I'm thinking of looking at a Turbo 2000 this week, it was registered new July 2000 and written off in September 2000.
Implication being that the damage cost more to repair than the car was worth, so how much worth of damage would this be? Ie, how much would the car of been worth after 2 months on being on the road from new?

Seller has all previous MOT's, looks to be in good condition, when I've spoken to the seller he say's it is HPI clear as he checked it before he bought it and has been driving it for 6 months. The check I did says Cat C write off and no record of VIC inspection.
I've also rang my insurance company and they didn't mention it and the quote price is as it should be.

So could it be an error in the text check or what?

 

Cat c means Major Damage but safely repairable

Any claim on any insurance puts a CAT next to it

 

Two things immediately come to mind:

1) It must have been an absolutely complete wreck for it to have been uneconomic to repair. 2 months depreciation on a brand new car would be what - 10% at most? My first Subaru was a Catalunya from a Subaru dealer and that had 'only' depreciated by 20% over the first 2 years.

2) It's been running around quite happily (presumably) for the past 13 years, and as they say the proof of the pudding and all that.

Quite a disparity on the face of it.
One of these 'facts' isn't quite right, and you do have some evidence pointing at one of them.

You could try VOSA for the list of all previous owners, or the first one but that's a long shot at a guess, after all this time.

 

Just to add, in view of this, there is the possibility that it sustained a massive vandalism attack - all glass, panels, paint stripper etc. or even a fire. ie the shell etc. wasn't badly damaged.

As I've said, it has been around for the last 13 years.

 

No it doesn't. Only if it's an insurance write off.



To the OP, if it's cheap then it maybe worth a punt, otherwise look elsewhere. When you come to sell it on, others will know it's been written off and will value it less than a 'straight' car.

 

A 13 year old cat C uk turbo.

If its more than £500 then leave it well alone.

 

My main concern would be the age and the fact that the seller's had it only 6 months - how many miles on that engine ?

If it's been OK for 13 years (I understand the concerns re. Cat C) the repairs etc. must have stood the test of time.

 

Not if the shell is slightly twisted and it drives like sh*te. I've driven a repaired cat C and it was awful. How it was approved I'll never know as it crabbed sideways, even when going in a straight line!

 

That's because when it goes for a vic check all they do is check its the car in question and not a ringer
People chirp on about cat c's being smashed to pieces.....I bought my csl as a cat c repaired car and saw pics of damage and repairs , it had
Osf leg
Wing and inner wing
Bumper
All front painted
I'm more cautious of cat d cars.......any muppet with a socket set can repair in the back garden and put a dodgy mot on it.....no checks needed

 

The car would of been worth what, maybe 20K at the time it was smashed up. For them to say its not financially viable to repair a car of that value would give you some idea of how badly it was smashed up.
As I said earlier, unless its really clean with average miles and uber cheap (£500) then leave it well alone.

 

Car has 79k miles on and looks fairly clean, although I haven't seen it in person yet. Price is £2k.

I agree if it's been driven for 13 years then it must be okay, I'm more concerned that my insurance company and the seller don't know it's a Cat C even though he (the seller) did a check when he bought it.

 

Surely uk turbos are ten a penny at 2k no point buying a previously repaired car IMO

Mick

 

2 grand......lol..... now thats funny.

If you did a hpi check and it came up cat c then you can be sure that if the seller did one then he also knows its history and just playing dumb. Seen it a hundred times

 

This is a bit of an enigma, and there's a few things that don't fit together.

The seller says it was HPI clear 6 months ago - but now it's a Cat C from 13 years ago, yet the Ins company hasn't got it registered as a write-off.

Only two completely off the wall scenarios I can come up with:

a) has the registration been correctly communicated and entered for the check?

b) is it a private plate that's been transferred (not sure if HPI/Ins DB covers that, tho' I suspect it should in some way) ?

OP - have you told the seller about the check showing Cat C?
I think the seller's reaction/response will say it all.

 

That price is way over what it's worth surely.

 

Yes, plenty of clean ones around for that price.

 

If it has an MOT it should have had a VIC check unless it was dated before the accident...In which case it's invalid, If it has an MOT dated after the VIC check and there are no records of the check/ or if it hasn't got an MOT steer well clear...Or be thouough, Either way it's only worth a few hundred quid if you ask me.

 

Guys are missing the fact it could if been stolen, Paid out on and then found.

Let's face it, cat c after being 6 months old. They were getting taken back then

It happens to one of our customers. His car was taken with keys. The ins laid out then a week later it was found the in cat c the car and it went to auction with s new lock set. Full polish and 13k on the clock was a vrs Octavia.

 

I used 2 different text check numbers and both are saying..

