Is there any way to get an online check to see the extent of the damage to a car that has previously been a Cat C write off? I seem to remember in the back of my head that there is a firm that can do it....but cant remember who?

Ive used Vcheck before but they didnt show any photos of the damage.

Cheers folks.

Not that I've heard of but try just typing the reg number into google with crash next to it. Cars have been spotted in garages for repair before that way.

Its a bit of a minefield tbh and unless you are willing to inspect the car yourself from top to bottom and you really do know what to look out for I'd be very careful. Unless it's really rare or very cheap (so cheap that if it turns out to be scrap or dangerous you can accept the loss) I'd not even bother. There's so many cars out there right now, just buy the best you can.

My wife wrote off her Volvo hitting the house very hard and I fixed it as I knew the car would be safe afterwords. She still drives it everyday with the kids in it. So they can be just fine but I don't trust anyone no matter how genuine they seem when it comes to selling their car. Money makes people into greedy little Devils.

I once walked into the garage who I knew the owner well only to catch them welding two halfs of a van together... "Ok Denis what's going on here?!" you've never seen anyone go so red with embarrassment.



[Edited on 26/3/21 by Mr Whippy]

if it has been though an auction you may be able to find it in their catalogue.

If it's a CAT C damaged vehicle and Vcheck does not have copies of auction images, it's unlikely you'll be able to find them. Pictures may not exist. Not all write offs go through the salvage auctions.

C and D categorisation was changed to S & N some time ago, so it is a few years since the vehicle was written off.

[Edited on 29/3/21 by Toed64]

I have bought many cat C cars, from Copart and apart from my current car, all the previous cars for nearly 30 years have been registered writeoffs

I did all the body work up to primer stage, and a friend did the top coats

When ive sold them on, as i normally keep the car for 5 or so years, and ive NEVER had a problem selling, as most were around the 1-2k mark

Ive never been asked what the exact damage is, and i only bought panel damaged cars, easy to repair

If the vehicle the OP is looking at is cheap, and repaired to a good satisfaction, and MOT history tallies up with that, and you are buying it from the current owners, who may of had the car a few years, then i can not see a problem

If the car being sold from some grubby little backstreet dark dingy workshop, i would walk away

Personally, and just MHO, i would not buy a high end car that has been repaired already, but i would if buying from an Auction house

Thanks for the replies chaps

The car was a Vauxhall VX220 turbo and was a Cat c in 2008. The front crash box was slightly damaged (along with the front clam) hence the cat c.

I searched around and stumbled across posts from the lad who owned it and rebuilt it in 2009 and am happy with what i saw. The owner has pwned the car for 6 years and all the mot history is good. I did a vcheck and again it backs everything up......so.......i now own a VX220 turbo

The body work is a bit tatty so ill be on the hunt for a decent but locost spray booth to get it looking better. Ill start a new post looking for suggestions

N1