Buying a cat C, opinions?
Discussion
Been offered a really nice E36 M3 cab as a straight swap sgainst my CLK55. Prices are on the up, this car is a late Evo in great nick, in the colour I want, on 59k with FSH.
I did a 'mycarcheck' and it's come back as cat C in August 2000, when the car was 2 years old.
I can't really decide if it's an issue or not. Yes a cat C at 2 years old must have been a hell of a whack, but surely it'd be repaired at bmw at that age and you'd think they would do a good job?
My car is up for around 5k, for a low mileage M3 with FSH 5k is cheap so money wise I think I'd do ok.
What are the general thoughts? Run? Try and get it cheaper? Is it safe? Will insuring it be hard?
One thing to add that I thought was weird, it says no VIC is recorded as having been carried out, I thought cat C required one?
I did a 'mycarcheck' and it's come back as cat C in August 2000, when the car was 2 years old.
I can't really decide if it's an issue or not. Yes a cat C at 2 years old must have been a hell of a whack, but surely it'd be repaired at bmw at that age and you'd think they would do a good job?
My car is up for around 5k, for a low mileage M3 with FSH 5k is cheap so money wise I think I'd do ok.
What are the general thoughts? Run? Try and get it cheaper? Is it safe? Will insuring it be hard?
One thing to add that I thought was weird, it says no VIC is recorded as having been carried out, I thought cat C required one?
It's hard to know what happened the car at the time, it may never have been involved in an accident at all. And if it was, there's nothing to say it was seriously damaged. The Cat status is misleading and there are a lot of common misconceptions.
Do your checks just like you would any other car. At that age, and that type of car you're buying on condition. This cat C car could be immaculate while a car that is HPI clear can be a dog.
Do your checks just like you would any other car. At that age, and that type of car you're buying on condition. This cat C car could be immaculate while a car that is HPI clear can be a dog.
absolutly no chance a cat c was repaired at bmw, why do you think it would be?
a cat C means repairable, but cost of repair exceeds the market value of the vehicle.
Meaning that you could by a 2 year old one from bmw, for less than having them repair it, so why would you?
Cat C vehicles will generally only find there way back onto the road if they are repaired with used parts. For a very new model or rare model where the used spares market is almost nothing, that requires a donor car, we've moved on a little from cut and shuts, but it is still essentially 2 written off cars pulled apart to make 1 good 1.
a cat C means repairable, but cost of repair exceeds the market value of the vehicle.
Meaning that you could by a 2 year old one from bmw, for less than having them repair it, so why would you?
Cat C vehicles will generally only find there way back onto the road if they are repaired with used parts. For a very new model or rare model where the used spares market is almost nothing, that requires a donor car, we've moved on a little from cut and shuts, but it is still essentially 2 written off cars pulled apart to make 1 good 1.
I've asked the seller if he knows any details. Will see what he comes back with to be honest, I guess that will be very telling. Think I'll do a more 'in depth' HPI check also.
It's not really a case of spending a few grand more to get a non cat c one as I'm not really after one! Have always fancied one though...
It's not really a case of spending a few grand more to get a non cat c one as I'm not really after one! Have always fancied one though...
Good advice here.
Could be a good way of getting your ass on a seat you want for cheap money. It could have been driven over something dropped in the road damaging the engine, spun backwards through a wall or gone missing for a year, paid out on then found with damage. Until you go and see you will never know. The only certainty is as a potential future classic cat anything will really hurt it's desirability in the future.
Could be a good way of getting your ass on a seat you want for cheap money. It could have been driven over something dropped in the road damaging the engine, spun backwards through a wall or gone missing for a year, paid out on then found with damage. Until you go and see you will never know. The only certainty is as a potential future classic cat anything will really hurt it's desirability in the future.
I don't see how a 2 year old M3 could have that much damage and not have ended up as a cube, unless it was a rare expensive part that took weeks to be send from Germany and the insurance company has to stump up for a hire car...
Would whoever is offering the swap let you take it to be properly checked over at a decent garage? If it all checks out and you plan on keeping it indefinitely I wouldn't rule it out.
You'd just have to accept you'd struggle to sell it. I don't think insurance would cost any more (doesn't for a cat d anyway) just obviously they'd pay out a lot less if you smashed it
Quick check on the dvla website and it's saying for it to have a v5 it must have a vic...?
Would whoever is offering the swap let you take it to be properly checked over at a decent garage? If it all checks out and you plan on keeping it indefinitely I wouldn't rule it out.
You'd just have to accept you'd struggle to sell it. I don't think insurance would cost any more (doesn't for a cat d anyway) just obviously they'd pay out a lot less if you smashed it
Quick check on the dvla website and it's saying for it to have a v5 it must have a vic...?
S3_Graham said:
Been offered a really nice E36 M3 cab as a straight swap sgainst my CLK55. Prices are on the up, this car is a late Evo in great nick, in the colour I want, on 59k with FSH.
I did a 'mycarcheck' and it's come back as cat C in August 2000, when the car was 2 years old.
I can't really decide if it's an issue or not. Yes a cat C at 2 years old must have been a hell of a whack, but surely it'd be repaired at bmw at that age and you'd think they would do a good job?
My car is up for around 5k, for a low mileage M3 with FSH 5k is cheap so money wise I think I'd do ok.
