Selling a Category C car

motorguy

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Unfortunately a MOT is not proof a Cat C car is safe. A MOT does not examine the quality of the repair. Hell, a MOT is worthless once the car leaves the test station.

A MOT will not tell you that the car is out of alignment. If you can't see the chassis legs without removing panels, a MOT won't tell you if they're bent.

I didnt say it was.

I'm just advising on how best it can be sold. It would be up to the buyer to decide if the car is to the standard they expect.

motorguy

Orange_King wrote: »

I certainly don't want to pass this problem onto someone else unless they are prepared to accept the car's history and any future problems with re-sale.

Sell it privately and be upfront about it like i said above.

Dealers will use its Cat C status to put the fear of god into you and get you to accept peanuts for it.

motorguy

Orange_King wrote: »

I got it in Oct 09 and it has been very economic for me but as I'm no longer doing long distances now was to be the time to change.

You may well find that it is more sensible for you to hold on to your car than give it away for peanuts to buy a less economical one?

Orange_King

pgilc1 wrote: »

You may well find that it is more sensible for you to hold on to your car than give it away for peanuts to buy a less economical one?

Absolutely, I won't be parting with it if I'm not going to be getting a fair price.

Going to see the person that sold it to me later to hear what his version of it is and hopefully getting an alternative way out of this. As I said, he is supposedly a friend so I'm hoping for a positive outcome.

I wouldn't have bought it had I known what I know now.

Notmyrealname

Orange_King wrote: »

Going to see the person that sold it to me later to hear what his version of it is and hopefully getting an alternative way out of this. As I said, he is supposedly a friend so I'm hoping for a positive outcome.

I wouldn't have bought it had I known what I know now.

OK, basically there is no such thing as a private dealer. He was a trader and you are covered as a consumer by the same consumer laws as if you'd bought from a dealership. I suspect that the tax man doesn't know about his car trading and you can use that to your advantage. In fact my opening comment would be "does the tax man know you sell cars?" followed by the fact that as he is in the eyes of the law carrying on trade as a business, it is illegal not to disclose a material fact such as being Cat C which would affect a buyers decision.

I'd go in with size 11's on, kick him in the nuts and say you want 50% back.

fivetide

So an 08 car, bought in 09 and it is a Cat C?

That means inside year one it had a smash big enough to be more than half the cars value, at Cat C it's potentially up nearer 75% so that would imply a fairly severe smash.

You'd certainly want to be sure that was fixed properly and if the bumpers don't look good what other corners did they cut?

I'd be concerned about moving my family around in it is all. Perhaps unecessarily so but there you go...

5t.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

fivetide wrote: »

So an 08 car, bought in 09 and it is a Cat C?

That means inside year one it had a smash big enough to be more than half the cars value, at Cat C it's potentially up nearer 75% so that would imply a fairly severe smash.

You'd certainly want to be sure that was fixed properly and if the bumpers don't look good what other corners did they cut?

I'd be concerned about moving my family around in it is all. Perhaps unecessarily so but there you go...

5t.

put quite simply some insurers write cars off inside one year due to availability of parts, they cant have a car sat there for ages whilst parts become available from manufacturers, storage fee's alone could mount up to at least £1500 whilst its just sat there waiting for parts to become available.

there can be many reasons for a cat c wich is basically the insurers deeming it not economical to repair but can be repaired, either the damage is extensive, the issues with part availability, they have paid out too much already in the assessment phase and liability phase of the claim.

OH uncle has a new chrysler (alpha rameo rebadged) sat there waiting for parts to be available to be able to fix it thats a cat C and already paid out on due to that same issue of part availability and storage fee's, OH uncle has bought it from the insurers salvage company because he wants it for his son theres nothing structural wrong with it just needs a few cosmetic peices that arent available yet and an airbag, seat pretentioner, then off to chrysler for the ECU to be reprogramed (airbag detonation puts the car into perminant limp mode).

fivetide

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

put quite simply some insurers write cars off inside one year due to availability of parts, they cant have a car sat there for ages whilst parts become available from manufacturers, storage fee's alone could mount up to at least £1500 whilst its just sat there waiting for parts to become available.

True but this is a Vauxhall Astra and they aren't exactly rare.

5t.

colino

Some insurance companies have new for old replacement deals for first year and hence why some apparently minor damage cars turn up at salvage auctions. Then again, it could have been rattled till its welds snapped, and unless you look, you wont know.

Hoof_Hearted

Personally, I would insist that you dealer friend buys it back, allowing for the year's use you have had out of it.