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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

buying a write off


natony

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im looking at buying a damaged car (very cheap), ive done a hpi check on it and its come back as a total loss (dont really know what it means) but it doesn't say what cat it is, which i thought was strange.

 

 

anyone had any experience with this ?

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total loss is cat A and B isnt it?

 

I wouldnt buy that if thats the case. you will never get it on the road legaly and you would end up spending lots on it even if its a class C or D its still worth a tiny ammount when you come to sell it. For example if you buy a supe for 7k and when you come to sell it maybe its worth 6. but if you buy a cat C for 1k, spend 3k on it. when you sell it its probably still only worth 1.5k

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Cat A = crusher

Cat B = parts can be sold off it

Cat C = light structural damage, repair cost over a percentage of the vehicles agreed value

Cat D = light damage easily repaired, written off due to repair cost over a percentage of the value and salvage and courtesy car fees push the price over the value. or no longer parts available for the vehicle

 

I think thats correct, can someone correct me if im wrong. Ta.

Edited by L18msy (see edit history)
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Cat A = crusher

Cat B = parts can be sold off it

Cat C = light structural damage, repair cost over a percentage of the vehicles agreed value

Cat D = light damage easily repaired, written off due to repair cost over a percentage of the value and salvage and courtesy car fees push the price over the value. or no longer parts available for the vehicle

 

I think thats correct, can someone correct me if im wrong. Ta.

 

 

Sounds correct to me

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Cat C is alright, you should be able to get it for a cheap price. Does not always mean its a shitter.

 

I brought my missus Polo as a Cat C & all that was damaged was a headlight, bumper & slightly bent bonnet.

Insurance did not want to pay out for repairs & it got written off. We brought it & she has had it for 2 years with no issues what so ever!

 

Find out what category it is mate.

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when i worked at hastings direct. i was in the theft and total loss department, from what i can remember the cats were as followed

 

Catergory A - roof caved in, burnt out, flooded, severe damage such as run over by bus etc. to be crushed and never ever used again in any which way.

 

Catergory B - chassis broken beyond repair, ok parts can be sold. but body frame must never be used, most are crushed.

 

Catergory C - this is a car that can be repaired, however is un-economical to do so, IE the car is worth 4 grand, but repair costs mount up to 6 grand. you can get it repaired, but if you do so. you would have to get a specialist engineer in the car industry to completely check your car and deem it road worthy again, this can lead to getting the total loss mark removed from the car

 

Catergory D - damage totals more than 60% of the cars value, this is the lowest and some insurance companies will give the insured the oppertunity to get a second estimate of repair costs, and are generally very lenient, it is still un-economical to repair, but on a much lesser scale than catergory C

 

just as a warning however if the mark is still on the car after repair, it is worth considerably less to sell on to the next owner!

 

hope this helps :)

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another note, the reason insurance companies repair costs are often towards the total loss area of life, is because they have to use brand new and approved parts from the individual car manufacturer, if my car was deemed a total loss, should it ever happen, i would get a second estimate with second hand parts, that way, i could possibly have the car repaired, the insurance be happy, and me be happy. only problem is. your cars repairs are then not covered by a warranty from the insurance company. but when you weigh up the pro's and cons, keeping your car is the bigger picture in my opinion!

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like dan has said, bear in mind that a cat C must be checked by a governing body to ensure the car is safe to be back on the road. i wouldnt by damaged car's, cat D's arent that bad but would never go for a car that has had structural problems.

 

my experience comes from a friends traggic accident who repaired a Cat C car. he had a horrific accident and the car fell apart like cheese. my friend survived but his passenger (another close friend of mine) didnt. :(

 

dont gamble your life for saving some £'s. money can be replaced but life cant. sorry for bringing such a negative mood and story but people need to know this.

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As Adnan said, Structural damage would be something which you would need to avoid.

 

Though you don't need to avoid Cat C or D cars, an example is this. My FTO is currently a Cat C, this is due to a cabbie pulling out in front of me. The insurance company had a look at the car & found the they needed to replace. Quotes from Mitsibishi in brackets.

 

Bumper (£900)

One Headlight (£400)

Wing (£275)

 

With repair labour they quoted close to £3k to have the car repaired, So they wrote the car off even though my car was driveable (Headlights working even) damage was fairly low. I got paided out for the car & repaired it in under £900 inc the resprays! I am now going to sell the car cheap because it hardly owes me anything, so someone will get a decent car for cheap!

 

I would recommend to take someone who knows about accident cars, if this is out of your area then I would avoid it at all costs but if you know what you are doing then you can get yourself a good deal.

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  • 3 weeks later...
like dan has said, bear in mind that a cat C must be checked by a governing body to ensure the car is safe to be back on the road. i wouldnt by damaged car's, cat D's arent that bad but would never go for a car that has had structural problems.

 

my experience comes from a friends traggic accident who repaired a Cat C car. he had a horrific accident and the car fell apart like cheese. my friend survived but his passenger (another close friend of mine) didnt. :(

 

dont gamble your life for saving some £'s. money can be replaced but life cant. sorry for bringing such a negative mood and story but people need to know this.

 

Thats not quite true as the Vosa check is only an identity check, it has nothing to do with checking the quality of repair.

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The Aerotop Shell I purchased to rebuild my supra was a Cat C.

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with buying a Cat C or D, it's just as said before, not economical for insurers to pay out for the repairs on such cars.

 

A or B and you won't be able to get it back on the road. So don't bother.

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