CAT D Write Off

sidethink

sidethink

sidethink

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Whats the general consensus on buying one of these?

Being offered by an independent dealer who routinely turns around CAT D cars, in addition to his normal trade (though I dont know the dealer well at all).

Its a 2008 Focus 1.8 Zetec 5 Door that is being offered at around £1000 discount from something without the CAT D history.
 
two answers:

1) You would need to know what the damage to the vehicle was and what was repaired, and you would need an experienced eye to see if all the damage has been repaired properly.

2) Not worth the hassle of a potential hazard for £1000 discount

edit: Some insurers don't like cat d cars and/or won't pay out much if they are stolen/damaged
 
Brookert said:
two answers:

2) Not worth the hassle of a potential hazard for £1000 discount
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This. I have seen CAT D cars listed £3,000+ under their price if they hadn't been a CAT D so worth a punt/gamble for the savings so long as you know what your doing.

For a £1,000 off, not a chance.
 
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On something rare and exotic, maybe someone from a forum owners club who's looked after the car well and has documentation of all work done I would consider a CATD.

On a 3 year old Focus it's gonna be a fair smack, and there are thousands of good examples about.

You won't be saving any money as the resale value will be down when you come to sell it as well.
 
Well I just wrote off my girlfriends car, 5mph impact into the back of someone, pushed bonnet & radiators back, smashed a headlight and the bumnper. The slam panel was undamaged and chassis is not touched (confirmed with garage tey took it to).

Car was valued at £2400 by insurance (03 plate Fiesta) and they classified it uneconoical to repair and extensively damaged so its a CAT C. Bought it back and repaired it myself and am amazed that it was classed CAT C, the garage quoted £2800+VAT for repair work to the insurance company so it seems like a lot of cars get written off due to the garages being greedy, its has cost me £600 to fix the car, and will be another £200 in paint for the bonnet and bumper.

So long story short, find out where the damage was and the extent, look over the car properly (preferably with someone who knows what they are looking at with repairs) and decide from there as it could just be down to the greed of the repairers forcing a CAT D write off on a car with fairly superficial damage.
 
I thought Cat D was also used if the car had been stolen, the insurance company paid out to the original owner, then the car was recovered. The insurance company then sell it on as a Cat D Stolen/Recovered?
 
kefkef said:
I thought Cat D was also used if the car had been stolen, the insurance company paid out to the original owner, then the car was recovered. The insurance company then sell it on as a Cat D Stolen/Recovered?
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No.

CAT D and stolen/recovered are two different things.
 
My reservations would be that regardless of how well repaired the car is the cat D stigma will still stick and the car would be worthless on the second hand market.
 
We walked away from a CAT D Polo for my little sister the other week. Couldn't visually see any damage but we didn't know enough about mechanics to say for certain. Plenty of other Polos on the market to bother risking it!

EDIT
Should explain, we didn't know it was CAT D until we were ready to buy it and did a HPI check. We would have bought it otherwise
 
Thanks for the advice so far.

The general consensus seems to be to avoid the deal unless you know exactly what has happened to the vehicle in question. Fair enough really. I dont really have easy access to a professional to advise me and the garage didnt have any pre-work photos or a detailed rundown of the work carried out that they could send me.

I'll leave it for someone else.
 
It's a Focus, i'm fairly sure you'll find another one on the market somewhere.

I'd only trust a cat D if i was doing the work myself.

(that said, the cat c repairs on our Corsa C cost just under 40 quid from what i remember)
 
J.B said:
We walked away from a CAT D Polo for my little sister the other week. Couldn't visually see any damage but we didn't know enough about mechanics to say for certain. Plenty of other Polos on the market to bother risking it!

EDIT
Should explain, we didn't know it was CAT D until we were ready to buy it and did a HPI check. We would have bought it otherwise
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From a dealer or private sale?
 
On a motorbike it can mean a scuffed fairing from a side stand drop, and if that were all it was I wouldn't hesitate in an instant if I saved a grand. I've generally found Cad D to be cosmetic and 'beyond cost of reasonable repair' with regards plastics, painting, workshop time etc. As far as I know it's the Cat C stuff you should really be wary of, but if you want to be safe rather than sorry stick to straight motors I'd suggest (i.e. not been bent or bumped)
 
Totaly depends on what you intend the car for, what damage, how it's repaired and of course discount. £1000 off what?

I've had a car d car, but then I didn't care and run it into the ground. Purchased for 850 which was under 50% of normal price (very poor repair) drove it for 5years and still sold it for £350.
So it really depends on a few factors.
 
My old Nissan Almera got written off because the garage quoted £1500 for a new wing and a door respray. I'm sure these repair companies get the actual price then double it for insurance jobs.
 
Glaucus said:
Totaly depends on what you intend the car for, what damage, how it's repaired and of course discount. £1000 off what?
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The vehicle has been fully repaired and is being offered for sale at roughly £1000 less than what I can see similar model/spec/mileage cars for.

i.e. £4250 ready to go as opposed to a raft of similar spec cars for £5000-£6000
 
MissChief said:
My old Nissan Almera got written off because the garage quoted £1500 for a new wing and a door respray. I'm sure these repair companies get the actual price then double it for insurance jobs.
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Problem is that any insurance repair is at mani dealer labour charges and genuine parts at retail price. If it comes to more than 40 - 50% of the car's value it's written off. Easy to see why in most cases.

That doesn't mean to say that somebody else can;t buy it and do the £2,000 quoted repair for £600. I once bought a Ford Escort which was written off as it needed front and rear wings, bonnet and two new doors so easy to see at main dealer prices how it added up. A visit to a few scrap yards for the bonnet and doors and motor factors for the wings and mates rates for the spraying and I had it all fixed for under £300. That doesn't mean that's how you would want your insurance company to repair your car though.....

My bosses old Aston Martin Vanquish required a £24k repair from him sliding sideways into a kerb at quite low speed. Easily totalled up when labour was at £185 per hour and he needed two new rims, tyres and quite a few front suspension parts although the body was untouched. That was almost a third of what it was worth.
 
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