Cheap Chimaera

[banjolucknicker]

Not sure if I am being too optimistic here. Just been looking around on autotrader and seen a 96P Chim, 40K for £9995! Advert says the car has been registered cat D which I know from previous threads tends to suggest the damage was not too bad. Just wondered, has anyone here bought a car in a similar condition, should I buy one, or should I avoid like the plague?

Also, mentions that it has been checked by Autolign (DVLA approved), does anyone know anything about that?

[RCA]

Some people are dead against Cat D, I for one am not as Mine is a Cat D but I know the damage was hardly anything at the front as it belong to a friend before!!! somebody backed into it and it had a new nose, nothing major!!!, If something like that does not worry you then its always worth a look, Try and find out exactly why its on Cat D, if they don't know then perhaps be a bit wary. If it is just cosmetics like mine and not a big bump that might affect the chassis then there shouldn't be a problem!!!
cheers
Richard

[tonyrec]

All categories of damaged repairables are or should be given a V23 marker when put back on the road.As far as im aware, the only way to remove this marker is to have the vehicle thoroughly checked over by Auto-align. Its a very stringent test and not many vehicles are able to have the marker removed.
In my experience its worth checking with the previous Insurance company to find out exactly what damage the vehicle had and why it was given a Cat D.
For yours and everyones elses info, Cat A should NEVER be seen back on the road and the shell should have been crushed (by the salvage company authorised by the Insurance company), the V5 endorsed with such and the V5 returned to DVLA. Cat B is also very serious damage but can be put back on the road by an authorised repairer (always be suspect of these vehicles) and Cat C and D are less serious.

I guess that what im trying to say is...be very carefull and always double check anything you are told.

[magnus]

tonyrec said: All categories of damaged repairables are or should be given a V23 marker when put back on the road.As far as im aware, the only way to remove this marker is to have the vehicle thoroughly checked over by Auto-align. Its a very stringent test and not many vehicles are able to have the marker removed.
In my experience its worth checking with the previous Insurance company to find out exactly what damage the vehicle had and why it was given a Cat D.
For yours and everyones elses info, Cat A should NEVER be seen back on the road and the shell should have been crushed (by the salvage company authorised by the Insurance company), the V5 endorsed with such and the V5 returned to DVLA. Cat B is also very serious damage but can be put back on the road by an authorised repairer (always be suspect of these vehicles) and Cat C and D are less serious.

I guess that what im trying to say is...be very carefull and always double check anything you are told.

Absolutely second that. I bought a used Cat D BMW which seemed fine when I tried it out in traffic but later turned out to be lethal at speed. Local body shop tested alignment which was out due to chassis damage. Not worth the cost of putting right--dead loss.
Could have been dead come to that.

[scruffy]

magnus said:

tonyrec said: All categories of damaged repairables are or should be given a V23 marker when put back on the road.As far as im aware, the only way to remove this marker is to have the vehicle thoroughly checked over by Auto-align. Its a very stringent test and not many vehicles are able to have the marker removed.
In my experience its worth checking with the previous Insurance company to find out exactly what damage the vehicle had and why it was given a Cat D.
For yours and everyones elses info, Cat A should NEVER be seen back on the road and the shell should have been crushed (by the salvage company authorised by the Insurance company), the V5 endorsed with such and the V5 returned to DVLA. Cat B is also very serious damage but can be put back on the road by an authorised repairer (always be suspect of these vehicles) and Cat C and D are less serious.

Blah blah, but relevant and worth quoting, thanks tony...!

I guess that what im trying to say is...be very carefull and always double check anything you are told.

Absolutely second that. I bought a used Cat D BMW which seemed fine when I tried it out in traffic but later turned out to be lethal

---

Absolutely third that (OK not the BMW bit..)..

Bought my griff, then (only soon after) realised the left bit of the arse end had been blobbed back together - by the simple fact that having removed the carpet in the boot, one side was clear, one side was got black colour innit , innit...

However, these cars are made out of little bits of plastic stuff so... as long as your chassis (not the witty bloke on here but the metal bits), line up on a rolling road, and you're happy with it driving wise...

Bear in mind you are going to be driving a bloody fast, bloody good looking go cart - it's also hand made. Most mass produced cars are not even checked for the simple things like; are the wheels pointing the right way? Are the brakes and suspenshion set up to suit the way you drive (OK that's easy...), buy yourself a bloomin' cheap golf cart by all means, but spend a bit of cash straighting it up...

Oh and let me doughnut it for you...

[banjolucknicker]

Thanks for the advice. Only problem is that the sellers gone and sold it Oh well, have to keep on looking. Decided that I might as well go without this summer and save up to get the best model I can afford later this year. BTW - popped down to VW on Sunday, nice to see all the TVR's etc down there, weather even held up.

[incorrigible]

Just to clarify

Cat B, shouldn't be back on the road, only the parts are allowed to be re-used (not the chassis/shell (you can use a Cat B as a source for body parts like a nose though))

Nothing wrong with cat C or D IMHO, mine was (see profile)

Rule of thumb, pay between 65% and 75% of the price of a car without history