Thoughts...Cat C V Straight car

[theironduke]

Just thinking aloud...

I've got two cars in mind (both the same, Chims)

1) Car with lots of history, last owner 8 years, lots of work done (all the scary stuff) but just requires tidying to make it nice. Car has never been tarted up or messed with.

2) Car with no history. Current owner bought it as a Cat C (heavy front fibreglass damage but he says no structural damage) and repaired himself, he's in the motor trade. Car looks lovely and has no big problems, but obviousley no history/provenence.

Price was there is only a couple of hundred quid in it.

My gut is going with number 1....yes to the layman who drives a eurobox it looks a bit "tatty" but it is a very solid and ORIGINAL car. Car 2 would need no money spending on it BUT it's always going to be a cat c....which i guess limits its value appreciation compared to car 1.

What do you guys think?

[E30M3SE]

theironduke said:

Just thinking aloud...

I've got two cars in mind (both the same, Chims)

1) Car with lots of history, last owner 8 years, lots of work done (all the scary stuff) but just requires tidying to make it nice. Car has never been tarted up or messed with.

2) Car with no history. Current owner bought it as a Cat C (heavy front fibreglass damage but he says no structural damage) and repaired himself, he's in the motor trade. Car looks lovely and has no big problems, but obviousley no history/provenence.

Price was there is only a couple of hundred quid in it.

My gut is going with number 1....yes to the layman who drives a eurobox it looks a bit "tatty" but it is a very solid and ORIGINAL car. Car 2 would need no money spending on it BUT it's always going to be a cat c....which i guess limits its value appreciation compared to car 1.

What do you guys think?

Taking this into account it is a no-brainer.


IMO the CAT C would have to be around half the price of straight car that was presented in mint condition.

[EDLT]

Good Cat C's are about 50-60% of the value of a straight car iirc. Remember you won't be able to sell it for much when the time comes.

EDIT- I don't think you can get a CAT C without structural damage either. Otherwise it would be CAT D, I think the seller is telling porkies.

Edited by EDLT on Tuesday 15th February 15:12

[W00DY]

Cat C cars are pretty difficult to sell, so I'd want it a lot cheaper and a full inspection if I was even to consider it.

Go with number 1.

[lordlee]

Car 1 all day long. As for CAT C being 50-60% less in value that is quite far out. Typically a CAT C will be 25-30% less than it's straight equivalent. The main problem for me is selling the car when you no longer require it. A CAT C will certainly stick on your driveway unless it very cheap. So if you buy cheap then thats fine. Personally a Cat C TVR with no history would have to be very cheap to even be a consideration. It's not so you can easily discount it.

[Jagmanv12]

EDLT said:

Good Cat C's are about 50-60% of the value of a straight car iirc. Remember you won't be able to sell it for much when the time comes.

EDIT- I don't think you can get a CAT C without structural damage either. Otherwise it would be CAT D, I think the seller is telling porkies.

Edited by EDLT on Tuesday 15th February 15:12

CAT C and D are judged on financial aspects only.

C: Repairable vehicles where the insurer's repair costs exceeded the vehicle's pre-accident value
D: Repairable vehicles where the insurer's repair costs did not exceed the vehicle's pre-accident value

[JR]

Which car do you like? If you prefer car 2 offer him what you think it's worth, even if it's considerably less than his asking price whilst explaining your reasoning; if he says no then simply thank him for his time and trouble and move on.

[KenBlocksPants]

Car 1, all day everyday for me.


Or Car 2 at a very very heavy discount. Explain that there are plenty of other straight cars out there at the same price.

[Mr Will]

Jagmanv12 said:

CAT C and D are judged on financial aspects only.

C: Repairable vehicles where the insurer's repair costs exceeded the vehicle's pre-accident value
D: Repairable vehicles where the insurer's repair costs did not exceed the vehicle's pre-accident value

Correct, which also means that they are very dependant on the age of the car at the time of the crash. You can have a major smash in a new car and it'll be repaired without being given a CAT marker, yet a 20 year old banger can be CAT C with little more than bonnet, bumper & hire car costs.

I'd have no problem buying a CAT C car which I was confident was properly repaired, but I would want a substantial discount to take into account how much harder it will be to sell further down the line (which is the biggest problem with CAT cars IMHO).