I have been trying to find a LWB VW transporter for quite a while now..... seen a few good ones, but usually get there just after they have been
sold
I spotted one on ebay yesterday which is just down the road from me... only problem is, its a cat D write off.... and needs some work...
How much do you recon it would cost to straighten this out? I could just re-fit the front end and tidy it up a bit and use it as is I guess?
Its a really new one with few miles on it... but its in a bit of a mess..... logic tells me to walk away... but... its just such an attractive
price...
walk away - looks to be vandalised more than crashed. someone had a grievance me thinks.......
lots of pro's and cons with cat d but i'd personally stay away
I'd be temped to walk away, but I do understand your predicament.
I guess it depends how 'good' you want it to look, you need to spend a fair bit on the front, but at the back, a new bumper, and I recon you
could push those dents out and get it something like, and if you're happy with that alls well. For your trouble you would get a van with newish
mechanicals, which will serve you well and more reliably than an older van, but with the prospect of it not being the prettiest van on the road, with
a low resale value, the answer to that is just run it into the ground.
Cat D doesn't require any form of check or test to go back on the road, you should get all the documents with it, they are only retained at Cat C
and above.
Thats a bizarre one, looks to me like someone has backed into something on both corners, on purpose? anyway a lot of work to put right, i would say.
Walk away!
Yes... The damage is very odd isnt it... i had been trying to work out how it had happened like that... but vandalism makes sence...
I will be passing after work, I might go and have a look out of curiosity...
I guess controling the rust on a van with damage like that might be a nightmare?
And I wonder what effect the damage would have on any remaining waranty.. (not sure if VW commercial does a 3 yr waranty?)
Really need a decent one to pop up locally..the nearest one worth looking at to me is over 100 miles away 
maybe been rammed by something from infront, pushed back between 2 posts or somthing? if your not bothered what it looks like it might be worth a punt
I would price up the repair cost and then deduct that from what the value should be if it was all ok then deduct what ever you think for the fact that
it's a cat D
Nothing wrong with a cat D - particularly if you are planning to keep it a long time and it is priced accordingly.
Have you watched that TV programme with the Dominic bloke who buys cat D's and fixes them to make cheap but perfectly good cars?
it looks like someone drove on the back of it an the van on the car infront.
My only worry would be floor damage on the back.
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
Have you watched that TV programme with the Dominic bloke who buys cat D's and fixes them to make cheap but perfectly good cars?
quote:
Originally posted by l0rd
it looks like someone drove on the back of it an the van on the car infront.
My only worry would be floor damage on the back.
Does'nt seem that badly damaged, so for a late van why has it been written off ?
Unless I were 100% confident I'd walk away.
Cheers,
Bob
quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
Does'nt seem that badly damaged, so for a late van why has it been written off ?
Unless I were 100% confident I'd walk away.
Cheers,
Bob
The only way I can see that damage happening is if something hit it hard on the rear offside (that would explain the bumper and panel damage in that
area) at that point the van driver might have fishtailed down the road doing the damage to the front and rear nearside.
It it were vandalised I'd expect more panels to be damaged with scratching/gouging/small dents and holes.
Putting it completely right will cost more than it will be worth at the point you're finished - thus the cat D. But pushing it out and putting
on new bumpers would be cheap enough and good enough for the more manual trades where it's going to pick up damage anyway.
[Edited on 18/5/09 by iank]
It looks like it's been reversed between two bollards that were not quite wide enough for the van to fit through.
The damage looks too well planned to me to be coincidental - but if you do really want it, check the floor for straightness to eliminate as far as
possible the chassis is not damaged - but I'd be very wary...
Steve
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
Does'nt seem that badly damaged, so for a late van why has it been written off ?
Unless I were 100% confident I'd walk away.
Cheers,
Bob
Imagine the cost of supplying, fitting and spraying a new front bumper, rear bumper, two new rear quarter panels, rear valance, rear floorpan and possibly rear doors...
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
Have you watched that TV programme with the Dominic bloke who buys cat D's and fixes them to make cheap but perfectly good cars?
What an utter moron that guy is. The program seems to consist of him buying a written of car for that has far more hidden damage than he realises, for a stupid amount of money and then spending lots of extra time and cash on it, resulting in a final cost which you could have bought a non-written off model of the same car.
