Accidental Cat D purchase
Discussion
So my sister went out and bought a W-reg classic mini a few months ago from a dealer that seemed to specifically deal in classic minis and do some resto work.
Last night she got pulled by the Bib as they thought she had bald tyres. Turns out she didn't and was fine, but they did say that a DVLA check raised something on the car's history. I got her to run an HPI check (we'll get to the 'why didn't she do a check herself before buying' another day). The results state on page one:
Report Summary
! Alert !
- Interest registered against a previous plate
- VRM recorded by an insurance company as a total loss
Further down it says:
The current plate was applied to the vehicle on 30/03/2000 (the plate was recorded as being written off)
A private plate was applied to the vehicle on 12/05/2004
The plate from 2000 was put back onto the car on 05/05/2006
Under Condition Alert:
16 August 2002 it was registered as Cat D
She bought the car on 07/02/2014 so well within the SoG 6mths if that's relevant.
She is obviously concerned as (her and me both) don't know what's happened to the car in the past. The dealer certainly got her to pay well more than the estimate of vehicle valuation in the report, but I wasn't around to know whether the car ad listed it as Cat D. I also wasn't involved in the discussions / negotiations as to whether the dealer mentioned this. I doubt it as otherwise he'd be pricing it accordingly.
So my question, should she be concerned? What should she do?
Last night she got pulled by the Bib as they thought she had bald tyres. Turns out she didn't and was fine, but they did say that a DVLA check raised something on the car's history. I got her to run an HPI check (we'll get to the 'why didn't she do a check herself before buying' another day). The results state on page one:
Report Summary
! Alert !
- Interest registered against a previous plate
- VRM recorded by an insurance company as a total loss
Further down it says:
The current plate was applied to the vehicle on 30/03/2000 (the plate was recorded as being written off)
A private plate was applied to the vehicle on 12/05/2004
The plate from 2000 was put back onto the car on 05/05/2006
Under Condition Alert:
16 August 2002 it was registered as Cat D
She bought the car on 07/02/2014 so well within the SoG 6mths if that's relevant.
She is obviously concerned as (her and me both) don't know what's happened to the car in the past. The dealer certainly got her to pay well more than the estimate of vehicle valuation in the report, but I wasn't around to know whether the car ad listed it as Cat D. I also wasn't involved in the discussions / negotiations as to whether the dealer mentioned this. I doubt it as otherwise he'd be pricing it accordingly.
So my question, should she be concerned? What should she do?
Personally I wouldn't be worried - it's a classic mini so there is no "crash safety" to be compromised and if there was anything else seriously wrong with it she probably would have noticed by now. It's actually pretty unlikely to have been a serious accident because on a relatively cheap car like that, anything serious would probably have been a higher category write-off than "D".
As far as I know, unless the dealer actually explicitly stated that the car had a clean history they have done nothing wrong (legally, at least).
As far as I know, unless the dealer actually explicitly stated that the car had a clean history they have done nothing wrong (legally, at least).
Edited by kambites on Monday 14th April 10:34
Dr_Rick said:
So my sister went out and bought a W-reg classic mini a few months ago from a dealer that seemed to specifically deal in classic minis and do some resto work.
Last night she got pulled by the Bib as they thought she had bald tyres. Turns out she didn't and was fine, but they did say that a DVLA check raised something on the car's history. I got her to run an HPI check (we'll get to the 'why didn't she do a check herself before buying' another day). The results state on page one:
Report Summary
! Alert !
- Interest registered against a previous plate
- VRM recorded by an insurance company as a total loss
Further down it says:
The current plate was applied to the vehicle on 30/03/2000 (the plate was recorded as being written off)
A private plate was applied to the vehicle on 12/05/2004
The plate from 2000 was put back onto the car on 05/05/2006
Under Condition Alert:
16 August 2002 it was registered as Cat D
She bought the car on 07/02/2014 so well within the SoG 6mths if that's relevant.
She is obviously concerned as (her and me both) don't know what's happened to the car in the past. The dealer certainly got her to pay well more than the estimate of vehicle valuation in the report, but I wasn't around to know whether the car ad listed it as Cat D. I also wasn't involved in the discussions / negotiations as to whether the dealer mentioned this. I doubt it as otherwise he'd be pricing it accordingly.
So my question, should she be concerned? What should she do?
Whaaaaa? He didn't use HPI's unsighted guess for setting his prices? When your sister is around who'll pay much more? Last night she got pulled by the Bib as they thought she had bald tyres. Turns out she didn't and was fine, but they did say that a DVLA check raised something on the car's history. I got her to run an HPI check (we'll get to the 'why didn't she do a check herself before buying' another day). The results state on page one:
Report Summary
! Alert !
