Buying a category C damaged repairable car

psarinuk

Hi,

I am planning to buy a category C car (Renault clio 5 door hatchback) but neither myself nor the owner are sure about anything that we should be careful or mindful about.

Basically the car has had damage to both near-side doors but there is no chassis damage and the car starts and drives. There is valid MOT and road tax on the car.

The owner has the log book but he says the engineer when recording the damage classed it as cat C, so he is not sure whether he can sell it on and use his log book "slip" for the new owner (myself).

He thinks DVLA might be sending him a new logbook with the damage mentioned on it and the car would need further inspection when the damage is repaired.

The car is only a few miles from where I live and like I said is driveable at the moment. Its even parked on public road.

Can I buy this car and drive it home to give it to my local body yard for repairs?

Can we use the current log book and a little receipt to go along signed by both to prove the sale?

What else would I need to do like inform DVLA, declare anything to my insurance etc?

Would the car need inspection by DVLA and how/ when do I need to arrange that?

Thanks for your help in advance...

1984ReturnsForReal_2

"so he is not sure whether he can sell it on and use his log book "slip" for the new owner (myself)."

That depends on who owns the car now. It might be owned by the insurance company.

Stay away until this is resolved.

GT60

If it is a cat "C" write off the insurance company will be the owner and they useally have agents (contract salvage people) who sell the car on NOT the previous owner.
The insurance company deal with contract savage people who will be collecting the car off the current owner when told to do so.
The log book will have to be reapplyed for by the new owner (you) and it will need a new mot and tax as the old one's will be retained by the insurance company.

As for an inspection by VI that is hit and miss and depends on how bad the damage is.

What are the door piller's like?
If you are not repairing the car yourself it will not be worth buying by the time you have added all the cost's.

Be carefull when insuring it as it will be down as a write off and sometimes it cost a bit more to insure, i have never told the insurance when i have insured write off's in the past.

Treadway1

The car wont necessarily belong to the insurance company if the owner (The guy youve been speking to) has paid them to keep the salvage of it. i.e. He has an accident, the insurance company write it off and pay him out what the car is now worth, and he pays back an amount of money to keep the car. The insurance companies prefer this as they then dont have the hassle of arranging for it to be removed, and sold. Although, to be honest, the guy should obviously know this if he has paid to keep it.

This happened to me a while ago. I bought a motorbike for £1100, and a week later had an accident (Not my fault.. ) which wrote it off (Cat C). Because I had only bought the bike a week previous, the insurers gave me the full £1100 minus £100 to keep the salavge of the bike.

As for insurance, when I had my accident, I just kept the policy runing whilst i fixed the bike back up, and the insurance company didnt even want to change it when I had had it Re-MOT'd. Obviously they knew the full situation though, and it would be a different circumstance for you as a new insurance company wouldnt know about this until you told them. The point Im making though, is that as long as the bike had ben MOT'd, then the insurance company were happy.

With regards the log book, Im a bit confused as to why he wouldnt have it. If he had bought the salavage back from the insurance company then he should still have the full V5, but if he hadnt then he would be expected to send it off to the DVLA noting the new keeper as the insurance company. It does seem alittle iffy to be honest. Maybe a call to the DVLA is in order to ask their opinion.

As far as Im aware, there is no section in the log book stating what damage the car has had, so I dont know where he is getting that idea from. Unless any major thing like the engine had been changed, menaing you would need to update the V5 with the new engine number, or spraing it a new colour, I cant see why the V5 would mention it. There is no mention of mt bike being written off in its log book.

Personally, Id stay away from this one, unless you can speak with the DVLA who put your mind at ease.

Best of luck though.

dacouch

He probably does not have the log book as the Insurance Company would have sent it back to the DVLA for them to note it is a Cat C write off. If he is retaining the log book then he should receive a revised one stating it was previously a Cat C.

Like Treadway said, give dvla a call to find out what is happening

Treadway1

dacouch wrote: »

He probably does not have the log book as the Insurance Company would have sent it back to the DVLA for them to note it is a Cat C write off. If he is retaining the log book then he should receive a revised one stating it was previously a Cat C.

Like Treadway said, give dvla a call to find out what is happening

Dacouch, perhaps Im wrong then (It wont be the first time... ), but does the V5 have a section to say a vehicle has been written off? I never sent my V5 back to DVLA when it was written off as I was never told to and never recieved a revised one. Im now back riding the bike again after fixing it up and getting it MOT'd.

dacouch

These should help.


http://dvlaguide.co.uk/index.php/dvlaguide/scrapped_or_written_off_vehicle/

http://www.autocheck.co.uk/write-off-categories.html

Treadway1

Ok, so Ive just phoned DVLA and theyve stated that i should have sent back the V5 when the vehicle was declared a write off (As I recall now though, im pretty sure I did call them at the time to ask if I would only need to re-MOT it to get ot back on the road... Hmmm).

They said it isnt a major issue though as long as the bike is taxed, insured and MOT'd then its still legal to ride. I just have to send the V5 back now, and the write off will be noted on the special notes on the front when I get the new one back.

With the OP's original question then, this may seem right. Although, it does still seem alittle funny that the guy he has been talking to doesnt know the full details.

That said though, if the guy is just waiting for the log book back with the write off being mentioned in the special notes, then the car would need to be re-MOT'd and possibly a Vehicle Identity Check before it can be put backon the road.

What id say to the OP is that if he really dos want to buy this car and he can satisfy himself that it does belong to the keeper, then he should make damn sure that the only damage to be repaired are the doors. The last thing you want is to buy it, have it done up and find out it has something major wrong with it when you evenutually get it MOT'd.

Good luck

motorguy

Renault Clios are as cheap as chips anyway, why would you want to take on a Cat C write off. Lets not forget write off means 'beyond economical repair'. Have you had quotes to get it repaired - you would be surprised how much body repairs / paintwork costs.

Plus a Cat C write off will be worth significantly less come resale time....

j69ant

Hi,

If its a CAT C it may have required a Vic Test. If it hasnt had one, it may show up on the DVLA computer that it requires one, but they wont notify you until they receive the V5 back ( ie change of owner )

I know a bloke who brought a damaged repaired car ( knowing it wa damaged repaired ) and had the V5 - When he sent it off to change the ownership, the DVLA wrote back saying he needed a VIC before they reissue the V5.

And if it was a CAT C and required a VIC check, it will show on the V5 - Thats a definate, as ive had a few.

You can check if it needs a VIC test by calling 0870 6060440 and use option 4. Give the operator the reg and they will tell you if it requires a VIC check ( its free )

As for buying a CAT C - Is it cheap ? - At least a 3rd cheaper than the same car, unrecorded. I'd have no issue buying one, but it has to be cheap, as they will always sell for a lot less.

Regards

Ant

Revel

Unfotunately there is a fee for the actual VIC - it's £38 at the moment, probably going up towards the end of April. The number to ring now has changed to 0300 123 9000 to find out if the car needs one.