Do I REALLY need an HPI check?

[remember]

I'm about to take part in a "Top Gear Challenge" organised by a few mates and we're going to buy £300 bangers and drive them over the Nurburgring and then bring them home again and sell them to see if we can make a profit. We'll award points for track times, reliability, style and profit etc.

I've seen an old '97 Toyota Carina 1.8 that a neighbour is selling for £300 and I'm tempted not to bother with the HPI Check to save money but wondered if this is a bad idea? I'm pretty sure it's not stolen since I'm buying it from a middle-aged neighbour and I'm guessing that it's too old to have outstanding finance on it after 15 years so is it REALLY necessary?

What do you all think?

[KardioKate]

remember said:

I'm about to take part in a "Top Gear Challenge" organised by a few mates and we're going to buy £300 bangers and drive them over the Nurburgring and then bring them home again and sell them to see if we can make a profit. We'll award points for track times, reliability, style and profit etc.

I've seen an old '97 Toyota Carina 1.8 that a neighbour is selling for £300 and I'm tempted not to bother with the HPI Check to save money but wondered if this is a bad idea? I'm pretty sure it's not stolen since I'm buying it from a middle-aged neighbour and I'm guessing that it's too old to have outstanding finance on it after 15 years so is it REALLY necessary?

What do you all think?

Personally I wouldn't bother on a £300 banger.

[ohtari]

Hahahaha

no

Have fun!

[rb5er]

No really no. Have fun, it does sound a laugh. European AA membership?

[BoostMonkey]

If you intend to drive them on the ring for god sake make sure they are not leaking any fluids.

I’ve seen plenty of chaps doing this sort of thing leaving an oil mist only for a biker to come a cropper after hitting the oil trail left behind.

[remember]

Yep - I'll be careful about that boostmonkey! It's actually in pretty good nick so I don't reckon they'll be any leaks.

[sinizter]

Certainly wouldn't be spending 5% of the purchase price on a HPI check.

[Snowboy]

I wouldn’t bother.

I know there’s a phone place that’ll do a basic sort of thing for about £3 charged to your phone.
It’s good for checking the registry of the Number plate & vin, the owners and if it’s been crashed.

I’ve used it before and found it gave me a happy warm feeling that the car wasn’t a cat C or D.

But, I never actually double checked the vin number, the fact the seller had a nice house and kids toys in lounge was enough for me to think he was probably on the level.

If I was buying a £300 car I’d probably do the phone check thing for £3 again, just for peace of mind.

[ohtari]

Snowboy said:

If I was buying a £300 car I’d probably do the phone check thing for £3 again, just for peace of mind.

I wouldn't even bother with the phone check. What's a Cat C or D going to do? Hurt the resale value???

I doubt there'll be much worth selling at the end of the trip

[Leptons]

Owned 10 different cars, the most expensive one beeing £4.5k (granted that was from a garage).

Never run an HPI check in my life.

[chrisispringles]

ohtari said:

I wouldn't even bother with the phone check. What's a Cat C or D going to do? Hurt the resale value???

I doubt there'll be much worth selling at the end of the trip

Some insurers either will not insure repaired Cat C/D cars or, if they will cover them, require you to tell them. I'd imagine that the last thing the OP wants is to have a prang in a foreign country only to find out that his insurance is invalid because he didn't do a £3 check.

[ohtari]

chrisispringles said:

Some insurers either will not insure repaired Cat C/D cars or, if they will cover them, require you to tell them. I'd imagine that the last thing the OP wants is to have a prang in a foreign country only to find out that his insurance is invalid because he didn't do a £3 check.

touché