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CAT-D Damage? uh?

Matta_88

Matta_88

Car  RS Meg 175
Well jus after some advice really. found a nice car that im interested in purchasing but one of the negatives is listed as "Cat-D Damage""Light Rear Damage"???
Heard it before but just wondered how vigilant you should be about it and ultimately what it could mean?
Would you guys buy a car with this label?
Thanks Muchly
Matt
 
i would...but 90% of people wouldnt on here, make sure its been repaired properly, all the door gaps are correct. If a cars been repaired well it will be as good or possibly better than normal....cause we all know what renaults like.
 
i would too, in fact i did. My fiesta has Cat-d damage. I have a letter saying this vehicle has been officially checked and approved (most accident damaged cars are checked by vosa). Check if they have any letters like this or just phone VOSA - vehicle & operator services agency just to confirm that its been ok'd

Lee
 
i thought it was only cat C that had to have the vic check which is only an identity check not a road worthyness check
 
I'd buy one but with a good discoutn of say 25% of what an undamaged one would be.
Could mean lower insurance payout and somtimes difficulty insuring it but thats unusual.
 
I would, just have, CAT C damage. Vandalised,police were involved etc etc so did ALOT of checking with all relative authrities, windows were all smashed, keyed all over and back bench cut with a knife (been restitched but on the look out for another one! heads up!) . Has all the correct documentation from vosa. Full respray in the original black with extra laquer, looks a beauty, all windows done with the darkest tint from renault. Looks gorgous. I'd never buy if the damage was body damage though, don't mind asthetical damage, but a bent car is a different matter....bargain price too;)


edit: first post, hello to all!
 
Last edited:
Basically Cat D is the best one to have out of the ABCD categories, sometimes its a cat D because of a total loss claim in case of stolen recovered, nothing wrong with the car.

I was told this by a guy at a car salvage place.
 
If the car was bent as you put it, it wouldn't be allowed back on the road .

There was a series not long ago on SKY with Vicky Butler Henderson ,they fixed cat d write offs and put em back on the road for a prospective buyer , they had to go through a very stringent test , chassis , wheel alignment etc ....
 
I'm not saying that it's still bent, i mean one that has previously, but fixed up, I just don't like the sound of it! all down to choce. I went to look at one a few weeks back, supposedly a straight car, took it for a drive, was all good, the i was checking gaps down the door and it widened towards the bottoms, then checked the bootlid, much bigger gap at one side, looked through the receipts, new roof panle and rear wing!! The guy "had no idea" went home, did a hpi and it was a cat b write off! just scares me panel damage, especially if it appears to have been done on the cheap, and as i didn't know it's status while viewing, i never checked for a certificate from vosa, bet it didn't have one!
 
Jays172 said:
I'm not saying that it's still bent, i mean one that has previously, but fixed up, I just don't like the sound of it! all down to choce. I went to look at one a few weeks back, supposedly a straight car, took it for a drive, was all good, the i was checking gaps down the door and it widened towards the bottoms, then checked the bootlid, much bigger gap at one side, looked through the receipts, new roof panle and rear wing!! The guy "had no idea" went home, did a hpi and it was a cat b write off! just scares me panel damage, especially if it appears to have been done on the cheap, and as i didn't know it's status while viewing, i never checked for a certificate from vosa, bet it didn't have one!
Click to expand...

If it was cat b it shouldn't have even been on the road .

B - Not for resale. Damaged beyond economical repair and/or severe structural damage.
Notification of Destruction required. (Parts can be removed and sold). Recorded at DVLA & HPI.
 
good thing i never went back, in that case, anyone looking in the nw autotrader, in bradford at a black 172 with 17k on the clock and advertised for around 5k, steer clear, they don't tell you n e thing apart from "it's straight" and it's evidently not! cheers for that info, just checked them links out
 
On that programme they lied. Cat D don't actually need any tests at all. my dads been repairing cat D's for 20 odd years.
 
terribleclio said:
On that programme they lied. Cat D don't actually need any tests at all. my dads been repairing cat D's for 20 odd years.
Click to expand...

I can't believe VBH lies :eek: I wonder is she lies in bed ;)
 
i'd buy one, especially if your planning on doing some mods to the area damaged (ie if it was a clio 1.2, and you wanted to put a 172 bumper on it)
 
i wouldnt and didnt!

i found a 54 plate clio £4200 was very nice exactly what i wanted and a HPId it on the way home to get the rest of the cast and when i found out went back to get my deposit back,
my mate crashed his clio at 120MPH and it was only a cat D also my 205 i took into a lampost was only cat C and that was truly fucked.

it halfs the price of the car.
 
someone once put a scuff on my rear bumper and I went through her insurance to get it resprayed. Does this mean my car will be listed as a cat D?
 
terribleclio said:
On that programme they lied. Cat D don't actually need any tests at all. my dads been repairing cat D's for 20 odd years.
Click to expand...

