Cat. C and D repairs - risks involved?

LB1985

Just a quick question. I've seen quite a number of category C and D repaired cars on Auto Trader and ebay. I understand that these are cars which have been repaired following accidents. Is it risky to buy such a car? They offer appear to offer relatively low prices, but will insurance, for example, for such a car be higher?

Any info would be much appreciated!

Cheers,

Leon

balsingh

I too have noticed a lot more Cat C & D cars on the market. I think insurers seems to be writing cars off over minor things these days especially as a lot of owner seems to prefer payouts rather than having the car repaired.

All I can say is that as long as the car is repaired properly and professionally, then they can be real bargains. However, there is a stigma attached to these cars and many people steer clear ... even though there are probably more cars out there which arent Cat c/d registed but have been involved in major accidents and not repaired well. In fact, A Cat C car requires an inspection after repairs before it is considered roadworhty.

I would say that if you are considering one, get it inspected by someone who knows cars well and check that arent any tell tale sings of a bad repair job.

The general rule of thumb is that a Cat C/D car shoudl only sell for 66% of the market value and as a result, they can be real bargains.

The only thing to look out for as I mentioned earlier is that they have this stigma about them and many people steer clear. That might lead to it being difficult to sell on afterwards even if it is being sold at only 66% of the market value.

By the way, insurance shoudlnt be any higher as it would still cost the same as before to repair if it were involved in an accident again.

I would go for one if I was keeping it long term and running it into the ground because once the value gets below a certain amount, a buyer wont care about the history.

scheming_gypsy

Not always risky. I wrapped my Celica up 18 months ago and went through a 3rd party company rather than straight through my insurance. I told him them that it was the second crash i'd had in it and would prefer it to be written off and get something new.

It only needed a new wing, bumper, lights etc. Nothing major but they gave me the option of having it repaired on the insurance or they could over inflate the parts and labour prices so the insurance company would write it off.
It got written off and i got the car back. Could probably have repaired it scrap yard style for about £800 and sold it on as a CAT D write off for about 3k. (i should have done).

So not cases will be risky, just cosmetic damage and easier to write off.