V5C CAT S

sumvision2027

bought a cheap car without doing hpi check and my new v5c just came in with a special note "this vehicle has been salvaged because of structural damage, but it has been declared suitable for repair.

firstly, i know i !!!!!! up not doing a hpi check. secondly, I want to keep the car but wondering, has the car been repaired? I'm assuming this means the car falls under CAT S, not sure if that means car has been repaired or not, car did pass mot 4 months ago. 

onlyfoolsandparking

Plenty of cars on road that have been salvaged/repaired, CAT S is structural so if it passed mot it's likely to have been repaired properly but only a motor engineer could guarantee that.

How cheap are we talking here? If the next place for your new pride and joy is the scrappers in ex amount of years it's not gonna make a lot of difference what category it's in so long as it's legally allowed on the road. 

sumvision2027

onlyfoolsandparking said:

Plenty of cars on road that have been salvaged/repaired, CAT S is structural so if it passed mot it's likely to have been repaired properly but only a motor engineer could guarantee that.

How cheap are we talking here? If the next place for your new pride and joy is the scrappers in ex amount of years it's not gonna make a lot of difference what category it's in so long as it's legally allowed on the road. 

i got it for 2k, normally the cars are for sale for 4k. i've only been driving a year and didn't mind buying a cheaper car that was tatty or needed minor repairs. the guy didn't mention anything about cat s, says he only had the car for a month saying had arm ball joint issue, which he fixed and provided me with proof of. 

I'm just unsure if cat s on a car means that it was repaired. 

onlyfoolsandparking

So at that buying price your well in front I'm no expert on damaged repairables but I've owned a few and had no issues and like I said if it passed MOT it points to it having been repaired properly. If your concerned about it's safety/reliability get it inspected by a decent mechanic then you'll have your answer.

I am of course making an assumption that the damage occurred before the latest MOT test.

sumvision2027

onlyfoolsandparking said:

So at that buying price your well in front I'm no expert on damaged repairables but I've owned a few and had no issues and like I said if it passed MOT it points to it having been repaired properly. If your concerned about it's safety/reliability get it inspected by a decent mechanic then you'll have your answer.

I am of course making an assumption that the damage occurred before the latest MOT test.

the last mot was 4 months ago, which mentions said ball joint issue. other than that pass mot is fine. either the crash happened after mot or before and repaired. only way to find out is to pay rac to inspect the car i guess? 

AdrianC

Has it been repaired?
Well, stand back and look at it...

Cat S means that a previous owner's insurance refused to repair it, and paid out the value instead. That's what a write-off is.

It was damaged severely enough to be deemed structurally damaged (that's what the S means). Is it still bent...? No? Then it's been repaired.

Has it been repaired properly? That's a very different question. Only a thorough inspection will tell you that.

sumvision2027

AdrianC said:

Has it been repaired?
Well, stand back and look at it...

Cat S means that a previous owner's insurance refused to repair it, and paid out the value instead. That's what a write-off is.

It was damaged severely enough to be deemed structurally damaged (that's what the S means). Is it still bent...? No? Then it's been repaired.

Has it been repaired properly? That's a very different question. Only a thorough inspection will tell you that.

yeah everything is fine and dandy, previous mot has one advisory as i said before other than all good. I've been looking at an rac thorough health check next week 

BOWFER

Does an MOT test tell if it's bent and going along the road like a crab?
Nope, and the car's general alignment (not wheel alignment) is what would always bother me about CAT S.
I've always been tempted by CAT N and wouldn't rule out buying one for the daughter.
But CAT S....nah.

sumvision2027

BOWFER said:

Does an MOT test tell if it's bent and going along the road like a crab?
Nope, and the car's general alignment (not wheel alignment) is what would always bother me about CAT S.
I've always been tempted by CAT N and wouldn't rule out buying one for the daughter.
But CAT S....nah.

I'm not relying on the mot alone, I just wasn't sure if the car having mot and driving fine yet labelled as a cat s would mean someone just put new bumpers on and left the structure alone  

AdrianC

sumvision2027 said:

BOWFER said:

Does an MOT test tell if it's bent and going along the road like a crab?
Nope, and the car's general alignment (not wheel alignment) is what would always bother me about CAT S.
I've always been tempted by CAT N and wouldn't rule out buying one for the daughter.
But CAT S....nah.

I'm not relying on the mot alone, I just wasn't sure if the car having mot and driving fine yet labelled as a cat s would mean someone just put new bumpers on and left the structure alone  

It could well do. The MOT is fairly superficial.

facade

sumvision2027 said:

I'm not relying on the mot alone, I just wasn't sure if the car having mot and driving fine yet labelled as a cat s would mean someone just put new bumpers on and left the structure alone  

Probably just changed a bent suspension arm, maybe put on a salvaged wing and a bumper.

I've seen a fair few of the salvage videos on youtube, the CAT S cars they fix seem to only have bent suspension arms and other bolt-on parts - at least they never put them on a frame jig. CAT S can be for damage to bolt-on parts of the structure, not just a bent shell.

There was a site where you put in the VIN number and you could see the Copart or other disposal site listing from when it was sold, but I can't find the bookmark now.

As you are worried, get an engineers report as suggested.