Would you always avoid a CAT D?

Soldato
Joined
1 Dec 2011
Posts
21,370
Location
SW3
If the repair has been done to a very high standard and as long as you add warranty to the car, is there any reason not to buy a CAT D if the car is ok?

Is it much of a difference trying to get insured on a CAT D car?
 
If it was cheap and i planned to keep the car for 5 years or more, then yes i would buy a CAT D.
 
Would depend on price & how long I thought I'd keep it. If cheap & I was keeping it then Yes CAT D is fine by me.
 
Depends what it is. Boggo car, no thanks.
Reselling might be a pain too.

Cat D on a new car could mean big shunt.
Cat D when it's already old can be something quite minor.

What are you looking at?
 
Last edited:
Had a cat D, very cheap, ran it into the ground. It was a bodge job repair. But who cares. a lot of car for the money and even after running it into the ground for a few years still only lost a couple of hundred on it.
 
Provided it was cheap enough and not badly bodged I wouldn't worry about Cat D or Cat C on an older/low value car because the damage is unlikely to be significant. There are a huge amount of cars without Cat C/D markers that have suffered from far worse damage that have been repaired outside insurance.

I'd be very hesitant to buy a newish/high value car that had been written off however, unless the savings were good and I had details of the damage that caused the total loss.
 
The main issue with Cat D is resale, because, as demonstrated with this thread, people are wary about them. If you want a car to just run in to the ground, cat D makes perfect sense.
 
My bike was cat D written off after I was knocked off it why? cause it was only worth 1500 and the cost to replace the end can and plastic panel outweighed the value, I was given it back by the insurance stripped it back slapped a couple new leavers and can on it turning it into a street racer style. Bike was perfect but cause there was 500 quid of panels to replace plus a 200 quid can they wrote it off
 
I wouldn't necessarily avoid a cat D assuming its priced accordingly but it would need inspecting properly, depending on the car it could have just been a light and a bumper that wrote it off!
Warranty is personal choice but remember that anything related to crash damage new or old will not be covered!
 
Cheers, just wanted some reassurance about them, as some people I've spoken to say always avoid them.

Im still looking at the BMW 3 Series, just undecided which model to go for.

My budget won't stretch to a 335i i don't think unless it was a CAT D or mega high mileage.
 
If your budget won't stretch to a non categorized 335d then you're probably not allowing for running costs and maintenance too.

Get something cheaper or increase your budget.
 
Last edited:
Cheers, just wanted some reassurance about them, as some people I've spoken to say always avoid them.

Im still looking at the BMW 3 Series, just undecided which model to go for.

My budget won't stretch to a 335i i don't think unless it was a CAT D or mega high mileage.

Something like a 335i is going to have had a fair bit of damage done to get written off in all likelihood, that's not the sort of value that gets written off for a cracked bumper and broken light.
 
As said above, it depends on if you are to run it into the ground or not. If not, it might be a pig to sell. I would only get one to run to death personally, but I see no real problems with a CAT D on a relatively old motor. Assuming it was done while the motor was old.

I have heard, from a work acquaintance though, of someone who had an accident in a previous CAT D vehicle, and the insurance wouldn't pay out on the car (third party was okay), because it had already been paid out on. Not sure how much I believe that mind.
 
Back
Top Bottom