Cat S? - Buying a Fiat 500 from a independent garage

danicheng

Hi All,

I am about to buy a car and put down a £100 deposit and just ran a check on the car with the RAC and the results have came in saying that the Theft Indicator Descriptor is an S under the written off heading. Can anyone advise what this means? Does this mean it is a Cat S? or does this mean the car has been stolen?

Appreciate if anyone can give me some guidance

Thank!

oldagetraveller

danicheng wrote: »

Hi All,

I am about to buy a car and put down a £100 deposit and just ran a check on the car with the RAC and the results have came in saying that the Theft Indicator Descriptor is an S under the written off heading. Can anyone advise what this means? Does this mean it is a Cat S? or does this mean the car has been stolen?

Appreciate if anyone can give me some guidance

Thank!

Why not try a search first rather than someone do it for you? https://www.carwow.co.uk/guides/choosing/what-is-a-cat-c-or-cat-d-car
What is Category S?

Cat S is a fairly new category and was formerly known as Cat C. These cars have suffered some structural damage such as a weakened crumple zone, bent bumpers or a damaged chassis. They have to be thoroughly and professionally repaired before they're allowed back on the road.

danicheng

oldagetraveller wrote: »

Why not try a search first rather than someone do it for you? https://www.carwow.co.uk/guides/choosing/what-is-a-cat-c-or-cat-d-car
What is Category S?

Cat S is a fairly new category and was formerly known as Cat C. These cars have suffered some structural damage such as a weakened crumple zone, bent bumpers or a damaged chassis. They have to be thoroughly and professionally repaired before they're allowed back on the road.

Thanks for your reply.

I wasn’t sure what Theft Indicator Descriptor meant and couldn’t find anything on the internet to clarify this. It has a S underneath this. Does this mean it is a Cat S was what I wanted to clarify. It also has a loss date of 27/02/2018 and the insurance was Catlin Insurance Company.

facade

A trader must make it clear that the car has an insurance loss classification; if they didn't, then they should give you your deposit back if you don't want it.


(If it is a private sale, you have to ask, or they needn't tell you.)

redux

Amongst other enquiries, check with your insurer. Some don't want to cover a car with certain write-off categories.

You might choose to move, depending on the remaining length and cancellation terms of your current policy.

angrycrow

If it is recorded as theft cat s that would indicate the car was stolen and then recovered but with structural damage sustained whilst stolen. Very unlikely that a reputable garage would touch such a car.

Unless it is a bargain price and you know how to check it has been correctly repaired get your deposit back and walk away.

photome

As someone else says , check with your insurance, you may find you cant insure it, or if you can, it maybe an inflated price

htrj

Cat S is structural damage. Cat N is non structural.

In either case the vehicles resale value will be considerably less than the value of the same vehicle without a such a blot on its log book. In some cases as much as half.

Svein_Forkbeard

But if the price is right and the repairs are up to scratch and you don't plan on selling it in the future then it may be a bargain.

But if they didn't tell you and are trying to sell at (close to) retail then I would be a tad miffed.

wgl2014

I would be wary of buying a previously structurally damaged car unless I was confident in giving it a thorough inspection.

How does its price compare to other Fiat 500's?

Gergoferencz

So does this mean that if it is repaired properly it may worth buying a Cat S car? ( I just found a 2014 corsa for 1500 -cat S)