What are the general thoughts? Run? Try and get it cheaper? Is it safe? Will insuring it be hard?
One thing to add that I thought was weird, it says no VIC is recorded as having been carried out, I thought cat C required one?
Interesting that you had to do a check to find out it was Cat C, rather than the seller telling you up front?I did a 'mycarcheck' and it's come back as cat C in August 2000, when the car was 2 years old.
I can't really decide if it's an issue or not. Yes a cat C at 2 years old must have been a hell of a whack, but surely it'd be repaired at bmw at that age and you'd think they would do a good job?
My car is up for around 5k, for a low mileage M3 with FSH 5k is cheap so money wise I think I'd do ok.
What are the general thoughts? Run? Try and get it cheaper? Is it safe? Will insuring it be hard?
One thing to add that I thought was weird, it says no VIC is recorded as having been carried out, I thought cat C required one?
Personally, i'd avoid it. Prices for a Cat C wont be "on the up" and no matter what the seller tells you, you've really no idea what happened to it.
I'd avoid it.
Smiley198700 said:
I don't see how a 2 year old M3 could have that much damage and not have ended up as a cube, unless it was a rare expensive part that took weeks to be send from Germany and the insurance company has to stump up for a hire car...
Would whoever is offering the swap let you take it to be properly checked over at a decent garage? If it all checks out and you plan on keeping it indefinitely I wouldn't rule it out.
You'd just have to accept you'd struggle to sell it. I don't think insurance would cost any more (doesn't for a cat d anyway) just obviously they'd pay out a lot less if you smashed it
Quick check on the dvla website and it's saying for it to have a v5 it must have a vic...?
This pretty much sums up my thoughts. Write off a 2 year old £40k car must have been a hefty shunt. The idea of a cat C doesn't upset me. If it was straight it'd probably be £7000+ So I'm doing ok price wise at 5000. I don't think its a matter of struggling to sell, it just needs to be very cheap! Would whoever is offering the swap let you take it to be properly checked over at a decent garage? If it all checks out and you plan on keeping it indefinitely I wouldn't rule it out.
You'd just have to accept you'd struggle to sell it. I don't think insurance would cost any more (doesn't for a cat d anyway) just obviously they'd pay out a lot less if you smashed it
Quick check on the dvla website and it's saying for it to have a v5 it must have a vic...?
His reply says he believes it had some panel damage. Which tbh tells me he has no idea. He had it inspected by Munich legends who gave it a clean bill of health. If asked for paperwork and at which point it'll be down to whether I fancy taking a punt.
S3_Graham said:
Smiley198700 said:
I don't see how a 2 year old M3 could have that much damage and not have ended up as a cube, unless it was a rare expensive part that took weeks to be send from Germany and the insurance company has to stump up for a hire car...
Would whoever is offering the swap let you take it to be properly checked over at a decent garage? If it all checks out and you plan on keeping it indefinitely I wouldn't rule it out.
You'd just have to accept you'd struggle to sell it. I don't think insurance would cost any more (doesn't for a cat d anyway) just obviously they'd pay out a lot less if you smashed it
Quick check on the dvla website and it's saying for it to have a v5 it must have a vic...?
This pretty much sums up my thoughts. Write off a 2 year old £40k car must have been a hefty shunt. The idea of a cat C doesn't upset me. If it was straight it'd probably be £7000+ So I'm doing ok price wise at 5000. I don't think its a matter of struggling to sell, it just needs to be very cheap! Would whoever is offering the swap let you take it to be properly checked over at a decent garage? If it all checks out and you plan on keeping it indefinitely I wouldn't rule it out.
You'd just have to accept you'd struggle to sell it. I don't think insurance would cost any more (doesn't for a cat d anyway) just obviously they'd pay out a lot less if you smashed it
Quick check on the dvla website and it's saying for it to have a v5 it must have a vic...?
His reply says he believes it had some panel damage. Which tbh tells me he has no idea. He had it inspected by Munich legends who gave it a clean bill of health. If asked for paperwork and at which point it'll be down to whether I fancy taking a punt.
I have cat C car that I owned when it was damaged and bought back from the insurance and repaired.
I have the original engineers report, photos of the damage pre repair and photos of the repair in progress.
If your seller doesn't have any of this then ask yourself why. There could be a number of reasons but certainly I wouldn't be happy buying any car that had been significantly damaged in the past with out some pretty detailed information.
Any report is likely to be visual only and full of disclaimers unless the car was fully ge'od etc I would take a report with a pinch of salt....
I have the original engineers report, photos of the damage pre repair and photos of the repair in progress.
If your seller doesn't have any of this then ask yourself why. There could be a number of reasons but certainly I wouldn't be happy buying any car that had been significantly damaged in the past with out some pretty detailed information.
Any report is likely to be visual only and full of disclaimers unless the car was fully ge'od etc I would take a report with a pinch of salt....
Oh and VIC is an identity check to ensure that the damaged car hasn't been identity swapped (ringing). same as required if changing reg no.
It is not a check of quality of repair at all - don't be misled on this.
If a VIC check is required or has/hasnt been done it should say so on the logbook.
It is not a check of quality of repair at all - don't be misled on this.
If a VIC check is required or has/hasnt been done it should say so on the logbook.
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