Frosticles

iTrader: (1)

Recorded on a Cat C. 2005 BMW X5 3.0D Sport Estoril blue. Fully loaded with everything inc Panoramic roof. 66k FSH etc
Had minor flood damage to the rear end which took out the ECU. Repaired by BMW and VIC certificate. Very good friend has this and he is fastidious with his cars. He has owned it for 16 months with no problems other that routine servicing.
Basically a 16-18k car but with the Cat C he wants 9k for it.

Opinions please

njkmrs

If you plan to keep it for a while ,then why not .Previous owner has kept it a while so it should be OK.

You wont lose much on it per year at that price if you keep it for a few years.
Fill your Boots .!! But not with water .!!

Andy M3

I was going to say exactly the same 3-5 year ownership should be fine. A year or 2 you might lose £4k+

Reffro

[QUOTE=Frosticles;10046995] Had minor flood damage to the rear end which took out the ECU.[/QUOTE

If the car was Cat C then the damage was not minor, and certainly not confined to a £1k ECU. Tread very carefully.

Read the description below and compare that with what you are being told. the cost of repair would have had to exceed the £18k value he puts on similar cars!!

'Category C Insurance Write Off – the vehicle is repairable but the parts and labour would exceed the value of the car. This is a tricky situation as there are plenty of amateur and professional mechanics who could use second hand parts to repair these vehicles at much lower prices than the list costs for parts and labour. Discuss this with your insurance company if you want to keep the car rather than have it written off.'

Also a VIC check is performed to confirm the identity of the car, not the quality of repair, so you may want to have the condition of the car properly assessed.

Frosticles

iTrader: (1)

Is there any way of checking exactly what has happened to it?

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

If it was repaired at BMW, then that would be my starting point.
I may be cynical, however every Cat C or D i ever see declared as such when for sale, only had minor damage.
If in doubt, walk away. In my 44 years, I've found that things are generally cheap for a reason, and similarly you get what you pay for.
It will always be a Cat C, you will face similar cynicism when you sell it. Bob

The Dogs B******s

I've read some bullsh*t on here over the years,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,you're never 44

zip106

http://media.bigoo.ws/content/gif/pe...peoples_27.gif

The Zohan

Also speak to your insurance company to see if they will insure it or if there is a premium due to the cat c status. be prepared to have a struggle to sell on as well and for only pocket money. Chances are you will not be selling onto a mate

Also i have never seen a cat C described as anything other than minor damage yet if you read the description of a cat c it is not the case unless it was a very 'cheap' car in the first place which a couple of year old X5 is not. I am not saying you friend is lying, he is probably relaying what he was told by the seller.

Category C
An extensively damaged vehicle which the insurer has decided not to repair, but which could be repaired and returned to the road.


Now bare in mind the X5 was worth around £20k(approx.) 2 years ago when written off and the insurance company did not find it economic to repair - alarm bells should be ringing and checking out exactly what was done to put it back on the road.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I have to admit Cat C on a car with minor water damage seems very odd. Not saying you freind is telling porkies maybe he purchased the car off a repairer who lied to him and played down the work done to the car. The fact the ECU and BCU lives under the bonnet in a water tight box doesn't bode well either...unlike the A/V and ICE system, suspension system, ultrasonic controllers, aerial amps, explosive battery de-coupler and various other bits and bobs that live in the boot area.

We have repaired flood damaged cars before on insurance....This was a water damaged BMW 318Ci....it was PASSED FOR REPAIR! (therefore HPI clear)...

Here's a few shots of the engine damage (he drove into floodwater before getting stranded in the middle when the engine died..bottom pic shows the bent valves)






Engine was rebuilt, diff was replaced, Various control units replaced, entire interior stripped out dried out and cleaned. Gearbox inspected, bodywork damage repaired (bonnet, grille radiator). Put it this way, the car was worth £13K at best. So imagine what kind of cost would be required to write off cat C car worth alot more than that pre-accident!

The only exception is if the original owner refused to accept the car back, in which case it'll be a write off. But if that were the case, it should be cat D. Not C.

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

I work out.....................

The Dogs B******s

The Zohan

He'll be asking you for a date soon, watch TDB like a hawk, if he drops anything, always let him pick it up or it could be "Who's you daddy time"!

Ian

iTrader: (10)

lol, i heard there was this bloke/girl called paulahabknob or something like that, and he had to change his user name as TDB was stalking him

The Zohan

I had to change my username as your mother and sister where stalking me after i rode them booth senseless and left them sweaty, extremely satisfied and stuck to the bed with gallons of my man-mayo. those two scrubbers would not leave me alone, kept leaving me reminders, heres a pic of what your mum left me last time i parked up