Cat D, to buy or not to buy?

[fatbob]

I have been giving serious consideration to buying a Cat D Furby, it had very low pre-accident milage and has been professionally repaired.

I was wondering if anyone else had gone down a similar road and what, if any issues, had arisen?

I did it once before when I was a youngster (Peugeot 309GTi late eighties) but at that point didn't care about consequences, I just wanted it, so I had it.

My main concerns have been with insurance, as in what if.... will they provide standard cover or get snotty?

Any info greatly appreciated as I am getting old and careful, sad or what?

[dave hedgehog]

Depends how it drives and if it gets involved in another collision.

I once test drove a car which felt wrong and on being inspected by the AA on a pre purchase check it had been involved in a serious rear end shunt and the floor was creased the rear axle was damaged and that explianed the feeling of there being something wrong on driving that motor was a potential death trap.

A vehicle thats been written off due to accident damage to the crumple zones or body shell will fair far worse in a collision that one that has it's original structure and crumple zones.

I think it was 5th gear who drove a crashed written off car into one of the same age and model which had not been involved in a collsion the results were shocking, can't find that one on youtube though.

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Hummmmm, I'd want to see pictures of the damage before it was repaired, as long as it was a decent fix, and wasn't mullered in the accident then I'd go for it. All the insurance will do is take it into account if it were to be stolen/written off with regards to it's value.

Matt

[TriggerFish]

I think it was 5th gear who drove a crashed written off car into one of the same age and model which had not been involved in a collsion the results were shocking, can't find that one on youtube though.

I remeber seeing that one. Would be enough to put me off totally tbh.

[fatbob]

The only reason I bought the afore mentioned 309GTi was it was a re-shell by someone I knew and trusted, this Furby VRS is neither of these things, so I just wanted a different perspective, other than, "I want".

Thanks Guys!

Edited 10 September, 2010 by fatbob

[bnjyn]

Bear in mind it will be more difficult to sell on in future, a dealer won't want to touch it.

But if you are confident in the standard of repair, and it's cheap enough to depreciate to zero over the time you intend to own it - then it could be a great bargain.

[Rio]

I have been giving serious consideration to buying a Cat D Furby, it had very low pre-accident milage and has been professionally repaired.

I was wondering if anyone else had gone down a similar road and what, if any issues, had arisen?

I did it once before when I was a youngster (Peugeot 309GTi late eighties) but at that point didn't care about consequences, I just wanted it, so I had it.

My main concerns have been with insurance, as in what if.... will they provide standard cover or get snotty?

Any info greatly appreciated as I am getting old and careful, sad or what?

I bought a Cat C in January which had been written off due to the previous owner driving it through a river and bending the con rod.... was professionally repaired/replaced and one of the best cars Ive ever had. I can't say ive had any problems with it being a Cat C for insurance, but ive accepted that it will be hard to sell in the future.

It's definitely worth having an AA check done, gives you alot of info and they will notice any anomalies on the car.

Rio

[nickfel]

I have been giving serious consideration to buying a Cat D Furby, it had very low pre-accident milage and has been professionally repaired.

I was wondering if anyone else had gone down a similar road and what, if any issues, had arisen?

I did it once before when I was a youngster (Peugeot 309GTi late eighties) but at that point didn't care about consequences, I just wanted it, so I had it.

My main concerns have been with insurance, as in what if.... will they provide standard cover or get snotty?

Any info greatly appreciated as I am getting old and careful, sad or what?

If it's well repaired and the right price it could be a good buy. Providing you keep it a long while when the value is irrelevent. Because if you try to p/x it your going to have problems. I doubt a franchise dealer will touch it and if you do get a bid it will very low.

It's swings and roundabouts so be very careful!

[stevobeavo]

My last car was technically a write off because it had a tiny creased dent in the rear qaurter. If I went through the insurance it would have cost more than the car was worth (£1.2k 306)

So your car might had just had body damage. But Id still ask to see the damage.

[R22JGB]

A Category D write off is the one with the least amount of damage there should be nothing structurally affected during the damage. Usually these cars are written off by the insurance company because the repair costs are close to the current value of the car.

Make sure the price asked for reflects is is a Cat D and check with your insurance company. Some companies don't like to cover a previous write off, whilst some don't bother

Try to find out why it was written off ( a stolen recovered car can be a Cat D) Inspect the car check that any repair works are good quality and ensure the price is right, do not pay anything like book price even if it looks mint!!!

An HPI check should confirm the car's history. My son was looking at a 3 series BMW as a Cat D with 80k on it, we ran a test, the car had been written off twice!!! once in 2006 and again in 2008, the "low" mileage turned out to be over 240K!!!!