Buying a Cat N Car - Advice needed

[anonymous-user]

So I have a friend there who is selling a Mini Cooper S 16 plate with JCW Kit for £9k with 14k miles. It’s a Cat N car that had some bumper damage to it.

My question is would it be worthwhile buying? Or are they not worth the hassle of trying to sell on in a number of years?

[Jamescrs]

First question I would be asking is the car significantly cheaper than a non Cat N car? I have no idea on Mini values but you have to accept that if and when you come to sell it on any prospective buyer is going to expect it to be significantly cheaper than a straight car.

Second question is did you see the car prior to repair? there are so many cars which are listed as Cat N with only light damage in one way or another, seems unlikely to me that a insurer would write off a 16 plate Mini Cooper S for the sake of a new bumper and paint. If you didn't see it prior to repair I would be asking for pictures of it prior to repair to see what state it was in.,

[anonymous-user]

Jamescrs said:

First question I would be asking is the car significantly cheaper than a non Cat N car? I have no idea on Mini values but you have to accept that if and when you come to sell it on any prospective buyer is going to expect it to be significantly cheaper than a straight car.

Second question is did you see the car prior to repair? there are so many cars which are listed as Cat N with only light damage in one way or another, seems unlikely to me that a insurer would write off a 16 plate Mini Cooper S for the sake of a new bumper and paint. If you didn't see it prior to repair I would be asking for pictures of it prior to repair to see what state it was in.,

I think they go for £14k so it’s quite a saving. I will ask about pictures if they have any. I understand that it will be worth less when you come to sell it.

Because I was thinking if you bought one for £14k would it loose £5k in 5 years of depreciation. Or buy that one at £9k and keep that for 5 years. I assume you would get at least £4k for it after 5 years. As your not losing as much money. Plus mileage a year would be 4000 a year.

[strath44]

There's been a lot of chat on this before and the general consensus is much in line with above - only buy cat N (or S) if you intend to keep the car 3 years + and as long as its nothing that falls into the white goods motoring section such a a focus / fiesta / octavia etc etc. Also ideally you want pics of the car prior to the repairs, I've found from past experience with a bit of research you can usually find them online somewhere if its gone through copart etc. A lots of people are now taking photos prior to repair to show damage.

The biggest thing to watch for is that there are no airbags missing / bypassed and indeed this can be hard to tell theres been at least one horror story on here of a chap with a golf finding no curtain airbags behind the roof trim.

Edited by strath44 on Thursday 6th February 14:55

[ZX10R NIN]

Do you honestly think an insurance company wrote off a John Cooper Works for just some bumper damage? Unless theyre made of Unobtainium then I'd say it had significantly more damage than the bumpers.

Also you can buy a non Cat JCW for just over 14k so it's not cheap.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Driver101]

ZX10R NIN said:

Do you honestly think an insurance company wrote off a John Cooper Works for just some bumper damage? Unless theyre made of Unobtainium then I'd say it had significantly more damage than the bumpers.

Also you can buy a non Cat JCW for just over 14k so it's not cheap.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

It's 14k miles. The price is £9k.

No way was a 16 plate Mini written off for just bumper damage.

[ZX10R NIN]

My mistake but my point still stands.

[anonymous-user]

Fair enough the guy said it has had very light non structural damage to the front. Purely cosmetic damage. It’s a 2016 Mini Cooper S buy with JCW wheels and I assume body ki.

[Trevor555]

rdb85 said:

Fair enough the guy said it has had very light non structural damage to the front. Purely cosmetic damage.

Any proof?

[anonymous-user]

[quote=Trevor555]

Any proof?
[/quote

No he’s got no pictures. But if it’s a Cat N then it would of been through the insurance. So they would have a record of the work?

[littlebasher]

Pay the £3 and look it up on vcheck

If its been through a salvage auction it'll appear on there and with pictures

[Trevor555]

littlebasher said:

Pay the £3 and look it up on vcheck

If its been through a salvage auction it'll appear on there and with pictures

This.

But the pictures might not show damage underneath, or if the car's been in water.

[redandwhite]

i wouldnt bother,no matter how cheap it is, extra PITA to insure/sell on (Plus extra MOT post repair is required)

[Trevor555]

rdb85]revor555 said:

Any proof?
[/quote

No he’s got no pictures. But if it’s a Cat N then it would of been through the insurance. So they would have a record of the work?

A cat N means the insurance company decided not to repair. Or very occasionally repaired but rejected by owner.

The car then goes to a salvage auction like Copart.

As far as I'm aware the insurance companies don't keep records of the damage/quotes that are available to the public.(someone feel free to correct that if I'm out of date)

Most of these cars are then bought by people intent on making a profit.

So they'll spend the least amount of money repairing the car to get it back on the road.

NOT like an insurance repair that aims to get the car back to good.

Now back to your original question about whether these cars are difficult to sell.

Yes they are, if you don't have evidence of what exactly has been done to the car.

Some cars do have very light damage.

Sometimes cars are stolen recovered, and recovered after the policy holder has been paid out, so they become the property of the insurance company.

They can be decent buys, but you need proof of damage/repairs to be able to sell the car on.

And most importantly, without knowing the damage/repairs, the chassis/frame may be bent.

And you could find that out one day when you have to slam the brakes on at 70mph.

Do you feel lucky?

Edited by Trevor555 on Friday 7th February 20:46

[Tyre Smoke]

redandwhite said:

i wouldnt bother,no matter how cheap it is, extra PITA to insure/sell on (Plus extra MOT post repair is required)

It's already repaired. Insurance will be no different to a non recorded car. Especially since it's on the road.

[ZX10R NIN]

I've seen Cat S's that look better than Cat N's as I said the insurance company wouldn't declare it a total loss for light panel damage.

[anonymous-user]

I will probably leave it as it’s not worth the hassle I don’t think trying to sell it later on.

[Driver101]

It's a dealer that's selling that car. Unless the dealer is your friend?

They only have a five reviews on AT and two are one star for cars falling to bits and dodgy repairs.

[anonymous-user]

Driver101 said:

It's a dealer that's selling that car. Unless the dealer is your friend?

They only have a five reviews on AT and two are one star for cars falling to bits and dodgy repairs.

I’ve bought a Mini off him a few years ago, that was great. Never had anything go wrong other than servicing and it needing a new clutch at 90k.

I’ve seen the reviews and we’ll anyone can write a fake review.

[Driver101]

rdb85 said:

I’ve bought a Mini off him a few years ago, that was great. Never had anything go wrong other than servicing and it needing a new clutch at 90k.

I’ve seen the reviews and we’ll anyone can write a fake review.

A bit defensive there.

Why would you think they are fake?

If your dealer is that good why don't you trust his expert opinion on the car?

Edited by Driver101 on Friday 7th February 22:34