Is it worth buying Category N car ?

fred246

I quite like my daughter. Can't imagine buying her a smashed up car.

The_Rainmaker

motorguy said:

The_Rainmaker said:

Deleted_User said:

There's nothing wrong doing it when you know all about it. It's the people who buy them from Copart and places, do a crap job, as motorguy says, and sell them on to the unsuspecting public.

Interestingly my man wants to source a second hand bonnet if he can get one rather than the £170 pattern part.

Yes that would be common practice.  A pattern part bonnet in particular could be flimsy compared to a genuine one or may not fit correctly.

Also he / you might get lucky and come across a white one that colour matches.

That's what he was saying can be a PITA to get to sit/fit right.

What is good about this one is the damage matches exactly what you see in the photos, you always have the danger that radiators etc are also goosed so costs rise but I do try and build that in to my max bid.

The reserve on it was £3,250 I added £50 to show goodwill and they then faffed around for 24 hours with silly counter offers, I just held my ground and eventually they relented. 

[Deleted User]

When these smashed up cars have been fixed up, it's always interesting to know how well they hold up if they get smashed again.

Also the idea of a £8000 car for £3000 is wrong. You got a £3000 car for £3000. It's not worth £8000 after a smash and a load of scrap and pattern parts bolted onto it.

motorguy

The_Rainmaker said:

motorguy said:

The_Rainmaker said:

Deleted_User said:

There's nothing wrong doing it when you know all about it. It's the people who buy them from Copart and places, do a crap job, as motorguy says, and sell them on to the unsuspecting public.

Interestingly my man wants to source a second hand bonnet if he can get one rather than the £170 pattern part.

Yes that would be common practice.  A pattern part bonnet in particular could be flimsy compared to a genuine one or may not fit correctly.

Also he / you might get lucky and come across a white one that colour matches.

That's what he was saying can be a PITA to get to sit/fit right.

What is good about this one is the damage matches exactly what you see in the photos, you always have the danger that radiators etc are also goosed so costs rise but I do try and build that in to my max bid.

The reserve on it was £3,250 I added £50 to show goodwill and they then faffed around for 24 hours with silly counter offers, I just held my ground and eventually they relented. 

Seems like a result all round.

TBH i should look more at Copart.  I've a good friend who does body repairs, it would just be a matter of getting the car delivered to him.  Like your man i'm sure,  he has all the right contacts with breakers yards etc.

motorguy

Deleted_User said:

When these smashed up cars have been fixed up, it's always interesting to know how well they hold up if they get smashed again.

Also the idea of a £8000 car for £3000 is wrong. You got a £3000 car for £3000. It's not worth £8000 after a smash and a load of scrap and pattern parts bolted onto it.

On the plus side, he knows exactly what he has for his money.

Chances are that car will drive for years and give no problems.

The issue for me lies when you buy blind off someone who has done what this guy has, but may have cut corners and has added significant profit on.

AdrianC

Deleted_User said:

motorguy said:

MinuteNoodles said:

Nothing wrong with them if they've been repaired properly especially as damage tends to be cosmetics or even a full set of alloys were stolen and the wheels were going to cost a large part of the value of the car to buy but beware that you won't get as much for it when selling it and it may be hard to sell.

It can be just that yes - but it can also be this...


https://www.copart.co.uk/lot/34988300

And the nasty thing about this is it will end up back in the road.

What's "nasty" about that? All the damage is bolt-on bits. An hour or three, and all the bent bits will be off and in the bin.

Bonnet, wings, rad, crushmember, and it'll look just like it did rolling down the production line.

fred246 said:

I quite like my daughter. Can't imagine buying her a smashed up car.

How would you ever know, if the insurer hadn't decided it didn't make financial sense to repair it?

Because that's what Cat N is. Bolt-on stuff and "CBA to fix it, just pay out"

The_Rainmaker

Deleted_User said:

When these smashed up cars have been fixed up, it's always interesting to know how well they hold up if they get smashed again.

Also the idea of a £8000 car for £3000 is wrong. You got a £3000 car for £3000. It's not worth £8000 after a smash and a load of scrap and pattern parts bolted onto it.

Your money your choice, if you want to pay £8k for a clean car that I can have as a Cat N repaired with a bonnet, bumper, grill and a headlight and be in for £3k then I'm happy.  (Leaves more money for the money pit of a 2004 DAF LF45 that her indoors runs for the horses, mind you I haven't had a bill for that in 2 years I just drop in and toss him £500 every few months)

In this case it would still be worth £5k-£6k as a repaired Cat N.  But I have a car that would have cost me £8k and since we tend to keep them for years the residual is not an issue.

The_Rainmaker

fred246 said:

I quite like my daughter. Can't imagine buying her a smashed up car.

Excellent just keep thinking that way and the prices will remain good value, the added bonus was I wasn't really competing with the Eastern Europeans when I bought it in April

bigadaj

fred246 said:

I quite like my daughter. Can't imagine buying her a smashed up car.

Are you sure the reverse is true after decades of you telling her 'you didn't want to do it like that....'

chrisw

There are some good videos on Youtube from people buying cars from Copart and fixing them. Phil's Salvage Rebuilds, Salvage Rebuilds UK and Saving Salvage are some key ones I like.