Registered: July 2000
Damage category: C
Loss Date: 05-09-2000. Repair costs exceed pre-accident value. No record of a VIC inspection.

When I rang the seller he said he didn't know anything about a write off and that he'd done a check before he bought it 6 months ago.

But, on the 2nd text check I've done (a few minutes ago) it says the last keeper chnge was 30/09/2010, which wasn't 6 months ago

Bloke says he is a car trader but is selling this car privately as it is his personal car. And according to the text check it's had no plate/reg changes.



There is only one other I've found, same price but 59k miles on the clock with a few mods. Most are £2500-3500 asking price with more miles on.

Link to the Cat C car..

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-m...#photo-content

Ad for the other car isn't up anymore but he's still got it, basic details are: 59k miles, was put into dry storage for a few years and regularly ran during this time, cambelt done in 2008, tax Dec 2013 MOt May 2014, full performance exhaust system, induction kit, Dump valve, turbo timer 2 and tinted windows, and air con (which I understand is somewhat rare in these?). And has 'most' of the service history.


With this in mind should I even be considering the Cat C car? I could even just be looking at it with rose-tinted glasses because it's a) closer, b) obviously been valeted and looks shiny, and c) has the alloys which I'm after.

 

Right, well I'll be the one to dive in.

LEAVE WELL ALONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a logical front:

* Those in the know on here think it's overpriced;
* Too many question marks;
* A comparable one WILL come up (and those on here will run their rule over it );
* a no-brainer imo.

Oh - but you have a brain, because you had the sense to ask.

I hope you get the car your sense deserves - and it ain't this one.

 

That solves that then! If he is a mug enough to try to say it hasn't been written off after I've checked 2 different sources then he could be lying about anything else as well. Something else which just came to mind is that he put the ad up a day ago yet he said he's going on holiday on Saturday, who seriously puts a car up for sale with only 5 days before they're unable to make a sale

Cheers for the advice again everyone, most helpful

 

No probs at all, and thanks for that acknowledgement.

As I believe, this is a very helpful community.

It's just bl**dy annoying that sometimes we don't give people the chance to get used to us, and our little foibles.

 

If its CAT C, it will be on the front page at the bottom of the V5, there's no dodging it, also if its was stolen recovered with minimal damage its CAT X.

 

I never took it that way, and I've had much worse receptions on other elitist forums


Just adds more to the confusing picture. If it was written off and obviously it was as it has been documented, then why doesn't the V5 or insurance company know of it, or even the owner when he did a check?

Certainly doesn't add up.

 

Not always.... My csl had a clean log book and was cat c on hpi
Some slip through

Anyways forget all the cat whatever's .....as everyone has said it's not worth 2k it's worth £700 on a good day

 

2k! Well i bought a Blob WRX Cat D with 65k on the clock with a few mods that would have cost me quite a bit (VF22, dump valve etc) for only £2.4k

and 12k miles and a remap later not one massive problem with it at all (fingers crossed), i have had to pump money in to make it towards what i wanted and a couple bits and bats missing, but i have enjoyed the stuff what i have learnt and done to make it my own

But i agree with above 2k! Wayyyy OTT for a classic Cat C

 

Yes some slip through, especially if they have been on a private plate when damaged, then the plate gets swopped, I have had 2 that lost the cat rating when taken off private plates, although it was a few years ago.

 

Considering that you thought 'any' insurance claim puts a 'cat' against the car (and it clearly doesn't - only if it is a write off!), I would not be inclined to listen to any advise you have!

In my opinion, the op needs to view it and make up his own mind.
It has been going for a long time since the recorded claim. That says something.
Plus, are you buying it as an investment, or as a toy? Make a big difference to whether you feel it is over priced.

 

Just for information here is what the four categories A,B,C and D relate to or used to as I noted this many moons ago from an Internet page somewhere to do with salvage.

Cat A is for burn outs and gutted vehicles or vehicles where there is a contamination issue (e.g. human tissue in the vehicle following an RTA) Only value is in the baled weight at a metal recyclers.

Cat B is where the vehicle is no longer safe to put back on the road and must be broken or crushed. These can only be sold to registered dismantlers with an EPA waste licence. They are actually sold as parts and are no longer considered as a vehicle. There is no economic consideration involved, purely a safety one. Vehicles that have been flooded are normally written off as a cat B.

Cat C is where the car is repairable but is not economic to do so. Think older cars and or ones where the chassis needs jigging.

Cat D is where the vehicle is repairable and would be economic to do so (cost of salvage + cost of repairs < pre accident value) but the insurance company has decided not to repair the vehicle. This could be due to excessive storage or recovery costs, etc.

 

Well excuse me for been wrong! - now put your dummy down and take a deep breath before your Warrior fingers hit that keyboard again!

Go play the Thundercats theme or something to calm you down