Cat D 172........

[LaurenF]

........ what are the risks with buying Category D cars?

I'm at work so thought I'd just post up a quick one to get people's views.

I'm so torn. See a gorgeous Monaco Blue 172, 04 reg with 30,000 for £3995. Just done one of those text hpi checks and it came back that it's Cat D.

What do I do??

 

[Gumby]

Knock £1000 off the asking price?

 

[172Ben]

CAT D are generally just body panels as far as im aware.

 

[MillerLight]

Ask them if they knew it was a cat d. if they say no, and it happed when they had the car id want a very big discount.

Cat-d are basically “light cosmetic damage” and so the car wont be dangerous etc, but it effect re-sale vales and some insurance companies now are not covering any insurance claim car.

 

[Timmay]

knock em down a bit more i think

 

[benmore]

make sure it's a good repair job - a GOOD look over it, and ask if they know anything of what was damaged, etc - and as above, knock a significant amount off the asking price because you will have trouble selling it for 4 grand anytime soon.

the only problem with a decently repaired cat d car is, it isn't worth anywhere near as much as a non cat d, right?

at least that is what I was lead to believe.

I saw an 03 plate civic type r when I was looking for a new car on 35k, looked mint, could not spot the repair, and it was up for 3995.. I went for the clio in the end anyway, as when I saw monaco blue I could not resist and I personally found the clio driving experience alot more entertaining!

 

[ForceIndia]

Def over priced. Riz just picked up an 02 ph2, 26k miles, for close to that price. £3k max.

 

[Beef-Mc]

Pics of the damage and a list of what was repaired would be a good start.

Personally wouldn't go for a CAT D, plenty of other cars to be had.

 

[polarbert]

I saw an 03 plate civic type r when I was looking for a new car on 35k, looked mint, could not spot the repair, and it was up for 3995.. I went for the clio in the end anyway, as when I saw monaco blue I could not resist and I personally found the clio driving experience alot more entertaining!

Thats an absolutely crazy price. My mate got a similar car NON Cat-D for 10k.

 

[polarbert]

Def over priced. Riz just picked up an 02 ph2, 26k miles, for close to that price. £3k max.

He still got the V6?

 

[Benbosh]

My cup is a cat d and ive had no trouble with it in the 2 years ive had it so far, as long as its been through a couple of mot's with no trouble then that should tell you that nothing is majorly wrong just take a look round it.
Seems a good price tbh

 

[nickl360]

Just realise that the price estimations on here are way below normal evaluations. The seller will probably tell you to do one if you try and knock a grand off it.

 

[benmore]

I saw an 03 plate civic type r when I was looking for a new car on 35k, looked mint, could not spot the repair, and it was up for 3995.. I went for the clio in the end anyway, as when I saw monaco blue I could not resist and I personally found the clio driving experience alot more entertaining!

Thats an absolutely crazy price. My mate got a similar car NON Cat-D for 10k.

I paid 4500 for my 52 clio 172.. so yep VERY cheap.

it was another thing that made me walk away because in the back of my head even tho I could spot nothing, something kept niggling away saying, something is wrong here, don't waste 4k, don't waste 4k lol

better safe than sorry tbh

 

[olly_mango]

make sure you know exactly what your looking for, paint defects are the most obvious things to see, but sometimes theres deeper probslems with cat d's check it drives ok, make sure no strange knocks or rattles and if your not 100% convinced walk away, as could be death trap if not repaired properly, clio's aren't the strongest car to start with, never mind after a crash! A good second opinion off someone who knows what there looking for! and always knock some money off it!

 

[Goders172]

there are bargains to be had with cat D's if the repairs are good, i think that is a little over priced but I doubt you'd get it for a grand less, ask them exactly what happened and what needed to be replaced, if it sounds ok go and look at it and ask again to see if the two answers tie up, you can usually tell when people are being honest with you, have it checked over and go from there.

Oh and i always find when buying any car, drive a mint one with low miles, FSH etc (if you havent already) to get an idea what they should be like then go test ones you can afford and you have something to base it on.

People are correct about the resale issue, you wont get as much, but you wont have paid as much, they can take longer to sell though.

Good luck

 

[Jamie]

Its the re-sale which would bother me more... Finding buyers for cat cars is going to always be substantially more difficult.

 

[ForceIndia]

Def over priced. Riz just picked up an 02 ph2, 26k miles, for close to that price. £3k max.

He still got the V6?

No, all gone, to someone in nottingham I think

 

[oneseventwo]

Its the re-sale which would bother me more... Finding buyers for cat cars is going to always be substantially more difficult.

Depends when it took place and how long you keep the car. If itwas 2 years ago and then you keep the car 3 years, then it will have been through 4 MOTs in the meantime - any potential problem really should have occured by then.

On the other hand if it was Cat D just before you bought it and then tried to sell it on 6 months later, the buyer would be right to be cautious.

IMO.

 

[Bash]

I bent the chassis on a Peugeot 3.0 406 coupe (whilst driving it through a wall) had it repaired at my expense but it never handled the same. Having been in several major Clio accidents I can tell u they bend quite easily and body parts are easy and cheep to replace so if its been written off then there probably is a major reason for it. As long as it hasn't been re-jigged then ur ok basically, again like everyone said watch out for paint flakes.

 

[Ian_182]

Its the re-sale which would bother me more... Finding buyers for cat cars is going to always be substantially more difficult.

Thats what has always put me off.

They seam like real bargains at the time

 

[LaurenF]

Hmmm, might leave it then. It says it happened on 06/04/08 and the car is being sold through a dealer.

Oh well, will keep looking, I'm not giving up on owning a Monaco Blue 172.