markward

As above going to see a car tmz with just broken suspension and dent wing bonnet and bumper will this car have to be tested after the repairs plz help asap as im going to view tmz afternoon



many thanks mark

Stephb1986

i think it might be a vic test but dont quote me on it as my car was cat c and was a write off and at a total loss.
i went on ask and looked for you here you go this is what i found
hope it helps

In brief categories D and C are deemed, uneconomical to repair. These are cars which have been involved in a major car accident and are simply uneconomical for an insurance company to repair, or have been deemed a write-off by an insurance company to minimise hire car charges.

Scoobyslammed

Cat D just requires the repairs... and a fresh MOT... Tax and so on...

Cat C requires the above plus the VIC for £34 or £36 quid...

terryb

I think you'll find that the car will be devalued in the eyes of the insurance company. So if you buy one then have to make a subsequent claim (total loss) you may find that you don't get the full value of the car - and possibly even considerably less than you paid for it. Speak to an insurance company before you commit to buying.

Scoobybits

Not true ,keep purchase recipts and repair costs (photo's before and after?)etc you can never hope for top book but you will not loose money insure it for a realistic amount.
Cat d just needs fresh mot only cat c sometimes need vic check.
Hope hat helps.

markward

brought the car today with damage as described . cant beleive it all that is wrong is that the wing got little dink in it 2 dents on roof wheel been refurbed from kurb damage and wing mirror broken?????



how can insurance write a car of just for this little damage spoke to the mans insurance before goiving him any funds cat d as he said and plus i did hpi came up cat d ....

Thanks for all your help lads

EVOLUTION

how much was it????


and what was it???


bearing in mind that 2 weeks in a hire car is going to be the best part of £1500, cpouple that to the cost of repair, compare that to a low value car to start with and its easy to see how cars are written off when you look at it like that.


Oh, any hassle with IC payouts on a total loss will be almost certain.


I bought a cat D with very little damage, suspension, tailgate and wheels. car was mint before, and mint after, till i wrote it off.

They tried to give me 60% of the value. BUT, as they were told it was a CAT D before the policy was taken out, they didnt adjust the premium by 40%. So they never had a leg to stand on. But a fight i will garrentee you will have mate should the worst happen.


Come to sell it, expect to price the car at 75% or lower than that of a straight one. There are so many to choose from these days that i wouldnt even entertain the thought of a bent one now


john

Hepy

How do you know if a car is cat D? Does it tell you on the V5?

mart360

£1500 and the rest...

when the scoob got clouted last year, the car hire for 1 month was almost 2.5k

well it was a merc c class kompressor they gave me


mart

EVOLUTION

My god, well its ok for some eh. im only 24 and i have to beg for a hire car. SUBARU ASSIST dont cater for the young drivers among us. I get fiesta's and 1ltr polos


john

M1BJR

Not at present.
I'm not 100% but there may be something available to the MOT testers now regarding write-offs, perhaps so they know what they are dealing with? Anyone advise on this?

If you do the normal HPI search it will be shown as an insurance total loss, and catagorised.

If the work was completed to the CAT D car and then it's simply put back on the road, then the HPI check will also flag up the fact that the vehical is suspect. If the vehical then had an independant engineers inspection VIC done and passed as satisfactory, this will then also be recorded and show on the HPI search paperwork. Obviously a safer and better buy.

There is no legal requirement for a seller to disclose the car as a CAT D write off, the onus is on the buyer to check this, so do those checks!

M1BJR

I wouldn't get too excited, it takes more damage than that to write off a car.
Insurance assesors are very shrewd, and no doubt know a lot more about vehical repair than you.

You said the suspension was broken and one wheel has been repaired.
This kind of impact, often from mounting a kerb, can easily skew the body shell out of shape. It's far more damaging than a straight moderate frontal.

You also mentioned damage to the roof. An impact with a kerb as described will often cause the shell to twist, deforming the roof which is a structural part.

If this car has not been on a professional body jig and checked or realigned, then don't go near it. It could be a deathtrap.

Also, corner bangs often do not trigger SRS. Sometimes the car will be a write off mainly because the airbags are set off. It costs several thousand pounds to replace the SRS airbag system in a Ford Cougar for example (the dash is destroyed for one thing) and most sensors are single use etc.

If this car had SRS then check its all there and working, ie AIRBAG light comes up and extinguishes as expected. Does it have the correct steering wheel and seatbelts? Often the cost of SRS repair is so high, the cowboys will fit a non SRS steering wheel and just yank the airbag lamp out of the dash!

Has the windscreen been replaced? A good indication of shell distortion is a cracked windscreen.

Be aware, be safe. I have dealt in vehical repair and still have a vested interest in a bodyshop. I even still own a CATD car myself. okay if repaired PROPERLY. And properly ALWAYS means going on an alignment jig after a bang like that.

Steve.

markward

The car was checked buy insurance company not needing no jigging at all..

dinks on roof are from a totally different matter..

i have had this car on ramps and it is fine so i think like people have said it was wrote of because buy the time its repaired to originall condition 40 pound per hour labour costs parts ect ect it would not be worth it i drive it now not a problem steering fine shocks springs all fine


many thanks for all your help lads /////


ps told the insurance company it was cat d on the register and what would happen if god forbid it got stolen they said would replace the car as it is ..ie l reg subaru wrx 70 k ect ect

Ray_li

how many Subarus have you had?

M1BJR

The only way to tell if it needed alignment, is to align it.

The fact you made enquires on here suggests you have little or no knowledge of crash repair, the grading or the insurance system. You also seemed in a big hurry to part with your hard earned. This would make you an easy target for an unscrupulous repairer. Who is the garage performing the work? Are they at least a voluntary member of the VBRA? If the repair is professionally done then you should have absolutely no problem in getting it inspected and approved. This will help cover you in event of a claim, and provide peace of mind. You also mentioned dialogue with the insurance company. This is unusual, if they wrote the vehical off, they can tell you exactly why and what damage was found at the point of inspection.

I guarantee suspension damage would require at least an inspection of the alignment.

As the other poster suggests, unless you are very familiar with the drive, you won't often notice a strange one until it's too late (when being pushed to the limit?). There is more to a suspension repair than just bolting on a new strut and filling the rim. AWD cars are extremely finicky about wheel alignment, and may not be immediately apparent to the novice or those unfamiliar with the chassis.

Incidently, insurers can tell you anything they like, when it comes down to making a claim it's going to be a different ballgame. Unless in writing, it means nothing, nada, zip.

Hey, at the end of the day it's your cash, and you may well have found a bargain. But sometimes we get blinkered by our enthusiasm and often don't wish to see what is staring us in the face.

Steve.