Cat D write-off?

uberzoldat

thirteendead wrote: »

im in the same situation....can anyone advise me on this??? ive seen a really nice pt cruiser at a showroom in blackwood. ive checked on my ipod app mycarcheck telling me that its a cat D write off and its had a plate change.....the plates aint personalised and starts RL51...

the car itself although ive only seen it on the web looks amazing and in great condition outside and in.....


should i stay clear???

thanks

Bit late really to reply to this I guess, but a car can be classed as a Cat D if it has been stolen and recovered, with a period of time inbetween where the insurance company has paid out for it.

As for the registration plate change, could be either that the owner didn't want the car to have the same rego after it had been stolen so that it wouldn't be recognised as the same car by the thieves later on. Just a thought.
Or they could have had a plate changed to reflect initials or make it more personalised, while keeping in the '51' style to make it cheaper?

forgotmyname

Shame you didn't tell them that

4 YEARS AGO!!!!!!


:wall::wall::wall::wall::wall:

psittack

Hey,

I'm in a similar position.

Just been to see a great Fiat Punto (it's up on the Autotrader site - 2003 FIAT Punto 1.2 Active)

Didn't notice it was a Cat D on the ad until I just got home and am now a bit concerned. I test drove it & there was a couple of small issues that he's agreede to correct prior to sale (small hole in exhaust and worn tyre). I left a £25 deposit & he's going to put a new tyre on as it's a bit worn. We agreed I could pick it up & pay the balance on Wednesday. He seems a genuine guy/trader.

It's the usual story - low miles (37k), great condition inside & out. Seems like a real bargain but now unsure whether to go through with the purchase.

To be fair it does say Cat D on the ad but I didn't clock it until I got home. I'm gonna call him back tomorrow and ask about the details of the damage and whether he has a copy of the engineer's report.

As I'm a novice when it comes to cars I'm considering an AA inspection (the car is a real bargain if it passes the test) but if he can't tell me why it's a Cat D I'm gonna walk away.

I'm happy about the resale value being reduced as I intend to keep it for 5 years at least. I'm also gonna check with my insurer to ask about premium changes or any difficulties if I'm involved in an accident.

Apart from what I've mentioned above, any other tips etc.. greatly received!

Oh, and I'm please to once again revive this thread!!

gemellsee

I'm confused too! My car has recently died and I am desperate for a new car but have less than £1000 to spend. I know I'm not going to get a great car for that money but I want something that will get me from A to B and that I won't have to spend a fortune on. I've found a car that sounds great but it's been an insurance write-off. It's being sold in a garage, when I phoned the guy he didn't have all the details with him as he wasn't in the garage so I will phone again tomorrow. He did know that it was involved in an accident 4 years ago and needed a new back bumper. He wasn't sure if it was cat c or d but I will find out obviously. Everyone is telling me I should stay away from this car, but it's exactly what I'm looking for.

I don't really know much about cars so I've been doing some research on this write-off thing, I've read about people who have bought cat-d write-offs and had no problem, read how they may have problems selling (I plan to drive it into the ground so thats no problem), insurance problems (have spoken to my insurance and all ok), also read about getting it thoroughly checked over, etc. But what I haven't read about is anyone who's had any problems with a car that was previously a write-off. Does anyone know some of the things that could go wrong if it was poorly repaired? Is it just a case of it looking slightly odd or am I going to be driving along when my car splits in 2 herbie-style?

The seller was able to tell me that it needs a new front coil spring which he will deal with before I buy. Is this a bad sign? Or is this something that can go anytime on any car?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks.:)

atrixblue.-MFR-.

gemellsee wrote: »

I'm confused too! My car has recently died and I am desperate for a new car but have less than £1000 to spend. I know I'm not going to get a great car for that money but I want something that will get me from A to B and that I won't have to spend a fortune on. I've found a car that sounds great but it's been an insurance write-off. It's being sold in a garage, when I phoned the guy he didn't have all the details with him as he wasn't in the garage so I will phone again tomorrow. He did know that it was involved in an accident 4 years ago and needed a new back bumper. He wasn't sure if it was cat c or d but I will find out obviously. Everyone is telling me I should stay away from this car, but it's exactly what I'm looking for.

I don't really know much about cars so I've been doing some research on this write-off thing, I've read about people who have bought cat-d write-offs and had no problem, read how they may have problems selling (I plan to drive it into the ground so thats no problem), insurance problems (have spoken to my insurance and all ok), also read about getting it thoroughly checked over, etc. But what I haven't read about is anyone who's had any problems with a car that was previously a write-off. Does anyone know some of the things that could go wrong if it was poorly repaired? Is it just a case of it looking slightly odd or am I going to be driving along when my car splits in 2 herbie-style?

The seller was able to tell me that it needs a new front coil spring which he will deal with before I buy. Is this a bad sign? Or is this something that can go anytime on any car?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks.:)

coil springs are wear items and do degenrate over time, fact of motoring i'm affraid. shouldnt cost no more than 45-55 quid for a spring depending on what car it is look on ebay for one for cheaper prices.

it wont split into two not a cut and shut (two different cars of the same make/model welded together in the middle.

Cinnajazz

Did anybody here manage to get car insurance on Cat D?? It would be useful to know as I also have bought a Cat D car. My current insurance company said they didn't want to know. I've tried to use confused.com and other comparison sites but it seems like the Cat D thing isn't taken into consideration (quotes are very low, and my current insurer who "will not insure Cat D" is also listed) So what now? I need the car to be insured in the next few days as I'm picking it up from the dealership. It's Christmas so I can't call any insurers for the next 2 days. Any recommendations would be most appreciated!! Thanks.

TrickyWicky

It's easy to insure a CatD. The only insurers that probably won't are the ones who wrote it off. They won't reinsure it until seeing an MOT etc.

If you're able to insure it elsewhere online then do so, job done.

vaio

yep, most don't care BUT there are a few who won't and say so in their general assumptions/T&Cs so, as always, read the paperwork

Hintza

feeifif wrote: »

Is it a legal requirement to tell your insurance company that a vehicle was listed as cat D?

This s a question I have often pondered. We drie two Cat D cars and I amof the view that the insurance database carries all te information an insurance company needs (ie they know it is a total loss) where as the owner of the car doesn't necessarily know.

So therefore if they have a problem with the car they should flag that at the time of quotation. If they later choose to ecline a claim then that is disingenuous.

The whole motor insurance industry needs a shake up it is the oly insurance you legally have to have and the companiesare using that fact to unfairly skew the game to their advantage.

There was a link on here (I think) recently were an insurance company insider was commenting that they had to increase premiums because the other companies were and if they didn't tey would be swampecd with too much new business without the infrastructure to deal with it.

The whole business is a racket!

PatrickO_3

This is a really useful thread.

I looking at buying a car which the owner admits is D cat. He says is was properly repaired by a Mazda main dealer.

It's 2004 Mazda MX-5 for sale privately for £3500. It's low mileage for the year at 46,000.

The thing is I don't know if that's a fair price. How much should the price be reduced for a D cat ?