- Interest registered against a previous plate
- VRM recorded by an insurance company as a total loss
Further down it says:
The current plate was applied to the vehicle on 30/03/2000 (the plate was recorded as being written off)
A private plate was applied to the vehicle on 12/05/2004
The plate from 2000 was put back onto the car on 05/05/2006
Under Condition Alert:
16 August 2002 it was registered as Cat D
She bought the car on 07/02/2014 so well within the SoG 6mths if that's relevant.
She is obviously concerned as (her and me both) don't know what's happened to the car in the past. The dealer certainly got her to pay well more than the estimate of vehicle valuation in the report, but I wasn't around to know whether the car ad listed it as Cat D. I also wasn't involved in the discussions / negotiations as to whether the dealer mentioned this. I doubt it as otherwise he'd be pricing it accordingly.
So my question, should she be concerned? What should she do?
Madness.
I know, I know. All above comments are entirely valid. She'd already gone ahead and bought the damn thing before I could point her in the direction of something sensible. I agree with everything said above; she's most likely down a few thousand pounds and will not get them back come resale time.
Dealer hasn't been contacted as I reckon he may laugh. Or, he may chose to do something else.
Dealer hasn't been contacted as I reckon he may laugh. Or, he may chose to do something else.
The Plod up your way must have excellent vision to be able to access tyre tread depth on a moving vehicle.
I had a Cat C Mini once, it had a football size dent in the back quarter panel. A bit of beating , some filler and a some paint work and you would never have known.
Not all cat C/D cars are total wrecks and if the repair work is good quality there should be no reason why the vehicle should be considered a hazard.
I had a Cat C Mini once, it had a football size dent in the back quarter panel. A bit of beating , some filler and a some paint work and you would never have known.
Not all cat C/D cars are total wrecks and if the repair work is good quality there should be no reason why the vehicle should be considered a hazard.
aka_kerrly said:
The Plod up your way must have excellent vision to be able to access tyre tread depth on a moving vehicle.
I had a Cat C Mini once, it had a football size dent in the back quarter panel. A bit of beating , some filler and a some paint work and you would never have known.
Not all cat C/D cars are total wrecks and if the repair work is good quality there should be no reason why the vehicle should be considered a hazard.
Not me, I'm in Scotland and she's in London. I agree with the later comment. I just think that to save her concerns she'd be best placed to get an inspection done to clear the Cat. Or a speculative query to the dealer would either be positive, or as expected.I had a Cat C Mini once, it had a football size dent in the back quarter panel. A bit of beating , some filler and a some paint work and you would never have known.
Not all cat C/D cars are total wrecks and if the repair work is good quality there should be no reason why the vehicle should be considered a hazard.
Classic Mini values are dictated by whether they are steaming piles of rust or not - not Insurance status. It is unlikely to affect the price by thousands or much at all.
Yes, she should have checked and, yes, the dealer should have declared it. However, if it is otherwise a decent example in the long run it makes little difference. Most have been rebuilt and re-welded regardles of whether they've had a bump or not.
Yes, she should have checked and, yes, the dealer should have declared it. However, if it is otherwise a decent example in the long run it makes little difference. Most have been rebuilt and re-welded regardles of whether they've had a bump or not.
As to Clarkey's point - the report states the VRM was cat D - you need to establish if it was on this Mini at the time.
I've had this before and the car was clear but the plate had spent some time on a car that was written off.
Is the Mini on a private plate, and is it the plate it has always had?
I've had this before and the car was clear but the plate had spent some time on a car that was written off.
Is the Mini on a private plate, and is it the plate it has always had?
clarkey said:
check the wording on the report carefully - it may just be saying that a vehicle with this registration plate has been a cat D. If you're unsure post the whole report up here. It should mention the date of plate changes on the report, see if this tallies with the accident or not.
confused_buyer said:
Classic Mini values are dictated by whether they are steaming piles of rust or not - not Insurance status. It is unlikely to affect the price by thousands or much at all.
Yes, she should have checked and, yes, the dealer should have declared it. However, if it is otherwise a decent example in the long run it makes little difference. Most have been rebuilt and re-welded regardles of whether they've had a bump or not.
This. The Cat D is pretty much an irrelevance. There aren't many Minis on the road today that haven't been extensively rebuilt, and most of those which haven't yet had a lot of attention probably need it.Yes, she should have checked and, yes, the dealer should have declared it. However, if it is otherwise a decent example in the long run it makes little difference. Most have been rebuilt and re-welded regardles of whether they've had a bump or not.
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