Stevie-Sport

iTrader: (4)

Hi guys,
Just found a new car. Owner said it had taken some damage in the first by thugs running over the car. But is was as good as mended. Just needed a lick of paint.

I ran a Vehicle check and it came back as a CAT D. total loss to the insurance company or something.

When i spoke to the guy, they said that the insurance company did pay out, but it wasnt a lot. The repairs were done locally. The current seller doesnt knwo much about the car as it was his friends and he has aquired it as a "debt payment" and as such is still registered to the previous owner.

The car itself looks in good condition and he has the logbook, v5 etc...

How can it be a CAT D write off, if he still has the v5??

scoobynewbie72

iTrader: (1)

There seems to be a bit of a iffy history and story with it, imho id walk away, too many if`s and buts
Their are plenty of straight cars out there to worry about 1.
atb
Brett

Stevie-Sport

iTrader: (4)

Yes it does seem funny that im pretty sure he said that it wasnt a right off because the insurance company paid out. But yet the Check came bac with that.

Im more inclined to believe the check.

Im not that fussed if it has been a CAT D, because its cheap as chips, but i need to know things. I asked him whether or not it had the VIC certificate as it should have one if it has been a CAT D shouldnt it ?

But then we went back to the start of the story where he said that it hadnt been a write off.

cossie-nutter

iTrader: (45)

Walk away matey!

James Neill

iTrader: (1)

If ever there is a reason to walk away, you've already found them all I'd say.

stoneface

iTrader: (6)

Does sound dodgy.
To note a cat d car does not need a vic.

Stevie-Sport

iTrader: (4)

so if the insurance class it as a CAT D? what happenes then? would he still have the V5 etc?

172sport

iTrader: (6)

Walk away, other people will when/if you have to sell it in the future.

Unless its stupid cheap...........

Stevie-Sport

iTrader: (4)

£1200 94 t2000

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

If ever there was a car to walk away from then thats the one. The history is iffy,the seller has acquired the car as payment for a debt and it is registered to someone else. Its cheap for good reason. As has been said already. WALK AWAY.

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

For that money or slightly more, you can have your pick from Autotrader...Plenty of similar aged cars for slightly more. One 66k wagon with FSH for under £1500

need4speeduk

iTrader: (26)

dont listen to these guys and walk away from such a cheap car.

run as fast as you can

172sport

iTrader: (6)

Way too much at that. Walk

Not as if there isnt a credit crunch on atm, there are loads about.

RON

If you like the car, then surely the thing to do is contact the registered keeper, and find out the full story, and also, make sure that he knows his mate is selling it...LOL!!!

Cat D doesn't have to be that serious damge wise, if you considerthe value of the car, it wouldn't take much at-all for the ins co to effectively write it off......
it doesn't mean that it's been bent in half and dodgily repaired or anything..... there are 4 types of categorisation... From memory.
Cat A must be completely destroyed,
Cat B the shell must be destroyed but some of the parts can be reused.
Cat C, less serious damage but can be put back on the road after the appopriate checks...
CatD, even less serious damage, just uneconomical repair as far as the ins co are concerned, and i believe doesn't need any checks to go back on the road.....

Hope that helps...

but, my advice would be to contct the registered keeper, don;t just walk away if you like the car..... if everyone simply walked away from these situations, then half the cars on the road would never get sold!!

Stevie-Sport

iTrader: (4)

Nothing wrong with the car. its a very nice car.

Needs a paint job.

Only thing putting me off is the fact that the story is all over the place.
For e.g the year. he says he loves his cars, but then doesnt know how to find out what year the car is? ?

LUCKO

iTrader: (3)

its not a Catalunya like he says on the link

walk sorry run away

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

All sounds very "iffy" Stevie! I'd not touch a Cat D (C, B or A) with a barge pole ... you just don't know how bad the original damage was. Insurance co declared it a total loss yet the owner says damage was minimal

TX.

Edit - Plus the owner doesn't mention it's Cat D ...

Stevie-Sport

iTrader: (4)

Right just spoken with the owner. Nice guy.
Story is now clear.
No iffiness in it.

There is no chassis damage in a Cat D, so was merely cosmetic. Has now been sorted.

Older cars are more prone to being CAT D anyways because the cost to repair outweighs the value of the car.

Cheers for all the input, my bad. made it sound worse than it probably was.

RON

See, everyone just assumes the worst...... it's not always that bad!!

And lets be honest, if the car is only worth say 2k at best, it would take very little damage to write it off as far as the ins co would be concerned.....

GC8

Id take the ABI categories with a pinch of salt. Ive seen bumped cars with destruction orders and slaughtered cars with a 'C' category. All its really good for is gauging the opinion/reaction of those who think they know what it all means.....

Boro

iTrader: (1)

Cat D aint so bad. But buying a car from someone who ISNT the registered keeper IS. The real owner will receive a letter from DVLA thanking them for telling them he has sold the car. If he doesnt know anything about it, it could get messy.

Eg, someone owes this guy money, he takes car until the debt is paid, debt doesnt get paid, he sells car. Usually loan sharks or drugs dealers but if the owner wants to get funny about it, the seller gets the money and the owner gets his car back. Guess what, you lose out.

Walk away, not cos its CAT D, but because you could open a whole can of worms after about 4 weeks of ownership and lose everything.

Stevie-Sport

iTrader: (4)

yes but the registered user is his buddy and knows the circumstances. You dont need to know the circumstances, but it isnt anything like drug dealers or loan sharks. lol

Besides the point, however, there is such a thing as Third party rights.
Ill spare you the details, however i would have the right to the car. (From a lawyer)

But that isnt the case as the the registered owner is aware and looks like i got myself a bargain.

scooby-tc

iTrader: (2)

Why dont you just buy a legit one with no chequered history? why are you set on this particular car? there are hundreds for sale in your budget

Stevie-Sport

iTrader: (4)

because its a lovely looking car. and no, in my budget there isnt.
Im not fussed it is a cat d tbh as im probably going to run it to the ground anyway then break.

This is a legit one. Nothing dodgy about it now that everything has been cleared up. If your likening legit as "non catagoried", then its because i really cant see any difference between this one and any other one.
Some people have Knocks and bashes, but dont tell the insurance company and fix it themselves. The only difference here is that the seller didnt.
You wouldnt have a clue if someone had a bash and fixed it themselves then sold it to you.

Boro

iTrader: (1)

As long as your happy then go for it. You have obviously made the decision to buy so good luck with it

Scoobydudey

iTrader: (4)

The relevance is the cars worth cat D cars are all over ebay and everywhare else for sale however not all sellers are stating what they are, ive seen adverts that say Cat D alarm and immobiliser thus intimating that the alarm is a cat d this is legal and completly above board there is no legal obligation to tell the buyer that the car is a cat D
cat D is the lightest of the catagories and is normally only panel or paint damage in which case Id have and have had no problems buying and driving Cat D Cars, ive recently bought my Neice a Cat D Ford KA its mint done 3K miles ive checked out the previous damage which was headlights bumper and bonnet the car is great and was over £2500 cheaper than it should be, my advise is dont worry too much about cat D cars if you can inspect the work thats been done watch who you are buying it from and make sure its not a ringer which is more of a problem than buying a car thats had some minor damage

Stevie-Sport

iTrader: (4)

Thanks guys.. Was good to hear the pros and cons...

Decided to go with it..

Really nice car. Going for an MOT on Friday, then hopefully ill collect her then.

My first Scoob tubby