Thats correct. Cat Ds do not require any tests. Just MOT if it needs it.
 
Cat D - fine
Cat C - requires tests and a report
Cat B - is usually for breaking and not road worthy
 
trav3.jpg

tarvis2.jpg


CAT C
 
taylor, thats still repairable though. pretty heavy repair but still doable. As people have said, it all depends on the person really. i'd buy a damaged car and repair it cause i know me and my dad can do a professional job on it. i believe my cars Cat D and tbh the repair that was done on it is s**t....but i got it at 1/3 of the book price so im not really botherd.
 
this topic keeps popping up every month or so and there have been some really useful and helpful insights into the topic so if you did a search it would throw up loads of good stuff.

in summary, Cat D's and Cat C's are all relative. An insurance company can classify any car as anything it wants, they are not supposed to as they have strict guidelines to follow!! it all depends on what suits them at the time. Also, the Cat classification is relative to the value of the car, for example if a car is worth 200, and it sustains 150quids worth of damage, an insurance company isnt going to repair it or put it as a Cat D! yet according to the technical language of a Cat D, it is possible, yet in real life it wont happen. similarly if you have a 150,000 pound supercar and have a big crash that will cost 50,000+ to repair it can be classed as a Cat D with light damage etc... as the repair costs are small when compared to the replacement costs of the vehicle.

Personally i have had quite a few insurance written off cars, ive repaired quite a few myself so i know there are pro's and con's to doing it, but how do you know the car you are buying hasnt had substantial damage that has been repaired but not recorded on the log book or hpi register? if you are prepared to wait a little longer to get the car fixed and then be prepared to sell it for less than a 'straight' version then you can't go wrong in my opinion, just choose your car carefully, i.e. try to avoid any car with chassis damage which requires jigging work, as its costly and time consuming.

I emailed a similar guy on ebay and he told me it was a Cat B so i told him that was illegal, he told me it wasnt, so i sent him the link to the DVLA website and the VOSA website where it stipulates as such and he disappeared?!? haha

and yes, only Cat C require a VIC (Vehicle Identity Check) this is basically to makesure the car being repaired is the car that was damaged, i.e. the id hasnt been used on a stolen car, so there has to be evidence of repair. it isnt a roadworthy check as the car has to have passed an MOT before it has a VIC (if older than 3 years).

my advice, take a mechanic with you, or get them to show before and after pics to document what happened and what has been done. happy hunting!
 
Jays172 said:
good thing i never went back, in that case, anyone looking in the nw autotrader, in bradford at a black 172 with 17k on the clock and advertised for around 5k, steer clear, they don't tell you n e thing apart from "it's straight" and it's evidently not! cheers for that info, just checked them links out
Click to expand...
LOL, that sounds just like the one I pointed out to a mate earlier, supposedly full 182 spec?
My exact words were 'Far too cheap for my liking'.
The 6th one down http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW/cars_search.asp?modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&make=RENAULT&model=CLIO&variant=172&keywords=&min_pr=75&max_pr=&mileage=&agerange=&postcode=ls25+2lh&miles=40&max_records=50&source=0&photo=1&sort=3&ukcarsearch_full=SEARCH
 
^^ theres no point pretending you dont have to be careful because you do. and i would aim to pay dirt cheap money.
 
len_beach said:
LOL, that sounds just like the one I pointed out to a mate earlier, supposedly full 182 spec?
My exact words were 'Far too cheap for my liking'.
The 6th one down http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW/cars_search.asp?modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&make=RENAULT&model=CLIO&variant=172&keywords=&min_pr=75&max_pr=&mileage=&agerange=&postcode=ls25+2lh&miles=40&max_records=50&source=0&photo=1&sort=3&ukcarsearch_full=SEARCH
Click to expand...

That's the one! I think a few people should perhaps report it, they stand more chance of being arsed to get off their arses. I though it was too cheap too, but you can't risk not having a look can you! It's definately cat b, got a hpi report on it. Also receipts for a new roof and rear wing! I'll call in the morning
 
azzer2000 said:
if you can only afford a bent one, dont bother buying one i say.
Click to expand...
thats your own personal experience though, plenty of people who have bought damaged cars and repaired them are fine, chances are the chassis was bent on the one you had and it hadn't been pulled on the jig. You won't lose money if you buy cheap. Buy cheap, sell cheap.
 
it really does depend on the damage, most of the time its purley bodywork in which case they're a good buy, or mechanical in which case if your handy with a spanner its also a good buy. TBH if structurally its unsound i wouldnt bother, but most of the time this isnt the case.

taylor - is that a 205 in the pic? i assume it was written off due to the amount of damage costing more than the car?
 
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