Buying a CAT D car?

[Glasgow_Saint]

Cat D is the least serious category. It usually means that the vehicle has suffered light damage but the insurance company's decision to repair it is dependent on the cost of the repairs and the value of the vehicle.

 

 

Anyone bought one before? Looking at vw scirocco for £8k which for its year and mileage is £5k cheaper than a non CAT D.

[buctootim]

Ive never actually done it but have researched and thought about it in the past. Decent thread on the issues here.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=923075

[Glasgow_Saint]

Ive never actually done it but have researched and thought about it in the past. Decent thread on the issues here.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=923075

 

did you decide against buying one?

[buctootim]

did you decide against buying one?

 

I decided I would if I was looking for a good cheap car I'd do it, but not a more expensive one. Take your Sirocco - worth £13k in good condition but the insurance company have decided to write it off because its uneconomic to repair. If you assume they got maybe £2k for scrap value that means the car needed £11k of repairs. I decided I didnt want a car which needed £11k of repairs whether it was cat D or not - but certainly if someone has skimped somewhere and got it back on the road for £5k less. By contrast if you were looking for a mechanically solid car for a few £000 then cat D could be perfect because two bent panels and a couple of lights would be enough to write it off - but they could easily be picked up at a scrappies and you'd have a good car for much less than book value.

[Glasgow_Saint]

I decided I would if I was looking for a good cheap car I'd do it, but not a more expensive one. Take your Sirocco - worth £13k in good condition but the insurance company have decided to write it off because its uneconomic to repair. If you assume they got maybe £2k for scrap value that means the car needed £11k of repairs. I decided I didnt want a car which needed £11k of repairs whether it was cat D or not - but certainly if someone has skimped somewhere and got it back on the road for £5k less. By contrast if you were looking for a mechanically solid car for a few £000 then cat D could be perfect because two bent panels and a couple of lights would be enough to write it off - but they could easily be picked up at a scrappies and you'd have a good car for much less than book value.

 

Makes sense - thanks for your thoughts and time.

[swannymere]

The only problem for me would be the resale value as people are put off by it.

[timebomb]

My daughter had an accident (not her fault) 2 years ago and only realised she had a cat. D car when her insurance company told her they were cancelling her insurance for not telling them. She shopped around but had to pay £300 more per year.

Luckily the dealership we bought it from let her swap cars with another.

Moral of this is to always do a car history check.

[DrZuess1979 the 2nd]

Sorry to dig this up

 

I know a car body shop owner who buys cat C,D cars from insurance company's and the general public

 

The cars that Ive seen on D`s that he`s fixed, I would not touch with a barge pole.

 

Went to look at a Zafira a week ago that was advertised in the autotrader, It was in perfect condition, guy seemed genuine was telling me the history of the car like he had owned it for years.

 

Mrs wanted a chat over a coffee about it, so popped off

 

Did a check as you do for finance etc only to find out that it was a cat c, Guy made out he know nothing about it but he`d only owned it for 8 months

[egg]

I've bought a cat c and a cat d.

 

Both cars were bought from traders that I knew and trusted. I saw photos of the damage and was given full details of the repairs. The cars were fine, perfectly safe and complete bargains.

 

Obviously they were sold on at less than a straight car, but I'd had them from nearish new and saved a mint so a small hit when the cars were older wasn't a problem.

 

Often a cat d is just panel damage. That's purely cosmetic and should not deter anyone.

 

The important thing is to know what the damage was and how it was fixed.