Cat D write off

[Tomdee]

I have been offered a Cat D write off by a dealer who claims that for a fee of £500 it can be removed from the register.... Is this true?

[illmonkey]

Holy Lurker!

Why would you want to. Your question should be "who do I report this idiot too?"

Anyway, to stay on topic. I can't imagine it is reversible.

[chalky123]

It's a lie.

[E30M3SE]

Guess the trader is on about this.

[Ballistic]

E30M3SE said:

Guess the trader is on about this.

Has anyone actually been down this route and had one of these inspections?
If so was your car then removed from the HPI register within 5 days as claimed?
Or is it just a method to scam you out of £200-250?

[ZOLLAR]

E30M3SE said:

Guess the trader is on about this.

Very interesting, I suppose the gamble is that if it isn't up to scratch you've paid the money and it still shows on HPI.

[niggtv]

It'll still be on the HPI register, just as 'condition inspected' instead of 'category D'.

[RZ1]

Interesting i thought once a car was written of it could never be changed

[ZOLLAR]

niggtv said:

It'll still be on the HPI register, just as 'condition inspected' instead of 'category D'.

I'd imagine that the average punter wouldn't batter an eye lid at "condition inspected" as opposed to "CAT D"

[monthefish]

E30M3SE said:

Guess the trader is on about this.

Useful info.

So if a car successfully passes this inspection, and an HPI report is obtained on that car 6 months later, what will it show?

[LeeMad]

a vehicle can only be removed from the register by the company who put it on.

[Tomdee]

Thank you one and all....I guess once a Cat D always a Cat D....

[Frog Dog]

Top lurking!

How much cheaper is this Cat D than a non damaged vehicle of the same type BTW?

Cat D isn't as bad as people make out, I had a Cat D 200SX that was fine.

[kambites]

Tomdee said:

Thank you one and all....I guess once a Cat D always a Cat D....

Not quite - as I understand it: once a cat-D, always an ex-cat-D. Cat-D is short for "category D write-off" and a car that is cat-D is not allowed on the road.

The act of putting the car back on the road after it's been written off, turns it from a car that is a category D write off to one which was a category D write off. The latter will always show up on the register but it does mean that the garage is probably, strictly speaking, telling the truth.


ETA: I don't know anything about that service above, but I'd be surprised if it removed all record of the write-off, I'm pretty sure that's not possible.

[StevenB]

I wonder if it removes the note on the reg doc.

[magpie21]

I had this done with a car of mine

I bought the car knowing that it had been previously written off however the work had been done to get it roadworthy again before I bought it. Being really picky, once I'd bought the car I then took it to a specialist who went through the car with a fine toothcombe and replaced all parts which had been 'patched up'. Then for my own peace of mind I had the car Autolign inspected. I did this not with the motivation of getting it taken off the register, as it's a car I am never going to sell, however more for peace of mind that it was now all A1.

I was present with the engineer when the car was inspected, as if anything was wrong I wanted to know what and why. It is a thorough check in which they check everything from the routing of pipework and cables to the clearance and gaps of panels against manufacturer spec. Needless to say my car passed, however a couple of cars before mine did not. One was due to bodged electrical cabling and the other was due to the incorrect routing of some hoses.

Now, before I had the car Autolign inspected the HPI report stated:
'This VRM has been written off. The insurance write off was recorded on (date) against a (make/model)'

After the Autolign inspection it states:
'This VRM has been recorded as having been repaired and inspected after previously being written off. An inspection was recorded on (date) against a (make/model)'

I know this as I conducted a HPI check on my own car 6 months later out of curiosity!!

I also believe that this only alters the status on the official HPI search, not some of the other search providers that are done by text etc.

Is it worth £500? It depends on what you are doing it for. If it's for peace of mind I'd say yes, if it's to try and mask a cars history then no as the report will still state that it has been written off at some point. HTH

Edited by magpie21 on Wednesday 17th August 14:11

[chalky123]

StevenB said:

I wonder if it removes the note on the reg doc.

That's only cat b/c - due to VIC (check).

[monthefish]

So from Kambites and Magpie's posts there are three 'stages'

• Cat D (car untouched since it becoming a Cat D)
• Former Cat D (car repaired and put back on the road)
• Former Cat D with Autolign inspection (which means the vehicle will be removed from the HPI condition alert register, but still recorded as Cat D)

Still not sure of the point of stage 3 (other than peace of mind)

[Noger]

Don't believe there is stage 2. You can put a Cat D back on the road, without a VIC check, whenever you like. That changes nothing.

It will always be a Cat D on MIAFTR< all you are doing here is changing HPI.

[scotty_d]

Have owned 2 CAT D TVR's still have my second one. Never puts me off as long as the repair was a good one. Thats 4 years with them now and i bought it cheap and will sell it cheap if i ever do.