Getting a write off back on the road...

Tesla

Tesla

Tesla

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Joined
19 Jan 2003
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Bristol, UK
Finding the perfect Moneo GhiaX could take me a little while so I was going to just drive around Mum's Micra for the time being. This is very inconvenient as it means I have to pick her up around 5pm from work so I cannot schedule any jobs around this time (or an hour or so before), self employed.

Apparently one of my Mum's work mates had her car written off and just wants it off of her drive. She said she has been quoted £300 to put it back on the road but cannot afford it (but she went and spent £8000 on a Ford Ka! :eek: ).

Mum described the car as a Small-ish Round Rover. I thought this was pretty odd as all of there cars are square :p. It can only be a Rover 25 or 200.

Mum said it was only a little "prang" and there isn't really any damage other than a dented front o/s wing.

The lady who owns the car was asking me to set up a really basic computer for her little son. I have a P1 base unit with a load of ram and 15" crt here so she was going to give me a few pennies for that.

The situation now is... I am waiting on a phone call from my Mum to go and check out the damage on the womans car (If the woman is happy with this). She won't be there but I can have a good look at it anyway.

If it really is as minor as my Mum made it sound then I will most likely swap the base unit for the car - This will solve my short term problems of having to insure two cars for a total of almost £300 a month!

I know it's a Rover 25/200 (probably) but come on, this will help me out a lot for a month or 2 or however long it takes to either get some insurance money or find another Mondeo I love. Assuming it has average mileage what's it worth? Now assuming it's a repaired write off with average mileage what's it worth? I will be selling it in the future so do need to know. Oh it's an N reg my Mum thinks.

What I would like to know is the process and expense involved in getting a write off back on the road (excluding repair costs)?

I realise there are different categories too. What do these mean?

Many thanks,

Chris
 
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Found out about the categories.

I just popped round and have some pics. It's a 5dr. It's going to be the slow 8v version on N plate isnt it?

Let me know what you think:

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2.jpg


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Do you think the wing is repairable?

Is it quite easy to change the wing? In the Mondeo it looksquite straigh forward. If I get an original wing off of a Rover then I wont need to make it fit.

The headlight is smashed right at the end so will probably have to replace that too.

If I am spraying up the wing then I could always remove the black plastic bits and spray them white too making it look much better.

It doesn't have much in the way of mod cons. Windy windows all round.

Noticed it had an aftermarket CD HU. If that comes with the car I will just flog it.

Other than that it just needs a damn good clean inside and out. The seats are not worn inside but the leather gaitors could do with changing.

I couldnt get inside, couldn't see the mileage.

I realise I have to get a VIC check done and a new MOT apparently?
 
Two things :-

Firstly, personally given your predicament - I'd just take it off her and run it without bothering to repair it. What's the point of repairing it? So long as it's not dangerous (sharp metal sticking out etc) - don't bother. Just hit that protruding wing with a hammer to flush it back into place.

Secondly - if she is selling it - I dont think that car has been written off by her insurers. Only under a Comp policy would Insurers will register the car as a write off (Cat D or whatever). I very much doubt it's actually registered as a write off at all.

So, if the price is right and it helps you out - buy it, run it, get your insurance claim sorted then when the money comes through - fix the Rover or sell it on for someone else to fix.
 
Well If I can get it immaculate for under £100 then I am quite happy to do it and can afford to. A bit of paint and filler on the wing or even better a wing from a breakers and new headlight is all it needs other than a say spent cleaning the thing.

When I come to sale it I will get all my money back anyway - possibly more :D
 
lordrobs said:
Basically sounds like a free car so you can't really lose.

Would insurance be a problem if it was a write off though?
Click to expand...
Apparently it's the "one where all you need is an MOT" category.

She said she got so much money and her car back from the insurers.

I didn't think there was a category where you need just an MOT.
EDIT - Actually a cat D write off is this but I dunno what a Cat D is.

Oh, mileage is 107k.
 
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Sounds very much to me like that's not been written off.

In which case, just buy it at the right price and do whatever you want with it.

I wouldnt even bother doing a fresh MOT. There's no point and there's no legal requirement in my opinion.
 
It's not only a Rover... it's a beast :D

Yep, it will probably be the 8v unit. I think on the changeover to the 16v's they replaced the orange front indicators with clears.

Not to worry though, the 8v K-series engines are absolutely bullet proof! You'll never hear of head gasket failure on one of those. Performance isn't that bad either for an 8v.

Not exactly sure of the specs, but Paul S's Rover 214 8v didn't seem to do too badly on the first Manc Meet.

edit... Doubt it was written off for just a dent in the wing! Insurers are stupid (as I'm sure you know) and will now write off any Rover that's involved in an accident... even though it would cost absolute peanuts to fix.
 
I had a mate check it out and it's a Cat C salvage apparently?

With recorded full frontal end damage.

Now my Mum did mention some dodgy happenings with quotes perhaps thats why.
 
If I budget £200 to get this car mint and back on the road would you do it?

I reckon I could do it for under £150 but need to have a little contingency incase it fails the MOT on something.

The VIC is £36 and what's an MOT? £50?

That leaves me a bit of money to get a new headlight cluster and also fix up/replace the wing? What is replacing a wing like? Difficult? There are a few other odds and ends that I would like to tidy up. It's not wasting money as when I sale the car I will get it all back.

What would you say it's worth? £500?
 
BRM's give me the horn!!!

They're so cute too, what with their big grin.

My apologies then Paul. I knew people de-tangoed them but thought that the later 200's (or maybe I'm thinking of the 400's) had clear indicators from the factory.
 
If you fix the wing and the car is in good condition all round with no problems, I'd reckon you'd get around £800 for it.

The bubbles have held their value *quite* well.
 
I had a 214 16v which looked the same as that, a few friends have had bubble shaped ones too all of which have had the same indicators. So its impossible to tell from the look what engine it'll have.

TBH i cant see that its worth £800, its white, low spec, probably 8v, and has tons of miles.

Worth having for free definately! It'll feel pretty damn awful to drive after a ghia x though :)
 
People pay silly money for bubble shape 200's.

My mum paid £1100 for her S reg 8v 214 Si (base spec bleugh) with 25,000 on the clock.

And as I'm sure you know... high miles = not always bad ;)
 
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