Cat C - Stolen Recovered

Alias_Omega

Hello all,

Tomorrow i plan to take a plunge and buy my first ever Accident Damaged & Repaired car.

From the start, the seller has been clear what was wrong with it when they purchased it from the salvage yard, i assumed they purchased it to fix for use by themselves, however 4 months on its up for sale. Its had an MOT since repair, which is all that is required since the VIC test.

We knew it was Cat C, we HPI'd it today and found out it was Stolen Recovered too. The car is £1000 cheaper than its rivals, and we plan to keep it until it dies. The repair was "just a door" which these days on a 7-8 year old car is enough to write it off as new genuine parts are to be used.

Our question here is regarding the stolen recovered part. The damage to the car appears to be from "pushing something in", as if a car was driven into it. We had an intial thought that maybe this car was part of an accident where a stolen car was driven it into, making it Cat C. Google appears to bring nothing back so possibly it was the vehicle used. These days car keys are stolen and hey presto.

Has anyone experience of tracking down a car history, or an accident report?

I know i can complete the V888 (for £5) and get its previous owners information, this will build a nice story. I have pictures pre-repair too...

Becen

I believe for it to be marked as a "stolen recovered" vehicle, it would need to have been stolen itself. If it was stolen and recovered without damage, it could possibly not be on a HPI check at all.

I can't say I've tried to track down more history on such a car though. I have had a Cat C car that was stolen, vandalised and then recovered and I bought it as it was mechanically sound and cheap.

Selling it on was a little bit of an issue, but I documented my repairs thoroughly and that helped a lot. However, you've mentioned that you plan on running it until it dies so this probably won't be an issue.

Alias_Omega

Yeah, thats it. It's a run about which no doubt through its life will be passed around the family if it's straight and runs good. Insurance value is 75% of market value too...

forgotmyname

No need to trace its history which maybe pointless anyway. How many owners will just say it was cheap because it had been written off?

If you do not know what to check then pay someone that does. Someone that knows howto spot accident damage and whether repairs have been done properly or bodged and hidden.

I know someone that fitted a bodykit to a rusty wreck of a car. Because the examiner couldnt see and check the rusty sills which had large holes in them he had to pass it.

If he cannot see it he cannot test it. These days you get a sheet full of reasons why they could not check something.
Mom had a childseat in hers and they wrote down unable to test seatbelts, even though it only occupied one seat.

They just have to put it in writing and cover themselves these days.

Alias_Omega

Sale not performed, repair just wasnt right. Car would have to be a few hundred £££ cheaper for me to take it.