Considering buying a Cat D Yeti
Discussion
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone might have any advice or thoughts on the following. Been looking for a replacement car for my wife for a while, generally without any rush but now it looks like her current car won't make it for much longer. For various reasons the Yeti, linked to below, seems to tick almost all of the boxes for her. It is, however, a Cat D.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skoda-Yeti-4x4-Outdoor-...
I know this has been discussed elsewhere, and in general for myself I wouldn't worry about buying a Cat D car. This car is, however, right at the top of our budget and alarm bells do ring for me. I'm trying to think if there's any plausible reason that "light front panel damage" could result in such a new car being a Cat D. It seems the damage occurred with the previous owner, which means the car was at the very most 2 years old at the time. Am I right to assume that the damage must have been quite significant, or is there any other explanation as to why a 2 year old car which was north of £20K when new could have been written off?
Of course I'll ask to see any paperwork, I'll look at the car myself, and will arrange a professional inspection if we get that far. I just wonder if somehow I'm missing something with the possibilities.
Thanks!
Morgen
Remember that when you say it was a £20k 2 year old car and the damage sustained was enough for the insurance company to write it off that the insurance cost includes not just the repair of the car it includes things like initially recovering it, sending an assessor out to examine it, getting quotes from the manufacture for the parts (some maybe special order/take 6-8 weeks to arrive) and the insurer has to decide that whilst also offering you a courtesy car which could be costing £500+ a week.
Hence although as a rough guide a car is written off when damage exceeds 60% of it's market value , you could easily rack up a hire car bill in 3 weeks that makes the cost of getting a new bumper and a bit of paint largely insignificant.
If you have the cars number plate you could try searching on the COPART website to see if there are any pictures of it pre repairs!!
Hence although as a rough guide a car is written off when damage exceeds 60% of it's market value , you could easily rack up a hire car bill in 3 weeks that makes the cost of getting a new bumper and a bit of paint largely insignificant.
If you have the cars number plate you could try searching on the COPART website to see if there are any pictures of it pre repairs!!
I brought a repaired cat c car around 2016, did 2 test drives, it drove well and looked good.
Last service wasn't done but the price was good so went for it.
Later I found a few issues, some early, some after a year of two.
Door handle broken, noticed it had been previously repaired with some glue.
Whilst replacing the door handle I noticed some trim had clips missing/broken. The inner door card had been poorly bolted where the rivets had been drilled out.
Lately noticed the painted on the front right wing was getting what looked like stone chips, whilst the front of the car and left wing are fine.
Today noticed the same stating to appear on the right door.
The car had damage to the right door for sure, as saw broken glass inside.
The car drives well and all the buttons etc work and I have enjoyed driving it from 30k -90k and still am.
I'd advise checking all the locks work with the correct key.
Drive it over speed bumps to check for knocks.
And take it over 70 on your test drive which may show vibrations in steering if bits still bent.
It will be harder to sell and little chance of part exchanging it so get a good discount and plan to keep it until a shed.
Although the car you are looking at seems a safer bet and probably light damage.
Last service wasn't done but the price was good so went for it.
Later I found a few issues, some early, some after a year of two.
Door handle broken, noticed it had been previously repaired with some glue.
Whilst replacing the door handle I noticed some trim had clips missing/broken. The inner door card had been poorly bolted where the rivets had been drilled out.
Lately noticed the painted on the front right wing was getting what looked like stone chips, whilst the front of the car and left wing are fine.
Today noticed the same stating to appear on the right door.
The car had damage to the right door for sure, as saw broken glass inside.
The car drives well and all the buttons etc work and I have enjoyed driving it from 30k -90k and still am.
I'd advise checking all the locks work with the correct key.
Drive it over speed bumps to check for knocks.
And take it over 70 on your test drive which may show vibrations in steering if bits still bent.
It will be harder to sell and little chance of part exchanging it so get a good discount and plan to keep it until a shed.
Although the car you are looking at seems a safer bet and probably light damage.
Edited by V6todayEVmanana on Sunday 2nd February 13:22
V6todayEVmanana said:
.
