Buying a CAT C/S/D car

Beery

Beery

Striker
Worth it or avoid?

Looking on Auto Trader for youngest lads first car and some bargains but I know nothing about cars.

I have another son if this influences your answers;)
 


Beery said:
Worth it or avoid?

Looking on Auto Trader for youngest lads first car and some bargains but I know nothing about cars.

I have another son if this influences your answers;)
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Mine was written off last week.

They offered me £3730 as settlement, which is fantastic as everyone I spoke to guessed at £2500

I wanted to buy it back, and was advised to pay no more than £700, but they wanted £1007.10

Funnily enough this is exactly 27% of the valuation, but they said it was the amount they would get at auction; yeah right.

I'm telling them to stick it today and to settle on the £3730

It's a shame, cos I love that car :(
 
As long as it’s been fixed properly, from a reputable garage with evidence I personally don’t see an issue.

As long as you’re prepared to run it into the ground also, as resale may be difficult.

I’ve considered it myself for a cheap run about, and now that I work from home once my current lease runs out I will be looking at a cheap runabout again and will be looking at damaged/repaired.
 
Beery said:
Worth it or avoid?

Looking on Auto Trader for youngest lads first car and some bargains but I know nothing about cars.

I have another son if this influences your answers;)
Click to expand...

It depends on the car but the fact you don't know much about cars I'd avoid it. I've repaired a few myself, but I would be highly dubious of other repair jobs. You don't know what corners have been cut. At a minimum, I would want photos of the damage, receipts for the replacement parts and the work to be done by a reputable garage.
 
TheWanderer said:
As long as it’s been fixed properly, from a reputable garage with evidence I personally don’t see an issue.

As long as you’re prepared to run it into the ground also, as resale may be difficult.

I’ve considered it myself for a cheap run about, and now that I work from home once my current lease runs out I will be looking at a cheap runabout again and will be looking at damaged/repaired.
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yeah I was thinking that - c.£4k and he'd have for 2/3 years and then I'd have it till it falls apart
 
Beery said:
yeah I was thinking that - c.£4k and he'd have for 2/3 years and then I'd have it till it falls apart
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Go for it then.

Ask what the damage was, use your intuition. If it seems dodgy walk away.

Look for uneven tyre wear, all door, boot and bonnet closes for gap, make sure it’s the same all the way round. Smell / look for signs of water ingress or damp. Test drive and make sure it drives straight (give for camber of road) at slowish speeds with hands off wheel. Check for knocks, rattles and high speed vibrations.
 
Goat Eyes said:
Go for it then.

Ask what the damage was, use your intuition. If it seems dodgy walk away.

Look for uneven tyre wear, all door, boot and bonnet closes for gap, make sure it’s the same all the way round. Smell / look for signs of water ingress or damp. Test drive and make sure it drives straight (give for camber of road) at slowish speeds with hands off wheel. Check for knocks, rattles and high speed vibrations.
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great advice - thanks
 
Goat Eyes said:
Go for it then.

Ask what the damage was, use your intuition. If it seems dodgy walk away.

Look for uneven tyre wear, all door, boot and bonnet closes for gap, make sure it’s the same all the way round. Smell / look for signs of water ingress or damp. Test drive and make sure it drives straight (give for camber of road) at slowish speeds with hands off wheel. Check for knocks, rattles and high speed vibrations.
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To add to this I always get the engine warmed up a little, then on a quiet bit of road slow down to about 10mph then floor it, make sure it pulled straight, when you happy slam the brakes on to make sure it brakes straight too. But I do that regardless of the car I'm buying.
 
anth said:
To add to this I always get the engine warmed up a little, then on a quiet bit of road slow down to about 10mph then floor it, make sure it pulled straight, when you happy slam the brakes on to make sure it brakes straight too. But I do that regardless of the car I'm buying.
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Well said.
 
if the youngun should write it off at some point be prepared for the insurance company to knock ~20% off their offer if its a previous Cat..

that was the first time i actually found out that i'd owned a car with previous
 
Cat C/S are the same thing. Structural damage, I'd leave well alone.

Cat D (or N) is cosmetic damage, usually deemed too expensive to repair based on the car's worth. I'd still be weary like.
 
Bad experience for me. But I bought it unrepaired, newish Celica. Even though I got huge discount on parts it ended dearer than a new motor n a pig to sell on.

Mate done similar n found previous owners detailed. Requested service history from him but he was distraught as he had nearly died in it.

Dont think I’ll re-dabble. When I bought latest car there was a cat d at about 80% of the cost. Reckon they should be nearer 50 imo.

If you go for it maybe drop an expert £100 for a thorough check.
 
I've bought a few CAT D's in my time and they've been no problem and I obviously got them cheaper. I just make sure I tell my insurance company though Esure just told me as long as it's in roadworthy condition it's fine so basically has it's MOT etc.

I think cars advertised on Autotrader tell you if they're cat C/D/S/N etc as it forces you to put a reg in. This is a canny feature if you're looking at cars elsewhere such as Gumtree and ebay that may not tell you. You just go to Autotrader and go to sell a car by hoying the reg in and then getting it to show you the car details page. You then click NEXT STEP and it shows you whether that car has been a right off on the right hand side as shown in the example below.

Logon or register to see this image
 
The car i drive now is a cat d and is spot on, £2000 cheaper than what i would have paid normally as well. Insurance wasn't any higher, only thing affected is the sell on price.
 
Are you looking at a certain type of car? As loads of used cars about nowadays and well looked after in a lot of cases. Obviously doing the usual checks.
 
japs said:
Are you looking at a certain type of car? As loads of used cars about nowadays and well looked after in a lot of cases. Obviously doing the usual checks.
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He's ideally after a Golf.
He can get insurance for around £2.4k (only:eek::cry:) which he can afford - so looking at £4k on a car which I'll pay for then he just needs to pay insurance for a couple of years till he wants a new one and can get cheaper insurance.

Beery said:
He's ideally after a Golf.
He can get insurance for around £2.4k (only:eek::cry:) which he can afford - so looking at £4k on a car which I'll pay for then he just needs to pay insurance for a couple of years till he wants a new one and can get cheaper insurance.
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*that's without a black box as he will be driving all hours and like a typical 17 year old
 
JAZZMANB said:
Have to declare to insurance and to any future buyers
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You don't have to declare to buyers do you? Trade sellers do but if you're selling privately I don't think you do.

Mind, it's easy enough to check so you might as well be up front about it.

I sold on a cat C once that the seller hadn't told me about. Was cheap as owt so I didn't bothered checking. He handed me a bunch of documents with the car, including a check from the AA or something that said it was a cat C. Pulled him up on it but he pretended he hadn't seen. When I got it home I realised the bonnet was off a different coloured car and looked like it had been resprayed from a can :lol: .

Two cars I've bought and noticed all kinds after. Shite at checking them.
 
Kevsgreat said:
You don't have to declare to buyers do you? Trade sellers do but if you're selling privately I don't think you do.

Mind, it's easy enough to check so you might as well be up front about it.

I sold on a cat C once that the seller hadn't told me about. Was cheap as owt so I didn't bothered checking. He handed me a bunch of documents with the car, including a check from the AA or something that said it was a cat C. Pulled him up on it but he pretended he hadn't seen. When I got it home I realised the bonnet was off a different coloured car and looked like it had been resprayed from a can :lol: .

Two cars I've bought and noticed all kinds after. Shite at checking them.
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It is printed on the car logbook now if it has been a writeoff. You can also do a basic hpj for £3 on your phone via text.
 

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