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Cat C tin top. Should I?
smart51 - 20/8/17 at 05:12 PM

I'm looking for a cheap runaround. Cheap but not nasty as it will be my daily driver for a while. I've seen a 6 year old motor on autotrader that is just what I'm looking for, even being the right colour, but it is a Cat C write off.

Now I get how it works. If the car had relatively superficial damage at 6 years old but the authorised repairer bill was equal to the value of the car, the insurer writes it off. I'm comfortable enough with this. But if the car was a Cat C at 1 year old, then it was in a major smash. How do I find out what was done to it?

As an example, my current car was grazed by a bus a couple of weeks ago. A quick blow in on the one corner "cost" the unlucky bus driver's insurance £875. I could have fixed it for £50 of paint and sandpaper from Halfords. Cars can be written off for quite minor damage when they're a few years old.

Huttojb - 20/8/17 at 05:40 PM

I don't even think it's the value of the car, I think if the repair is greater then 25% of the value it's classed as a write off.

cliftyhanger - 20/8/17 at 05:48 PM

Ask the seller? If they know it is a cat C, they should know when it was a write off?? In their interest to tell you if you ask.

And yes, it takes a fair bit to write a newish car off, but at 6 years old not a lot. Bloke up the road makes a living transporting write-offs about for insurance companies. Some of the cars on his trailer look very easy repairs.....

bug1 - 20/8/17 at 06:00 PM

I always get my daily driver from salvage dealer and you would be supprised at the difference between the level of difference between levels of damage between categories some cat c's have less damage than cat d's. The main difference is when you come to sell most people panic over cat c where they are less worried about cat d. Have a look at sws salvage there is a 63 plate Volvo countryman which is cat c it has just a bumper off and the mounting plate missing and a small dent on the rear panel and that wrote it off have see it in the flesh. What I am getting at is that category c doesn't always mean it's mullered as long as you can get proof of the level of damage.

mark chandler - 20/8/17 at 06:48 PM

Sort out insurance first, I had a cat d car and they would not do fully comp on it and loaded up third party to the hilt!

Their argument was along the lines of we have already paid out on this once... Go figure how that affects the risk!

Neville Jones - 20/8/17 at 07:17 PM

A lot of Cat C's are due to not being able to repair with original parts. If the job can't be done with all factory original parts, it has to be written off. That gem is due to the EU laws. So I was told by an assessor anyway.

Cheers,
Nev.

gremlin1234 - 20/8/17 at 08:09 PM

they also factor in the cost of a 'courtesy' car, while its being fixed.
so if it takes 2-3 weeks to book it in for 1-2 days work, that's an additional 'cost' of car hire for 2-3 weeks
so gets easy to write it off, especially since they will charge the punters concerned more over the coming years

MikeRJ - 20/8/17 at 09:25 PM

quote:
Originally posted by bug1
I always get my daily driver from salvage dealer and you would be supprised at the difference between the level of difference between levels of damage between categories some cat c's have less damage than cat d's. The main difference is when you come to sell most people panic over cat c where they are less worried about cat d. Have a look at sws salvage there is a 63 plate Volvo countryman which is cat c it has just a bumper off and the mounting plate missing and a small dent on the rear panel and that wrote it off have see it in the flesh. What I am getting at is that category c doesn't always mean it's mullered as long as you can get proof of the level of damage.


That's because Cat C and D are not awarded according to the level of damage, it's a purely financial decision based on the total cost of repair vs the value of the car.

Mark Allanson posted a very useful guide to this a number of year back on here:

quote:
Originaly posted by Mark Allanson
Cat A - Absolute total loss, burn out etc

Cat B - Severe damage where it would be unsafe for that chassis to go back onto the road, break only

Cat C - The repair costs exceeded the value of the car (no more, no less. A £90 car with car cracked headlamp costing £100 would be Cat C)

Cat D - The repair costs exceeded the value of the car less the salvage value. ( A £500 car with a £350 repair, but the Insurer would get £200 salvage, so it would cost them £300 to total loss rather than £350 to repair)


This does mean that a Cat C on a valuable (e.g. quite new) car implies a higher level of damage, but also note that it's total cost to repair, which would include e.g. hire cars, so any required parts on back order could be enough to write off a car that would otherwise be repaired.

russbost - 21/8/17 at 08:53 AM

I find very little real logic in how stuff gets allocated Cat C or D, if you doubt that then look at Ebay ads for salvage, some Cat C stuff needs relatively minor repairs & some Cat D looks like it should never see the road again! You will also find Cat D that has barely more than a scratch or a tiny dent.

All you need to do is to look carefully at the car you are considering, there are very few bodyshops that can actually repair a car to look just as it was when new. Seams won't have the same type of spotwelds if welded, where seam sealer has been brushed or sprayed on it will be different to the original manufacturers & the paint finish will (usually) be discernibly different if looked at carefully, so ask what damage the car had & see if that tallies with what you see. If it's been on a jig it will probably have jaw clamp marks on the sill seams. One of the worst problems in terms of a problem car to buy is flood damage, which I've frequently seen as Cat D, but believe me once a car has been under water, particularly salt water it will never be the same again & electrical faults will rear their ugly heads years later

Apart from flood damage, probs worst thing is misaligned suspension which can give some interesting handling characteristics & tyre wear. Check if wheels are central to the arch, do they match side to side, you only have to slip a hand in between the wheel arch & the tyre to get a good idea if wheelbase is correct, 3 fingers on NS & 4 on the OS is not going to be a good sign! Try & get a look underneath on a ramp if poss. & look at all suspension mounting points

Finally, bear in mind that the car carries the permanent (& frequently unfair I feel) stigma of a Cat C - it will be recorded on the V5 & you legally need to declare it when selling, you should be looking to pay around 1/2 to 2/3 of normal retail bearing age/mileage in mind as you would any other car, when you come to sell, you'll never be able to part ex & will expect to get around 1/2 to 2/3 of whatever normal retail is then, but Cat C are notoriously hard to sell

Partofthechaos - 21/8/17 at 02:34 PM

If a Cat C / D is used as a donor car are there any issues relating to the registration of the kit car?

coozer - 22/8/17 at 07:29 AM

I've had a few over the years, daily for 6 years was a rover 214 with lock damage that I paid 110 for sold it 6 years later for 250...

Mitsubishi Shogun, written off for the cost of a paint job, lost a fair bit on it cause I paid over the odds and only kept it a few months...

I think the key is finding one that's got superficial level damage getting it cheap and keeping it a long time .

Cant see any problem buying one to use as a donor .

russbost - 22/8/17 at 07:57 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Partofthechaos
If a Cat C / D is used as a donor car are there any issues relating to the registration of the kit car?


Makes no difference because the donor car ceases to exist on the registration of it's replacement, providing you have proof of the age of parts the "new" car gets a completely new identity, reg & chassis no. so the Cat C/D becomes irrelevant & wouldn't be recorded against the new registration

DAN@ADRIAN FLUX - 27/8/17 at 08:22 PM

Hi,
If you need any help with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line. The majority of our schemes have no issues with cat C or D written off vehicles.
Regards,
Dan.