some comfort its been seen by BMW.

To my untrained eye id guess £10k of damage - is that enough to write off a car probably worth £50k at the time??

I've never bought a written off car before - would any sort of independent check could give me comfort ?!

Edited by peld on Tuesday 27th May 10:56

The main question to ask is who fixed the car after the accident. If the seller did it by themselves, don’t trust it, get an inspection. If an insured approved garage, BMW garage even better, fill yer boots.

[peld]

ScoobyChris said:

Don't know if it's still a thing but some insurance companies used to replace a vehicle in the first year rather than repair it so that might be the reason fairly insignificant damage has written it off...

Chris

possibly.
it was first registered 27 Sept 2023 , written off 27 March 2024 with 8,800 miles. Salvage auctioned 1 August 2024, new owner Sept 2024, serviced at BMW Park Lane at 9000 miles, now at 14,000 miles.

[66HFM]

I'd get the details from the seller first as to who repaired it and has he got the photos showing the work undertaken.
Doing it this way round won't cost you anything first.

Obviously if you did buy it would be the problem of trying to sell it on afterwards as a limited market for Cat N cars.

[peld]

maz8062 said:

The main question to ask is who fixed the car after the accident. If the seller did it by themselves, don’t trust it, get an inspection. If an insured approved garage, BMW garage even better, fill yer boots.

This is my main concern. The seller looks like a driveway dealer - he has another couple of Cat N/S's and some cheaper runabouts and just advertises a mobile phone number (no address, forecourt etc). Cant say it fills me with confidence

[brillomaster]

Ooof you're entertaining the idea of spending £40-50k on a cat n car, from a guy selling cars on his driveway? Best of luck!

[maz8062]

peld said:

maz8062 said:

The main question to ask is who fixed the car after the accident. If the seller did it by themselves, don’t trust it, get an inspection. If an insured approved garage, BMW garage even better, fill yer boots.

This is my main concern. The seller looks like a driveway dealer - he has another couple of Cat N/S's and some cheaper runabouts and just advertises a mobile phone number (no address, forecourt etc). Cant say it fills me with confidence

Having said that, if the car has since had a service at BMW, they’d have inspected it and sent a video report on its condition and any worrying defects. It’s not quite a 100 point check but they look over the car for issues and highlight it. So that could give you some comfort if you’re able to sight the service detail from BMW.

[Mr Tidy]

ScoobyChris said:

Don't know if it's still a thing but some insurance companies used to replace a vehicle in the first year rather than repair it so that might be the reason fairly insignificant damage has written it off...

Chris

I've no idea if it is still available, but insurers used to replace the car if repairs were going to exceed 50% of the car's value after an accident within 12 months of first registration.