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Author Topic: Cat D write off's  (Read 7999 times)

Offline gazon69

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #15 on: September 25, 2012, 06:21:41 pm »
My previous car,a mk5 gt170 was catd after I had a accident in jan this year.. TBH I was shocked as I fought it b a easy repair but anyway insurance paid up a good amount I'm happy with & in the end I brought a ed30

Did the car loose a lot of its value?
if airbags generally deploy, the insurance companys usually write them off as they price in airbag kits and a new dash, thats where the majority of the money goes

Offline dan930

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #16 on: September 25, 2012, 07:53:38 pm »
My previous car,a mk5 gt170 was catd after I had a accident in jan this year.. TBH I was shocked as I fought it b a easy repair but anyway insurance paid up a good amount I'm happy with & in the end I brought a ed30

Did the car loose a lot of its value?
if airbags generally deploy, the insurance companys usually write them off as they price in airbag kits and a new dash, thats where the majority of the money goes
Yeah mate. The airbags went off


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Offline Baz300

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #17 on: September 25, 2012, 09:32:44 pm »
I was going to be getting a e92 320 coupe before I bought my golf but the only one in my price range was a cat d

I found out that my insurance wouldn't cover me and a lot of insurers wort cover cat x cars (even though they will let you buy a policy online) decided against it because of the insurance issues

Offline chrisr763

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #18 on: September 25, 2012, 10:39:51 pm »
With all the info above... I would pretty much stear clear unless you are Mr Insurance or 97 with 80 years no claim  :rolleye:

Offline ashley

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #19 on: September 25, 2012, 10:40:50 pm »
My ED30 is a cat d.

purchased myself from a company that got cars 30 at a time from insurers.

Basically had been broken into on dealers forecourt and the interior stripped. Only damage was to outer door skin.

If it the price is right wouldnt be put off. As with any used car it has to be judged on its merit.

Never had a problem insuring etc

Offline AndyS

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #20 on: September 26, 2012, 08:00:42 am »
"Never had a problem insuring etc"

If you had an accident and made a claim , and the insurance company discovered that the car was a CAT D , I,m sure it would lower the pay out !

Insurance companies will do every thing they can to reduce costs (payments), as I said before , don't pay a lot for a CAT D car as its re-sale value is very low, I know as I had one and had trouble selling it.

Offline ashley

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #21 on: September 26, 2012, 09:02:03 am »
"Never had a problem insuring etc"

If you had an accident and made a claim , and the insurance company discovered that the car was a CAT D , I,m sure it would lower the pay out !

Insurance companies will do every thing they can to reduce costs (payments), as I said before , don't pay a lot for a CAT D car as its re-sale value is very low, I know as I had one and had trouble selling it.

Common sense suggests if you pay less in the first place you expect to get less back when time to sell or insurance pay out. Am i missing something?

Offline JStav

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #22 on: September 26, 2012, 09:32:54 am »
"Never had a problem insuring etc"

If you had an accident and made a claim , and the insurance company discovered that the car was a CAT D , I,m sure it would lower the pay out !

Insurance companies will do every thing they can to reduce costs (payments), as I said before , don't pay a lot for a CAT D car as its re-sale value is very low, I know as I had one and had trouble selling it.

Common sense suggests if you pay less in the first place you expect to get less back when time to sell or insurance pay out. Am i missing something?

 :signLOL:  Otherwise people would surely buy Cat D's write them off then get full price for the car and go out and buy the original.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2012, 09:37:34 am by JStav »
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Offline Timi8888

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #23 on: September 26, 2012, 09:34:54 am »
The best thing to do would be to take the car to a garage, or take a mechanic with you, and get them to make a full mechanical check on the vehicle. This way they can tell you if everything has been repaired up to standard, or if there is still damage to the chassis, or faulty airbags, etc.
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Offline gazon69

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #24 on: September 26, 2012, 09:53:20 am »
I bought a cat d car 5 years ago. The wife is still running it now. Never had anything other than a service four tyres and fuel. Been a smashing car :signLOL:

Offline tony_danza

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #25 on: September 26, 2012, 10:03:34 am »
I'd only buy one if I could see what it was like before it was repaired. So much BS in ads where it was "only a light repair wing/bonnet/scratch"..... balls it was.

Lots of dangerous shortcuts done in this market too, as they don't have to be inspected. Airbags never replaced, just coded out. Seatbelts having blown pre-tensioners and not been sorted.

You've really got to know what you're looking at and think of the bigger picture.
Sideways yo!

Offline GTImike

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Re: Cat D write off's
« Reply #26 on: September 26, 2012, 10:12:47 am »
I'll add my two pennies worth.

I've had quite a few CAT D vehicles over the years and generally bought direct from the insurance clearance auctions as damaged stock from people such as www.copart.co.uk

Like most have said above, as long as its been repaired properly I don't see the issue with them as long as photos were taken prior to repair. 9 times out of 10 the damage is totally superficial and there is nothing major to worry about. I bought a 2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6 a good few years ago classed as CAT D....it had been impounded by the police taken off a drug dealer....reason for CAT D....no keys and a lightly dented door skin. Cost me £300 to repair and was one of the best cars I had owned, it was immaculate and the door was repaired by a dent removal company.

Yes you will always struggle to sell them on if you don't have records of the damage and yes you will be hit with a much lower resale value BUT better the devil you know.

ON the flip side there are PLENTY of previously damaged cars on the road which aren't recorded and generally more of a death trap, for example my bro in law had a Peugeot 307 a few years ago, had a MAJOR shunt in it, airbags deployed, chassis leg damage etc but that was repaired by an 'insurance approved' bodyshop, drove like a pig when repaired  :sick: and I wouldn't have trusted the car with my family in it YET it was never recorded as a CAT D (really should have been a CAT C) but had a clear title because it was repaired.

To be fair I wouldn't buy a CAT D at the moment unless it was really really cheap though purely because of the re-sale hassle but when my finances were tighter in years gone by it was the means to an end and the chance to own a better car at a cheaper price.

In a nut shell - Cat D fine with recorded repair, Cat C - would always steer well clear.


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