Help People, the valver i’m looking at buying was an in

[pete bann]

Just had it HPIed and It was a catagory C write off in 2000. Its been repaired and i swear is absolutly mint condition, but thoughts are running round my head. Do i walk away or should it be something not to worry to much about, bareing in mind that i plan to keep it for a few years anyway.

any advice please chaps

pete

 

[ReNWiLL]

Walk away my friend.

Not worth the gamble.

 

[weight]

walk away, youll find a geniune one!
just have to sieve throu the crap!
itll be hard, but leave it well alone!

 

[16V_Matt]

Sod walking run!
there could be many hidden problems that u cant see on the surface!

Matt

 

[JamesG]

stroll casually away whistling

 

[pete bann]

is it worth getting the AA to check it though? Its been issued with two MOT certificates since then so does this stand for something?

 

[Captain Slarty]

Hi Pete, Its probably the best deal available if it was done correctly !.

get a decent aa or rac inspection, if its straight, go for it!!!!!!!!..

bargain dood.. probably got more new bits tan a new thing lol !

Joe.

 

[gaj16v]

Think id walk too , even though you;ve been after one for ages, i think it would be best to wait for "yours" to turn up!

 

[Eddd]

Find out where the work was done if possible. If not available, Id walk, but if it was a reputable firm and it checks out under very close inspection by a genuine expert, start bargaining. You are in the drivers seat and make sure the seller knows it! Tell him about all the perfect examples you have seen for roughly the same money and tell him you really dont want to insult him with your offer but you have to be realistic.

The same is going to happen to you when you try to offload it in a year or two.

 

[GR7]

Just consider yourself lucky in finding out now rather than later! A lucky escape for you Pete.

 

[Nick Read]

Walk, walk, shmalk. You bunch of wusses. If the price is right and it looks straight then get it! Obviously you wouldnt pay book price for it, but if you can get it for half that and it looks and drives right then why not go for it?

Its pretty easy to check if the bodyworks right...jack it up, look under the front end at the subframe, check that all the panel gaps are even (massive gaps as standard on a 16v!), check the roof between the sunroof and top of the door for big creases, check for glass under the seats or carpets etc etc.

 

[BenR]

drive it!!
ask if you can take the bumpers off, compare sides, measure....make sure, and if AOK, BUY!

nothing to be scared of if its a good repair. Our Porsche workshop repair some really badly damaged cars, we have a chassis jog to put everything right. and sometimes, the repairs can cost over 40K!!!!! haha, good money!

and you could never tell the diff!

my clio had been bashed up the rear, but i would never know unless that dude told me!!! its that good a repair!

actually, it was hit by a V6 clio during a magazine test.....idiots! they ruined 2 of our clios!

 

[pete bann]

cheers for all the advice people, im gonna have it cos the repair work was done at Renault and its in absolutly orgasmic mint condition!! The engine bay was the cleanest bay i have seen, alloys all refurbished and full leather interior was also in mint condition!!

Cheers for the advice chaps

C U at the nxt meet so you can judge for yourselves!!

Pete

 

[weight]

Nooooooooooooooooo! tell me ur joking about having the cleanist engine bay!!!!!!!!!

arrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 

[Ben H]

Hmmm...if you know what to look for, then beat the price down if its OK. The problem is if you only ever drive that 16v, then when you get into another in a years time and realise that the handling in yours is actually quite poo, youll wish that you had not gotten it. Try another for comparison.

 

[Ben H]

...and I bet my engine bay is cleaner

 

[pete bann]

cheers lads!

 

[Tonys]

If you know what your looking at then there is no prob at all.
But a trained eye will see alot you dont.
Agree with Joe totaly tho. And the car isnt really worth any less.

 

[Infinicar]

If the car is recorded on the HPI register, it gonna be worth less and on the same token harder to sell.

Pete, well done for getting an HPI done....many people overlook this. Now, walk away and find another one. Theres plenty about.

Paul

 

[yogi]

blah blah blah has it crossed anyones mind that it don,t take a lot to write off a valver
it doesn,t get written off due to the amount of damage its all down to cost so for example if ya car get,s keyed up all over and needs a total respray 9/10 will not be cost efective then voila a categary c total loss and it didn,t even hit a kirb if a car is to badly smashed to repair it gets classed as break only and wont see tarmac ever again the moral is if the A pillars are original (pull the door rubbers back to check)& the sills etc and there is no obvious damage go for it as it may have been something silly that done it

 

[ReNWiLL]

Wise words from Yogi there.

Still, Id walk due to the fact that when I sell it, its gonna be worth less due to the hpi and potential buyers are too, going to be wary. If hpid you can find out what went wrong surely. Maybe a wiser move b4 making your choice.

Bill.

 

[bigmoose]

If it was an economical write off then you are able to get it removed from the register by having a test done on it which is like an MOT but a little more detailed. If it is what you want then go for it. I will get the details of getting it removed from the register as soon as I can and will post it up.

 

[ChavyBoy]

Pete do the garage know that you are aware it was a write off ?

 

[lofty]

id definitly buy it if the money is sensible, i bet alot of us have got a simi;lar car but they are not listed or we simply dont know, you would be very suprised,

one thing thta hasnt been mentioned is sometimes insurance can get away with giving you scrap value as it classed as writen off, but i think this is normaly in the case of cars that are deemed fit for parts only (Cat A&B i think)

 

[pete bann]

wise words from everybody, im paying £3700. Im going to go up on saturday to re check it and this time im taking a mate whos a Police vehichle examiner. Im prepared to pay that much cos if everything checks out then ill have a fantastic motor on my hands. Obviously ill ckeck things like wheelbase and tyre wear( to indicate whether the chassis is twisted or not)

pete