Although the car you are looking at seems a safer bet and probably light damage.
Get the car inspected by someone who really knows what they're looking at.Although the car you are looking at seems a safer bet and probably light damage.
Edited by V6todayEVmanana on Sunday 2nd February 13:22
Nearly all sellers of repaired cars state "light damage"
I've seen some horrific repairs on cars that were "Light damage"
And the truth is, you'll only know if the cars alignment is out when you have to brake hard at 70mph one day.
And you'll only know if the airbags are going to work when you need them to.
Trevor555 said:
And you'll only know if the airbags are going to work when you need them to.
Good point about airbags, you don't know if they were replaced with expense genuine modules or dummy ones with a resistor or similar.Although there are many cars driving around with 15 year old airbags that have passed their indicated lifetime.
Wonder if they can be inspected
Look on www.motorcheck.co.uk, they store data and images of vehicles sold as salvage so you may find the damage on the car you’re looking at is in there.
Went to view the car earlier on today. It's a lovely car in many ways, but we didn't feel able to commit to it as yet
- Work looks to have been done well, but as seen in the pictures the bonnet alignment is out. I'm aware that this may simply be a fitment issue and there is scope to alter its position on the brackets. The thing is, it looks like it's already moved as far as it can be on the brackets to compensate.
- Some slight damage underneath, nothing major but obvious some tugging force has pulled the plastic panels back on the same side as the accident damage was - and this is the panel at the rear so I wonder if the whole car met a ditch.
- Someone has jacked the car up badly and twisted a jacking point, tearing the sill drain open. Better than it being blocked, of course! Annoying, though, and naturally this will be an opportunity for rust
- Rust spots on the bottoms of all of the doors. I've now learned that this is a known issue. And, I don't mean to be too picky - I drive a 22 year old Focus daily and have an old Mini, Morris Minor and MX-5. Rust is a way of life. . . but still, I'd hope a modern car would be more than 4 years old before it started turning to iron oxide. Especially since our strategy with daily cars is to aim for a minimum use of 10 years with an ideal being closer to 20.
- Owner was not keen on my having a test drive. I don't think he was being intentionally difficult, just nervous by nature even when I said I'd phone my insurance company there and give him my licence etc. I don't feel like I can spend 8K on a car and not drive it first.
- The photographs of the damage have been lost. . .
- Tyres not long for this world
- Rear discs heavily scored; I'd guess maybe need replaced for next MOT. Fronts are getting there, too.
- There are no service stamps, but there are dealer print outs for the first 2 services and the current owner has a hand-written note of his own service
- We're still interested, but timing is difficult. If I bid then I'm bidding to buy, but actually I would only want to bid with the understanding that I would arrange a professional inspection and I'd need to drive it. On that basis, I can't bid for it, and there's no time to arrange proper inspections etc before the auction ends
Just such a shame my wife's Clio seems to have had it (latest is smoke coming out of the steering column cowl). The plan had been to MOT it for another year and spend the year finding a car. Now we're having to look in a hurry as she goes back to work from maternity leave next week.
We ended up looking at a poverty spec 2010 1 Series, as well. Absolutely no help with our rural location and dreams of having something to help us in the snow, or something with space for all the baby/child paraphernalia. . . but, 34k miles, 1 owner, full BMW history, and £5,500 makes it tempting. And we both think it's a really good-looking thing. It's also from the era just before the sudden explosion of hyper-complexity and touch screens everywhere (which to us is a good thing. . . though she would benefit from parking sensors
)
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|https://thumbsnap.com/twVOdS4C[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/l6ublJDl[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/TnYtjYMw[/url]
- Work looks to have been done well, but as seen in the pictures the bonnet alignment is out. I'm aware that this may simply be a fitment issue and there is scope to alter its position on the brackets. The thing is, it looks like it's already moved as far as it can be on the brackets to compensate.
- Some slight damage underneath, nothing major but obvious some tugging force has pulled the plastic panels back on the same side as the accident damage was - and this is the panel at the rear so I wonder if the whole car met a ditch.
