Would you buy a cat N?

[Chris77]

As per title I suppose, looking at a new work van and have found one that is listed as a category N, normal would keep scrolling when seeing anything listed as written off but this is the exact spec, colour and condition I’m after but priced around £6K less than others the same spec.

It’s with a dealer and states inspection welcome, so would look at getting an independent inspection done. Have read that it can make insurance harder/more expensive, any other advice or tips?

[Chris77]

Thanks for the input guys, I didn’t make it very clear in my post having read it back. The reason it caught my eye is the same spec is above my budget in that to get one fully loaded it would be 3/4 years older and 80k ish or higher mileage. The cat n one is 33k.

Plenty of food for thought, to be honest with the current situation and it is 6 hours drive away so not practical I don’t think

[Chris77]

Trevor555 said:

If you do go take someone with you that's worked in a bodyshop, they'll know what they're looking for.

Vans can get written off quite easily because of the huge side panels. Some bodyshops that do insurance work will quote to cut out and replace whole panels rather than knock out and fill/repair.

Check the airbag light comes on with the ignition. You don't want to find out your airbags aren't working when you need them.

And as I said before, you need to get underneath and have a very good look.

Most of these vehicles are bought to resell and make money, so are often repaired as cheaply as possible to hold on to the profit.

If I decide to investigate further I will certainly take your advice, thanks!