Cat C?

[THE_Liam]

Need some advice...

I've found a car I'm very interested in, but about 3 years ago it was involved in a low-speed accident and written off as a Cat C. On the damage repair side of things I'm not worried, basically the guy was on a roundabout and the driver on the right of him drifted out of his lane and made contact with the offside of the car, cracking the side section of the front bumper, denting the front wing and rear wheelarch and scraping right along the side, literally just panel damage. The guy did the repair himself and he emailed me loads of pictures of the wing and bumper being replaced, the wheelarch being beaten out slightly and then filled and the whole car being prepped for a full respray, which looks brilliant. The chassis leg is straight and the guy has a certificate showing that the car has been jigged and is straight, so I'm not all all worried about the quality of the repair, the guy is an Audi fanatic who has 5 of them

Thing is, I remember my old man buying a write-off years back and not being able to insure it, but is that still the case? It's been MOT'ed a few times since and had its VIC check, but is it gonna be a f**ker to insure? Anyone ever bought a write-off?

By the way, it's a '91 Audi 90 2.3 20v Sport in tornado red, with 83k and a huge service history. He only wants a grand for it, and judging by what I've seen it is very cheap for a clean 20v 90, probably due to it being a write-off...

[tachagti6]

my old car was cat c and i had no trouble, if you have the reg then just look into it first

[Niall]

Sure it's a cat c? I'm sure cat Cs normally are structural damage and this is why insurance can get a bit funny about it. It's sounds like it should be a cat d

[darrenjlobb]

Cat C's have certainly never prooved any issues for me....

[1616six]

You are 'supposed' to tell insurance if you have a car that's been written off, BUT how many people buy and sell cars without even knowing. As most of you know I work for an insurance company and it's not one of the questions we ask, but I know people are supposed to notify them.

[THE_Liam]

Should be OK then, just remember my dad having a load of aggro with a V6 Granada that had been a write-off, maybe it was a Cat B or something? Gonna go see this 90 anyway and see for myself

[Niall]

Cat a and b can't go on the road.

Cat a is normally fire damaged or someone has died in the car in a serious accident
Cat b is severe structural damage
(both of these have to be destroyed)
Cat c is normally servers panel damage or light structural damage
Cat d can be as much as a scratch but if it's not economical for the insurance to repair it, they will cat d it.

[THE_Liam]

Guess it was classed as severe panel damage then, so much of it was scraped that it needed a full respray to look right, and the rear arch needed panel beating rather than replacing which I suppose puts the labour bill up. Even now an immaculate 90 20v Sport isn't really worth north of 2 grand unless it's a Quattro and even then maybe, and I reckon just a respray could be a grand done to a good standard....

[Gunge]

Depending on value of car as well Cat c is a something like 60% value of car to repair Cat d is 40% so you could have a car worth 4k and be key'd down both sides roof and bonnet meaning it needs a full spray job, that job through an insurance approved body shop would be 2.5k+ so the car would go down as a cat c no structural damage just paint needed

[mark_airey]

as I understand it, its what was said above by Nial and AFAIK as long as it has been VIC tested (which you say it has) then you shouldn't have any problems

[THE_Liam]

Cool, I really like the look of it and I've wanted a 90 for years!

[Connor]

as I understand it, its what was said above by Nial and AFAIK as long as it has been VIC tested (which you say it has) then you shouldn't have any problems

Only thing a vic test will tell you, is that it hasnt been stolen and passed off as accident repair

[mark_airey]

Only thing a vic test will tell you, is that it hasnt been stolen and passed off as accident repair

Are you not thinking of a HPI check?? A VIC test is what has to be done to a write off after its repaired before it is allowed back on the road isn't it? thats how i understood it anyway

[Niall]

Only thing a vic test will tell you, is that it hasnt been stolen and passed off as accident repair

Are you not thinking of a HPI check?? A VIC test is what has to be done to a write off after its repaired before it is allowed back on the road isn't it? thats how i understood it anyway

Correct. Your thinking about a HPI connor

[Connor]

No a vehicle identity check, is... to check the cars identity, its not any sort of structural check or test

[Connor]

Look here:
http://m.direct.gov.uk/syndicationContr ... 1201022038

[hbomb1905]

Cat C won't affect your insurance, I insured my first car loads of times and that was Previously Cat C

[Flynn]

Cat a and b can't go on the road.

Cat a is normally fire damaged or someone has died in the car in a serious accidentCat b is severe structural damage
(both of these have to be destroyed)
Cat c is normally servers panel damage or light structural damage
Cat d can be as much as a scratch but if it's not economical for the insurance to repair it, they will cat d it.

I don't get that though, say if someone was murdered in a car, they say it has to be destroyed because it has been contaminated with human tissue, but if the car is otherwise fine then why crush it? Seems a waste when they can just replace the seats and carpet.

On the insurance category thing, the whole 'write off' system is a farce. You could have a crash and then have the damage repaired, no one would ever know. It's only if the other driver wants to go through insurance that you have to inform your insurance company of the details.

[Niall]

Flynn I think if someone dies in the car, it only has to be crushed if they died as a result of the crash.
I found it weird my self when I heard it.

Technically you should inform the insurance of every accident you have even if you bump your car into your own front garden wall!

[Flynn]

Ah right that would explain it lol! I had visions of a brand new Range Rover Vogue being crushed because it's gangster owner was shot dead in it! LOL!

[THE_Liam]

I went with a mate to have a VIC done on his Jag, basically they check the VIN and chassis number to make sure they match and haven't been messed with. They do it so that a stolen car can't just be given a new identity taken from a write-off, their just checking that the car your having the check done on is actually the car that was written off

[Connor]

See, liam knows what he's on about

[spawn]

Like everyone has already stated, it wont effect your insurance premium at all. You dont even have to mention the fact it has been written of previously as they have all that information at their finger tips.

[jo3]

just so you know.. the vic check only makes sure its not a cut and shut jobby and its 2 cars roll in to one, not the actual repair.

the person who checks the reapair is the m.o.t inspector when it has one (as the m.o.t is invalid when its been wrote off)

[THE_Liam]

Went to see it this morning, it was a shed anyway. Not because of the write-off history, because the guy was trying to tell me that the oil and water were SUPPOSED to mix in 5 cylinder Audis...

What a time-wasting numpty

[Flynn]

That must have been awkward. I often wonder how one is supposed to handle such a situation. Do you just turn around and walk away? Is it that simple?

[THE_Liam]

I told him I wasn't interested even at a lower price because the HG is a tw*t of a job on 5 cylinder Audis. He sarcastically thanked me for "wasting his time", so I pointed out that by trying to sell a car with a blown HG, he was a lying b*stard...

Easy

[Scott]

What a twunt!