Cat D insurance write off

Gritty

Member
Hi there

I was hoping to view a car tomorrow which ticks all the boxes for me except Ive just run an HPI check and found that it was written off in 2012 as a cat D damaged but repairable, the insurer wrote it off.

Car has FSH and all MOTs via vosa except 2014.

Do any of you guys own or have bought a cat D car?

I know from other recent threads that aluminium is expensive to repair so is there a way of finding out exactly what the damage was sustained and/or just buy it? Or should I just move on?

Any help appreciated.
 
Cat D (soon to be changed BTW) is the lowest level. It means that when it was damaged, the insurers decided it was not cost effective to repair. Given the price and availability of A2 panels together with the relative novelty of the A2's material and method of construction it is often the default answer from insurers, even in relatively light damage. It usually means bodwork/cosmetic damage rather than more severe structural damage (which would be registered as a cat C or even b or a if the damage is really severe and the car can not be sold as a single unit) You can google cat a damage to get the official definition of all the catagories.
It will always be more difficult to sell on a cat d car as prospective purchasers (such as your self) will be rightly concerned.
As long as the car has been correctly repaired and the asking price reflects the fact that it is a cat d it should not, IMO, overly concern you. Just remember that if you come to sell the car on you will you will be in he same position of the present seller!
If you carry out due diligence on the car you could get a bargain!
Best of luck!
 
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Hi thanks for your reply

I was hoping to buy an A2 and hold on to it long term. But dont want to buy a cat d if i cant find out what damage was done.

How does one find out about the damage caused in 2012 ? it wasnt stolen recovered so assume it was a shunt /crash. Is there a "write off" report register perhaps?
 
Hi thanks for your reply

I was hoping to buy an A2 and hold on to it long term. But dont want to buy a cat d if i cant find out what damage was done.

How does one find out about the damage caused in 2012 ? it wasnt stolen recovered so assume it was a shunt /crash. Is there a "write off" report register perhaps?

Do you know if the vendor owned the car back in 2012? It might be worth asking them/pointing out this and seeing what they say. I had a Corrado back in the early noughties that was CatD and the seller gave me a full pictorial and written report on the work that was done. Like SimUFly points out, provided you check everything is straight and true, and there are no nasty things. then you will probably be okay, but bear in mind that they are a lot more difficult to sell on. I suppose one highlight with A2s at the moment, if the interior and extras look good, then they are easily transferable to another car.
 
The owner is contacting me tonight with vin number and log book date and recorded v5c list of owners so may be able to track the history buy owner in more detail.

The car has had 7 owners its 15 years old. 2002.

When i called the seller this morning with news of my findings he was not aware of the previous write off record and has no paperwork re accidents or write off information, he did not have the car hpi checked when he bought it for his daughter, first car.

I think there is usually only two previous owners listed on the log book which im finding out about tonight.

ive not inspected it yet, looks good in high res photos interior looks great too, cam belt and water pump done in 2013 @ 60k, current mileage 90k, has full service history, MOT s dont highlight any damage which is good. but no MOT for 2014 which is odd?

Ive done loads of research this morning on cat d but the fact is it could be minor or a lot worse so Im being v causcious.
 
I have bought several Cat Ds and the only trouble I have had is the difficulty in selling them afterwards.
But if you are planning to keep the car then a cat D can be very reasonably priced!!

but do haggle.

Steve B
 
Thanks for your advice.

i must admit i would have never entertained buying a cat d car for fear of the un known / can of worms etc, but Im also aware of the up side i.e benefits on this forum getting a bargin car which I can get future parts for etc so Im warming to the idea.

Im looking to keep a car long term so not planning to sell on until it breaks/ crashed again! or the government bans diesels (so a while yet). Car is prices at £1750 what would you suggest I offer?
 
Im looking to keep a car long term so not planning to sell on until it breaks/ crashed again! or the government bans diesels (so a while yet). Car is prices at £1750 what would you suggest I offer?

Hmmm, the pricing is a very tricky one at the moment, especially given. If you've got a better spec list you're willing to share then it could be narrowed down a bit.

For £1,750, dependent on engine (I'm assuming it's diesel from above) I would hope for a car with all bells and whistles, either very clean cloth seats, with Lumbar support, or leather in good condition. Given the mileage that works in it's favour, but at the end of the day it depends on your priorities.

The missing MOT isn't necessarily a problem, as it might have been laid up for a while, or the owner at the time simply forgot to renew it - it's naughty, but it happens.
 
Hi Sciroccorrado

The spec is standard SE trim does have OSS though 89k FSH good condition (bar the write off0 7 owners seems high for a car with only 89 k on the clock

I would have purchased it at £1750 if it had not been for the write off discovery

There are quite a few silver A2 s around with OSS with well over 100k and no service history for around £1200 -£1400 and a few clocked ones for over £2500

Good condition low mileage a2s are getting rearer especially those with OSS and a lot of the cars Im enquiring about have dubious Mileages or MOT histories it seems!!
 
Hi Sciroccorrado

The spec is standard SE trim does have OSS though 89k FSH good condition (bar the write off0 7 owners seems high for a car with only 89 k on the clock

I would have purchased it at £1750 if it had not been for the write off discovery

There are quite a few silver A2 s around with OSS with well over 100k and no service history for around £1200 -£1400 and a few clocked ones for over £2500

Good condition low mileage a2s are getting rearer especially those with OSS and a lot of the cars Im enquiring about have dubious Mileages or MOT histories it seems!!

Okay, so SE is good trim, the OSS (assuming it's working properly (make sure it moves smoothly and test it before purchase)) is certainly a bonus, and provided the MOT history and mileage checks out you could be onto a winner there.

With a Cat D I'd probably get somebody to do a full inspection (RAC or AA do a 50 point check I think for about £50 or so), but if that goes alright and you want to keep it for a long time, then it sounds like a bargain to me :)

Other plus points if it's got them would be heated mirrors/washer jets, rear electric windows, Symphony (double height) stereo, BOSE speakers (you can tell as the grilles have badges on them), rear cup-holder (holy grail!), spare wheel with double floor in boot, side-curtain airbags. The list goes on...
 
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