Would you ever buy a written off vehicle?

gsmmad

I just wanted to get the general idea of how people feel about previously written off vehicles, such as Cat C and Cat D.

I love them and think it drives the cost of second hand cars down a little bit due to competition. However I think many people are starting to get into this and would rather buy their own car and fix it up, than to buy it off someone which has already been repaired.

To be honest I love buying salvage, because I hate buying second hand cars from traders or private. It just seems like so much work and also things either are all brilliant and the seller fixed every problem and sold it to you or its the opposite. Its a death trap and the person sold it cheap and got rid of it and now the repairs are for you to do.

Thanks

anewman

Whenever I've seen them I've always thought the price was a bit high considering the amount of work needed doing, even if you do the work yourself.

Inactive

Barge pole, don't touch...springs to mind.;)

Most of them have been put back on the road on the cheap, repairs have rarely been carried out to a high standard.

alo6

I would never buy a fixed up salvage repaired, I would not trust there competence as generally its fix it up for as little a price as possible (non-genuine parts) and sell it for the highest price possible.

And generally its people in a driveway garage with the lack of adequate tools.

If i was to, i would get the RAC or AA to check the car first (i think it costs like £70)

Hintza

Some sweeping statements.

The last three cars I have bought are Cat D and I have had them all repaired. It allows me to purchase a car at around 25%-30% discount once repaired.

Sure things can go wrong and a new gearbox on one made it not quite the bargain I was hoping for.

Suits me fine that so many of you wouldn't touch them with a bargepole as it keeps prices down.

d77_2

To be honest, it would depend on what was repaired and where is was repaired. A lot of cat C stuff these days is cosmetic repairs due to insurance repairers not being able to "repair" parts and having to buy everything new. For example. I had an accident in the icy conditions. The insurance garage said it would cost £1500 to repair my car, which was still completely safe to drive and road legal. I could get the same repairs done myself for around £400 by simply repairing parts instead of scrapping them and buying new, or by buying quality 2nd hand parts.

I love the fact that with all the environmental issues surrounding cars than no one seems bothered by the fact that "car repair" centres are now actually "buy new parts and bolt them on" centres. Many parts that they throw away are easy to repair, talk about waste and the carbon footprints in making un-neccesary replacement parts.

Mini_Bear

i have bought cat c's and d's. i always ask for photos of damage. if it is mostly cosmetic then i will consider the vehicle. if it has been properly mangled i dont risk it, but thats just personal preference.
i too have found some of these cat c's are pretty overpriced as you should pay less due to the risk factor! they may also be rather difficult to sell on in future. although i price accordingly and they tend to go!