Would you buy a Cat C.

[carl carlson]

Found my winter shed. However its a cat c but I got it at a decent price so can't complain and I imagine it will be a bit of a pig to sell on. Would any other PHers be put off by a cat c car?

[Landlord]

I just did. I Wasn't sure myself but took the decision that it was cheap, only needed as a station car and I'll be running it in to the ground rather than ever selling, so it's provenance doesn't matter.

Time will tell whether I've ballsed up but it's not a fortune if I have.

That said, I wouldn't spend more than say £1000/1500 on one.

[iva cosworth]

Seems nowadays cars get written off with relatively light damage and also if car is a abit older ,new parts are unobtainable ,to sell on may help if you have good pics of what the damage was

to answer the Q ,i would buy a Cat C if car been repaired properly and priced accordingly

[john_p]

Hire car costs could have made it a cat C, so it wouldn't worry me - but you will struggle to sell it unless it's super cheap - so as a car to run into the ground, no problem

[Dab of oppo]

Its never put me off, If you go in with your eyes open and ensure the work to repair the vehicle has been done to the best standard then you can secure yourself somthing of a bargain - I have never bought a CAT C/D car costing more that £1k though - not deliberate just the way it has turned out.
I'd be more concerned by buying a "Non recorded" repaired car - potential for all sorts of wrong doing to be done by a repairer then as there are no post repair checks carried out by official bodies!

[iva cosworth]

What car is it BTW ?

[carl carlson]

Its a 2001 volvo v40 2.0T. I paid 750 for it. Its got MOT till the end of May though the tax runs out at the end of the year. Think I got a bargain as its a good spec and it has the all important heated seats!

Edited by carl carlson on Sunday 24th October 12:23

[frosted]

Can't believe tha cat would have anything with hire and legal costs . Surelly it would be cat d write off if that was the case

Would I buy a cat c ? No way , have gander around salvage yards and see how a cat c car looks like

[BrewsterBear]

I have never bought a Cat C/D and I certainly wouldn't spend over a grand on one. There's just too many variables that you have no control over. If it's just a snotter for work and it doesn't matter if it gets binned or is worthless once the MOT is up then fine, but for a main car I wouldn't even look twice.

[soad]

Would i? Doubt it as never done so in the past, but who knows?

[Gibby78]

frosted said:

Can't believe tha cat would have anything with hire and legal costs . Surelly it would be cat d write off if that was the case

Would I buy a cat c ? No way , have gander around salvage yards and see how a cat c car looks like

I own a Cat C car, why does everyone think its the end of the world, mine needed a rear hub an alloy and a wheel allignment, I did the work myself, and the whole lot cost me £350 (including car) and it came with a colour coded hard top.

Just because its a Cat C doesn't mean its a wreck, it just means its beyond economical repair, it can have less damage than a Cat D.

Alright it'll be a pain to sell but who cares if you paid nothing for it to start with

[frosted]

Hmmm , your missing the point .

You saw the car and fixed yourself that's different . Is the question would you buy a repaired cat c car ?

No way

[Acheron]

frosted said:

Hmmm , your missing the point .

You saw the car and fixed yourself that's different . Is the question would you buy a repaired cat c car ?

No way

This totally.

Fifth gear did a project on it once. They crashed two focus's head on a 30mph. They were both legally on the road but one was a cat write off but had been repaired. It had 2x mot's and was all good to go.

In the crash it faired twice as bad as the none write off car. The chassis crumpled far too early and wasnt as strong as the other car.

Some medic said the non cat car would be minor injuries, the cat car would be serious injuries.

So for me, never in a million years.

[The Game]

Acheron said:

frosted said:

Hmmm , your missing the point .

You saw the car and fixed yourself that's different . Is the question would you buy a repaired cat c car ?

No way

This totally.

Fifth gear did a project on it once. They crashed two focus's head on a 30mph. They were both legally on the road but one was a cat write off but had been repaired. It had 2x mot's and was all good to go.

In the crash it faired twice as bad as the none write off car. The chassis crumpled far too early and wasnt as strong as the other car.

Some medic said the non cat car would be minor injuries, the cat car would be serious injuries.

So for me, never in a million years.

Fifth gear vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjxM9chAe1k

[Gibby78]

Maybe I missed the point on buying one damaged but you said, look at Cat C cars in a scrap yard, implying they are all crumpled wrecks, I'm just pointing out that the most minor of damage can Cat C a car, they aren't all slam pannel mangled dogs.

If I was to buy one from someone already repaired I'd only go for one with panel damage repaired, or like mine mild mechanical issues where parts can't really be obtained new at a cheap price, I don't think I'd ever buy one that has been structually repaired.

so in answer would I buy a Cat C car, Yes and No

[RYH64E]

frosted said:

Can't believe tha cat would have anything with hire and legal costs . Surelly it would be cat d write off if that was the case

Would I buy a cat c ? No way , have gander around salvage yards and see how a cat c car looks like

Older cars can very easily receive a category c or d with very small amounts of damage. Both categories are simply economic assessments of the cost of repair (including hire car charges) versus the value of the repaired car, not absolute judgements based on the severity of the damage. If the repaired car is worth £30k then a very significant amount of repair work would be justified without the car receiving any classification at all, older cars worth a few thousand pounds can be classed as cat C with very little damage. Fiat Coupes can get a cat c status after a collision that is little more than parking damage as new bonnets are dificult to source and expensive.

[Gibby78]

I was going to use the Fiat Coupe as an example as I had one until just after Christmas last year, and after someone dinged the bonnet I wouldn't go through their insurance as I knew it'd be written off as a Cat C as Fiat have had them on back order for the last decade, making them tricky to get hold of.

but as has been said a Cat C is not an indication of damage severity

[carl carlson]

The car in question had a new rear end. I personlly don't find this much of an issue. Perhaps if the damage had been at the front then I may have different feelings on it. I still think my newly found winter mobile is a bargain!

[Landlord]

Acheron said:

frosted said:

Hmmm , your missing the point .

You saw the car and fixed yourself that's different . Is the question would you buy a repaired cat c car ?

No way

This totally.

Fifth gear did a project on it once. They crashed two focus's head on a 30mph. They were both legally on the road but one was a cat write off but had been repaired. It had 2x mot's and was all good to go.

In the crash it faired twice as bad as the none write off car. The chassis crumpled far too early and wasnt as strong as the other car.

Some medic said the non cat car would be minor injuries, the cat car would be serious injuries.

So for me, never in a million years.

bks. Wish I'd known that before I bought mine!!

Oh well. If I do have a crash - hey, it's been nice knowing you all...

[snuffle]

Wow is it that time of the week already.