what is a cat D?

[patrik]

Hello,

 

what is cat D and is it considered a fully roadlegal.

 

so if i buy it its basicically like any other supra?

[Homer]

It means the car has been declared a total loss by an insurance company, usually due to accident damage.

 

Cat D is the lowest band meaning that it was only slightly damaged. Cat C and Cat D can be legally returned to the road, Cat B and A cannot.

 

I would be careful buying one as it could have some nasty gremlins underneath, but thats not always the case if the repair has been done correctly. In the UK it means the resale value of the car is significantly lower.

 

Which car were you looking at? The damaged ones are usually known on here

[michael]

http://www.autocheck.co.uk/write-off-categories.html

 

A damaged vehicle which the insurer has decided not to repair, but which could be repaired and returned to the road.

 

Often a relatively small accident / some damage but the cost of repair means the insurance company don't consider it to be worth doing. For example a cheap TT Supra with a damaged intercooler and other front end bits could cost £5000 in parts and labour using Toyota bits but could be repaired for a lot less with "upgrade" parts from a tuner and labour costs from another repair shop.

 

Generally CAT D isn't something to worry about if the repairs are of a high standard but it usually means the car will be slightly cheaper to buy.

 

A detailed inspection would be recommended.

[patrik]

thanks for swift answeres!

 

soo i take it then as long as regplates and taxes are payed i can buy it

 

i was looking at pistonheads

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/509447.htm

 

and

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/461092.htm

 

looks like throwing paint stripper on cars that are good looking is the latest thing in uk :-(

[michael]

looks like throwing paint stripper on cars that are good looking is the latest thing in uk :-(

 

Sadly there are a lot of idiots here who like to damage things for fun

 

I remember the red one being posted on here, possibly by the owner at the time, my search skills suck tonight though.

[Scooter]

Link to the red one pre cleanup

[Homer]

That red one looked rather nice before the paint incident

 

It might be worth seeing if one of the members here can take a look at the cars for you before buying. There's always someone willing to help out if you ask nicely

[Jurgen-Jm-Imports]

i would go for red one but budget a full respray 2-3k

[Snooze]

Providing it's mechanically sound, I wouldn't worry too much about a Cat D on a ~5k car - it really won't affect the value THAT much, especially if it's only a paintwork problem.

 

However, I would suggest that you can probably get a similar spec'd car without the Cat D for a similar price......