Steptoe

My cousin is after a mini cooper and has seen one at a salvage yard which she has taken a shine to.
Its on a 06 plate with side damage(needs door,rear 1/4 panel,rear bumper and drivers seat as airbag gone off).They want ,IIRC, about £6000 for it.Her boyfriends dad says he knows someone who can sort it all out for about £2000.
Any opinions anyone? Worth it or steer clear?

Dracoro

1stly, assume the worst, so at least £4k minimum to fix(if it was £2k of damage, then it wouldn't have been written off - I guess there's a report of what the damage was that was given to the ins co). So total £10k. How much are they worth (not retail of course, write offs are worth, typically 25/30% less. They're not rare cars so most punters will opt for a non-written off one so have to price accordingly. Realistically, your cousin will probably sell in a few years or less so it has to be a factor. Even if priced well, it will be hard to sell on, no matter what the damage, the fact that is was a Cat D (or C) WILL put most buyers off.

A quick look at Pheads and AT show 06 Cooper S at around £13k or so so a Cat D would prob fetch around £9-£10k so I doubt your cousin will make much money on it.

There are deals to be had however, but the key to it is research, followed by more research and having someone who can do the work at a reasonable rate.

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

I would be very reluctant to buy a Cat D car even at half the price of a normal one. I feel they are written off for a reason and I wouldn't be willing to risk the safety of my family to save a few quid. Top Gear or 5th crashed two identical cars into each other, one a repair job the other standard. The repair didn't come out of it well at all. I'd steer clear.

Dracoro

Some (not many mind) Cat D's aren't written off 'purely' on damage cost. There's also the cost of hire car etc while car is being mended. However, on something like a mini, parts aren't hard to get hold of, I doubt the wait time will be that great. There a LOT of hire car time that would need to come into affect. A months car rental is only going to be about £1k or so.

Sellers of not-yet-fixed cat d cars nearly ALWAYS UNDERESTIMATE the damage (gets them the sale you see ).

robby

i had a cooper (02 plate) last year which after 4 days was hit head on (both travelling at @20mph - 93yo drivers fault)
To look at the damage i thought dentmaster could sort out the bodywork as it was a small V in bonnet, crease in grille, V in bumper and drivers/ pass airbags went off.
The bodyshop fixed it up through insurance at just under £5000 !!!!!!!! and this wasn't on the register?
So if a 2002 car cost £5k for repairs and the 2006 car is an insurance loss then i guess it'll cost a lot more to fix that 1

Steptoe

Thanks all,ill speak to her later on and pass on the comments.I did think it was on the cheap side considering the age and "only" needing a door and quarter panel.

gingerflyer

have you looked underneath,

is there damage to rear wheel, could be bent subframe to body,

Steptoe

I havent seen the car personally,just going on what my cuz told me,i asked her about damage underneath but being the girly she is then she wouldn't have got on her hands and knees to check!! It crossed my mind about it maybe having chassis/boot floor damage.Might go for a look myself.Its at Simpson Salvage near york and should be on their site if anyone wants a look....Black 06 plate with silver stripes(could be a 56,not sure).As far as im aware though its just cosmetic.

Dracoro

As I say, if it was really 'minor' damage, it wouldn't have been written off. You need to find out the real reason for writing it off before making a judgement call.

It's a £13k car, to be written off, the damage & expenses, typically, needs to be in the £9k area. So £1k for hire car, that leaves £8k of damage. I doubt very much if you could fix it for £2k.

Like I say, maybe there's other extenuating circumstances, but you need to do the research.

tonybooth

Do your homework and source/cost parts before buying any written off motor. By buying right and selling right it is posssible to run write off's for virtually nothing - especially if you can do most/all of the work yourself or with friends.

I run quite a few write off's as company cars and it is still the most cost effective way of running a car from a TCO standpoint as long as you know what you are doing.

The price of salvage though continues to rise as quite a few Polish types are shipping salvage back home either to convert to LHD or for spares - Used car prices in Poland are really high compared to UK.

There is always someone who will buy a repaired salvage car usually based on what they are getting for their money e.g.

Buy a Fiat Punto or buy Mini Cooper for the same money - Its all relative.

T

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Steptoe

Holy sh*t! Thats the first time ive seen it,christ thats well fooked,bit more than a bit of panel work!

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Check out their website

Simpson Salvage :: York ::

exvaux

iTrader: (1)

if the cost is 1/3 of the value of the car then an insurance co will write a car off i know this as i had an argument with a hedge,the assessor said write off but new bumper fogs rad and slam panel car was back as new @1100 quid for a 99 V5 typeR.Insurance always use manufacturers prices for parts as well.