Would you buy a Cat C car ...

[Soot2006]

Fully refinished by a licenced mechanic (& being sold as trade). T-reg, only 6000 miles on the clock, 1 previous owner: little old lady who banged the car into everything and anything on her shopping trips until finally writing it off by reversing it into something at high speed.

Brand new MOT no advisory .....

[divadee]

whats the price?

[Keith]

Service History?

[Soot2006]

whats the price?Not yet sure! I think they want £1.5K, but don't know what to offer. It's a Micra Inspiration.

Service History?Fully serviced until the final bump (yearly service by Nissan garage + new brake disks & pads a few years ago). You can't tell from the outside that it's been bumped around other than scratched hubcaps that have not been replaced and a slight dent on passenger side door (looks like it's been opened into a lamp post or something). The inside is absolutely impeccable. Engine very quiet & feels very nice to drive. I've only ever had automatics until now so was pleased that car has a high tolerance for rubbish drivers ;).

[iltisman]

licenced mechanic ?

[Hintza]

T Reg 1999. Even if it wasn't CAT C then not a lot. Under £1,000 even if not Cat C to be honest at this age the CAT C will hardly matter because once you have driven it for a year or so it will be virtually worthless anyway.

If you are happy with it make him an offer. What is he wanting?

[Soot2006]

licenced mechanic ?

I meant a "real" mechanic ;) .. i.e. family business that is well known and highly spoken of around town, part of the Good Garage scheme, etc ...

I do like the car but I understand what you say about age, value, etc ... I think he wants too much for it, but I don't know what would be a sensible offer.

(PS I have looked at loads of dud cars in the last few weeks. This one sounds on paper like the biggest dud of all, but I have a much better gut feeling about it)

[iltisman]

If she kept driving into things she probably drove into the kerb plenty of times which wont have helped the suspension and steering.I have been driven by old folk and been horrified by their use of the clutch to control speed.

[cheap plastic spoon]

:rotfl: Only 6000 miles and new pads/discs!!! must have been a trackday car then.Are cat c cars difficult to insure?Sold as 'trade' so no consumer protection then?

[dacouch]

Remember at the moment it is definantely a buyers market! Offer what you want to pay and then leave the ball in their court. I would be very surprised if they do not accept your offer if its reasonable, failing that they will probably come back with an amount they are happy with which hopefully you are.

A low mileage on a car is not always a good sign as short infrequent trips are not great for a car as the engine is often on the choke for the whole trip and does not warm up correctly.

[Hintza]

:rotfl: Only 6000 miles and new pads/discs!!! must have been a trackday car then.Are cat c cars difficult to insure?Sold as 'trade' so no consumer protection then?

These discs are having so little use they will be corroding away.

[Soot2006]

Ok guys,
Thanks for your help! A lot to go by and very useful advice :).
I think I do want the car if I can get it for cheaps. I only do local driving so it sounds like it's the kind of robust little thing I need. Life has been hard since my Clio blew up (very expensive, fully serviced, no red flags, flew past all its MOTs for 2 years and then wrote itself off)!

[flutterbyuk25]

You will also need to take it to VOSA to undergo a VIC test unless the mechanic has done this for you. Costs around £38.

Car will probably not have a logbook (unless the VIC has been done) and these should be destroyed by insurance compnay when they write it off as Cat C.

Without logbook you cannot tax it.

So will need to do VIC test first then you can apply to tax it and get logbook (free of charge) at local DVLA office, with insurance and MOT certificate. Or have VIC then post off for logbook on V62 form and wait 2-3 weeks for it to come back and then tax at Post Office.

HTH

x

[Hintza]

You will also need to take it to VOSA to undergo a VIC test unless the mechanic has done this for you. Costs around £38.



I would be assuming that all this had already been done and it was now fully road worthy and ready to go.

My one comment would be that if the guy had bothered spending the money on it (and you trust him) then he might have felt it was worth doing up.

OP if you feel it's right then it most probably is. How is the exhaust? That will be rotting from the inside out with such low mileage unless it's been replaced?