- Someone has jacked the car up badly and twisted a jacking point, tearing the sill drain open. Better than it being blocked, of course! Annoying, though, and naturally this will be an opportunity for rust
- Rust spots on the bottoms of all of the doors. I've now learned that this is a known issue. And, I don't mean to be too picky - I drive a 22 year old Focus daily and have an old Mini, Morris Minor and MX-5. Rust is a way of life. . . but still, I'd hope a modern car would be more than 4 years old before it started turning to iron oxide. Especially since our strategy with daily cars is to aim for a minimum use of 10 years with an ideal being closer to 20.
- Owner was not keen on my having a test drive. I don't think he was being intentionally difficult, just nervous by nature even when I said I'd phone my insurance company there and give him my licence etc. I don't feel like I can spend 8K on a car and not drive it first.
- The photographs of the damage have been lost. . .
- Tyres not long for this world
- Rear discs heavily scored; I'd guess maybe need replaced for next MOT. Fronts are getting there, too.
- There are no service stamps, but there are dealer print outs for the first 2 services and the current owner has a hand-written note of his own service
- We're still interested, but timing is difficult. If I bid then I'm bidding to buy, but actually I would only want to bid with the understanding that I would arrange a professional inspection and I'd need to drive it. On that basis, I can't bid for it, and there's no time to arrange proper inspections etc before the auction ends
Just such a shame my wife's Clio seems to have had it (latest is smoke coming out of the steering column cowl). The plan had been to MOT it for another year and spend the year finding a car. Now we're having to look in a hurry as she goes back to work from maternity leave next week.
We ended up looking at a poverty spec 2010 1 Series, as well. Absolutely no help with our rural location and dreams of having something to help us in the snow, or something with space for all the baby/child paraphernalia. . . but, 34k miles, 1 owner, full BMW history, and £5,500 makes it tempting. And we both think it's a really good-looking thing. It's also from the era just before the sudden explosion of hyper-complexity and touch screens everywhere (which to us is a good thing. . . though she would benefit from parking sensors
)[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/twVOdS4C[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/l6ublJDl[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/TnYtjYMw[/url]Edited by morgenja on Sunday 2nd February 21:41
Seller said:
The photographs of the damage have been lost. . .
I wouldn't be averse to buying a repaired write-off, and have done so successfully in the past, but that comment above would make me walk I think. Alongside the other issues, why would the seller say they're lost rather than something like "I never had any, didn't ask when I bought it". Saying they're lost makes me wonder whether he is actually hiding more than he says.Did you check the chassis legs? When you look at "your" ebay advert, below it it shows another 16 plate Yeti in unrepaired condition, for £3995. That doesn't look terrible at first but the ad says both legs are swayed, and also says the alternator belt has snapped. Could a similar shunt snap the timing belt, and if so could the engine have been repaired on the cheap as well as the bodywork?
I think based on what you posted after you viewed, it would be a no from me.
CAPP0 said:
Seller said:
The photographs of the damage have been lost. . .
I think based on what you posted after you viewed, it would be a no from me.The rails and legs look good. I looked as closely as I could with an inspection light to look for interfered with bolts, nuts, screws, cracks in seem sealer, any asymmetry etc. He claims it was just wing, grill, and light... but, hmm. I did see a receipt for the light, at least.
It's probably going to end up a "no" unless everyone else gets put off, too. An irrational part of me just keeps getting pulled by "it's so much car" in terms of what it could offer us. I'm bad at these decisions at the best of times, and doing so under time pressure is really not ideal. That and to be honest I feel pretty sad to be saying bye to the Clio.
Personally, I'd be wary of buying a Cat D unless it was cheap (i.e. <£2k) - although I'm sure lots are repaired properly, many aren't - even down to bodged bits as mentioned above.
I'd also want to see pre-repair photos and then try to validate the defects I can see against those to see if they are accurate.
I'd have a look through these examples, too - https://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/threads/buying-a-ca...
I'd also want to see pre-repair photos and then try to validate the defects I can see against those to see if they are accurate.
I'd have a look through these examples, too - https://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/threads/buying-a-ca...
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