Looking at petrol seat Leon, couple come up when looking that are cat d repaired. Offering large £5k saving over normal 2nd hand value. We tend to run cars til they are worth next to nothing. Never considered a cat d car, would you and what do I need to ask check if I look to buy one?

Thanks

If the owner had it repaired…. ask for photo’s of the post accident damage & invoices for the repair.

If you’re buying it from someone who bought it, and repaired in his garage then I’d be more nervy

Check everything works, and have a thorough nose around & above. You may find it next to impossible to get fully comp insurance too.

I’ve bought one, but it was cheap (sub £1k), I’m not sure I’d risk a lot on one.

I bought and repaired one for myself. Repaired mot’d got myself a cheap run around for very little outlay. Had no trouble getting fully comp insurance for it and sold it for what I paid nearly 2yrs later.

Plenty on the road these days, just do the usual checks and if it’s from a garage repair shop even better (because they know what to do and how to do it properly)
Insurance companies tend to “scrap” cars even with the slightest damage these days.
For instance …. local Lexus dealer had a CT200h in 2016 reg, 5k on it. A passengers wing dented and scraped into door and bumper ding and scratched alloy.. all fixable with replacement panels and alloy/tyre. I was searching for a new car and it came in as I was there and got talking to the salesman, he said they were giving it the once-over before telling the insurance company it’s scrapped….

Apart from the obvious checks on why it was written off and quality of repair, check the insurance isn’t going to be too much more than a car that hasn’t been written off.

Also, what are your plans with the car? If you’re going to keep it for ever and run it into the ground it could be a good way to save a few quid. If you’re going to keep it for a year or two and sell it on it could potentially be hard to shift and be selling at a low price.

If you intend to keep it for a few years as you say then you will save some money, so why not .
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/consumer-news/99750/cat-a-b-s-and-n-cars-new-insurance-write-off-categories-from-october

i work for an insurance company. cat D status doesn’t affect how we quote at all.

That’s interesting – just been looking for quotes on a new pickup, like for like on a cat d truck was about £50 more. Is it something some companies do?

Don’t fancy quoting on an Isuzu Rodeo do you? 😉

I’d want evidence of the damage before repair and would pay for a full inspection paying particular attention to the chassis and body fit.

I had a BMW written off once due to a dented door. Insurance quote was for a bare new door from BMW + paint + swapping all the bits over + fitting and was too much compared to the value of the car. I fancied a change anyway so I took the payout, but literally all it needed was a s/h door from a breakers for about £50 and an hour to fit it.

Yeah, they’re just financial write offs so the damage might very well be cosmetic, so be sure to just check you understand what the damage was/reason for write off and if it was repaired to an acceptable level. Mate of mine used to buy cat D write off cars all the time, targeting more up market cars so driving cars he couldn’t afford normally, never had a problem with insurance or selling on.

I’ve had a cat D. Bought cheap, sold on cheap.

They have a stigma with them, for that reason I wouldn’t have a great deal of money sitting in one.

xherbivorex – Member 
i work for an insurance company. cat D status doesn’t affect how we quote at all.

Yes but what happens in a claim, what payout is given? (full normal car value or reduced..)

The important question is how old was it (aka what was it worth) when it was written off. If it wasn’t worth much, the damage would be trivial, and I wouldn’t worry about things like inspection of the chassis geometry. If it was newer, the repair cost threshold would have been higher and the damage could have been more serious.

A friend of mine bought a cat d and repaired it himself, was then written off due to a damaged wing and door.
The insurance co paid out 50% of market value, not sure if this is standard or his company specific but he bought it back and put it back on the road again. As said above I would have one if I knew the damage, and that it had been repaired properly, but I wouldn’t have a lot of money tied up in one.

My bike was a cat d, basically it just came down to 2 things- is the repair good enough, and is the price saving you get today worth it against any possible loss when you sell. The first one is the trickier one really unless you’re a car shuffler- mine tend to get driven into the ground so resale value is a small consideration.

Bear in mind any other car you buy could have had a similar accident, but the insurance chose to repair.

You would be non the wiser!

Just inspect thoroughly as you would with any used car.

On a recorded car I’d like to see pics of the damage an invoices for repair or its harder to sell on later.

My last car was a Cat D. Reasonably high value one, about £7.5k, but it was around £4k cheaper than a normal one. I saw the receipts for the repair work, although not photos of it beforehand so gave it a very, very thorough look over – checking panel gaps, getting the boot carpet up, making sure all the bolts for the panels under the bonnet were present and lined up properly. It was fine, and was absolutely great in the two years I owned it before some idiot crashed into it and wrote it off again.

The payout you get in that situation is a spurious book value for a non-cat D car, same as any other car, minus 20%. I looked at other Cat Ds this time but nothing took my fancy, and none of the same car were available so I got a normal car. But I’d buy Cat D again.

Oh, and check all the buttons inside work and check the aircon works – mine had had a front end impact and the hose from the condenser had split and needed replacing but had been missed during the repairs. It cost me an additional £150 including parts to sort.

Insurance was the same, although Admiral wanted it to have an MOT even though it was less than 3 years old.

I thought you had to apply for a new v5 on cat D’s before you can drive them?

That’s interesting – just been looking for quotes on a new pickup, like for like on a cat d truck was about £50 more. Is it something some companies do?

Don’t fancy quoting on an Isuzu Rodeo do you?

yeah, probably varies from one company to another how they’d quote on it- i only know ours cos i was looking at a cat D recently and asked our underwriters, they told me they’re not bothered.

total loss payouts would be book value minus a percentage, i don’t know exactly what off the top of my head.

we won’t quote on vans or pickups at all though, sorry!

I’ve bought 2 in the past, self repaired one (stolen recovered so just new locks), and had a garage do minor work for the other with salvage parts (new door).

No issues with anything, including insurance.

Family member just wrote off a cat D car, fully comp claim. No issues re payout, but the value was obviously less as it was a cat d car already.

The only potential issue is it will be more difficult to sell, but as you plan to keep it there’s no worries there.

Maybe worth paying for an inspection to ensure work is up to standard on higher value vehicles.

I am currently using a 2003 Volvo XC70 estate, Cat D repaired, quarter of a million miles, 2.4 diesel auto, and it is easily the best car for the money I have ever driven.

Drive it. Like it. Buy it.

My sons £1900 Mini was written off (Cat D) and he bought it from the insurer for £100. All the damage was cosmetic and I had it MOT’ed and paid for an engineers report to be on the safe side. He got his money back less £100 and other than damage to the grill and bonnet runs perfectly.

I thought you had to apply for a new v5 on cat D’s before you can drive them?

Not for a Cat D. All I had to do after I’d done the trivial repairs to mine was get it MoT’d, and that was an insurance requirement, not legal.

and that was an insurance requirement, not legal.

Yes my sons insurer asked for a new MOT and an engineers report. They then decided a report was not needed but we did one anyway.

Cat D just means it was written off because the price of repairs were more than 50% (I think, could be 60%) of the cars value.

But when you look at the values of cars that insurers use, and the prices that bodyshops quote when you say it’s going through the insurance I’m amazed any car gets repaired.

I’d be happy buying a Cat D, as long as I knew what the damage was if I was going to be the first owner post repair, if it was repaired years ago why not.