[kitchpoo]

I would suggest lokoing on the V5 and contacting the 'little old lady', just to verify the legitimacy and how hard a knock it was.

[Hintza]

I would suggest lokoing on the V5 and contacting the 'little old lady', just to verify the legitimacy and how hard a knock it was.


She probably deid......;)

[Soot2006]

Had another look!

Log book currently in mechanic's name with an "identity check" from VOSA noted on 22/02. MOT about a week or so after that. We drove around for 20 minutes and it's a comfy & easy drive ...

Did get the contact details of little old lady ;) Local "quiet residence" -- not far from me so might pop in (though in my experience, I might be forced to stay for several hours of chat with tea and cake).

I do feel its a genuine sale; i.e. the garage are well known around here and would probably not want to have bad publicity. I only need a runaround car that's cheap to maintain, so this looks promising. I feel quite good about it, which is rare for me & cars!

Have made an offer but he said he had someone else interested (don't worry I won't fall for that! My offer was final ... ish) ... so will call back.

[overlander]

You can pick a nice T plate up at the market with reasonable miles for about £500 possibly less. To be honest do not let the miles sway you low mileage cars can be more bother than mid mileage cars. But that aside lets be honest a cat C T plate micra really is verging on scrap so i would say no more that £300.

Just checked my last few weeks auction notes, a few 2000 45,000-50,000 went for 450 and 575 both one owner and looked very tidy. I could look back more if you want but at a quick glance you really would be mad to pay more than £500

[harveybobbles]

I'll sell you a 51 plate Clio 1.2 16v Dynamique 3 door in black for 1800 thats done 80,000 miles by two owners and FSH and full MOT and isnt on any hit list.

As for the "buyers market" commenst that are appearing on here then it's far from it!! Us lot in the trade are desperate for stuff so most dealers are paying well over the odds for stuff.

Was at a BMW sale today at BCA and there was a 525d Sport with leather and nav that sold for 2000 more than waht I'd just retailed one for...

[goldspanners]

I'll sell you a 51 plate Clio 1.2 16v Dynamique 3 door in black for 1800 thats done 80,000 miles by two owners and FSH and full MOT and isnt on any hit list.

As for the "buyers market" commenst that are appearing on here then it's far from it!! Us lot in the trade are desperate for stuff so most dealers are paying well over the odds for stuff.

Was at a BMW sale today at BCA and there was a 525d Sport with leather and nav that sold for 2000 more than waht I'd just retailed one for...

is it definatly traders buying or is it members of the public who are going to auctions trying to cut out the middle man?

[Inactive]

Have made an offer but he said he had someone else interested (don't worry I won't fall for that! My offer was final ... ish) ... so will call back.

Get it bought, where do you find another 6000 mile car like that from a reputable dealer?, ignore all of the so called valuations from the experts on here, a car is worth what it is worth to you.

I am sure you will have good reliable service from this little car.

Good luck.

[harveybobbles]

I think it's a lot of private folk who think that "its cheap cos it's at the auction". Which is rather amusing to watch lol.

[harveybobbles]

Get it bought, where do you find another 6000 mile car like that from a reputable dealer?, ignore all of the so called valuations from the experts on here, a car is worth what it is worth to you.

I am sure you will have good reliable service from this little car.

Good luck.

If there were two identical cars infront of me, both same model, age, colour, one with 6000 miles and one with 60,000 miles. Id choose the higher mileage one as the engine will have less running time under it's belt and generally less worn than the lower mileage one.

[Soot2006]

I'll sell you a 51 plate Clio 1.2 16v Dynamique 3 door in black for 1800 thats done 80,000 miles by two owners and FSH and full MOT and isnt on any hit list..

Much as I'd love a Clio, that's about double my budget ;) ... And my beloved Clio died at 75,000 for no reason at all other than it must have hated life. The pain is still too raw ;)!

[Inactive]

If there were two identical cars infront of me, both same model, age, colour, one with 6000 miles and one with 60,000 miles. Id choose the higher mileage one as the engine will have less running time under it's belt and generally less worn than the lower mileage one.


You would, I wouldn't.;)