registered wrtie offs

[nev16v]

right if i buy a car that has been written off, only grade c or d, where the damage is basically more than the insurance company say the car is worth, what happens if i do the car up and sell it, do i have to inform anyone im doing it, or that im selling it, or do u have to re register it or anything. any info on this would be helpful.

also i assume if someone does an hpi check on the car it will come up its been written off, obviously would put must people off, but if its only minor body work and few panels that need replacing will this come up.

 

[RobFenn]

I read an article, its not as easy it looks sometimes, though my uncle bought and repaired a 456 Ferrari for £50k which would of been worth double that.

-Rob

 

[mechachrome]

i think it may be more hassle than worth, i know i have had HPId a couple of cars and they have come back a certain grade, but i personally would still not touch it for whatever reason. hard to sell on again.

 

[northy]

I know you will have to inform the next buyer as it will say Cat D C on your V5

 

[nev16v]

yeah is what i though, as i no i wouldnt be happy with buyign a written off car, i was gonna take pictures of the damage but still guess it limits to who would buy the car.

 

[Pete]

You have to inform the person you sell it on to apparently. Personally I wouldnt buy one unless I was gunna keep the car untill it died completely, would be too much hastle for me selling it on again!

 

[nev16v]

yeah thats v.true. so is it just a case o finformign the person im sellign it to that the car wa swritten off. i wouldnt have to inform anyoen else that the car is road worthy again.

 

[tom-m]

I would buy a car if i knew it was a cat C write off as its been registered as that because its is reparable. Its only panel damage. so u wouldnt buy a car thats ever been in a bodyshop thats had new bumpers and big dents taken out the doors and wings and then resprayed? I would.

 

[mechachrome]

Quote: Originally posted by tom-m on 26 May 2004

I would buy a car if i knew it was a cat C write off as its been registered as that because its is reparable. Its only panel damage. so u wouldnt buy a car thats ever been in a bodyshop thats had new bumpers and big dents taken out the doors and wings and then resprayed? I would.

only if i was keeping it for good or as a second car, cos its easier said than done i think, try explaining it people when you want to re-sell it, sure the odd person may come along,

ive been selling my 172 for over a month now, clean and history spotless, reduced to a very cheap price, and still hardly any interest, how harder would it be to sell a car that has a category write-off?

nev the choice is yours mate, im only saying i wouldnt buy one, but im sure there would be some people out there interested as has just been proved.

 

[badgersport]

A friend of mine used to own a bodyshop before he retired and Ive known a car be written off by the insurance company for 2 broken headlights. It was on old Volvo, value about £1000 and the headlights were nearly £300 each plus the cost of fitting. Most insurance companies tend to write off if the repair is much over 60% of the vehicle value as they then get to sell the salvage.

 

[TheCake]

I have knowingly bought a repaired Class C write off which was repaired. I sold it on informing the owner that it had previously been in a car accident and nothing was said about it.

I had a full AA service report to say it was sound and there was nothing wrong with it.

Si.

 

[Infinicar]

Bear in mind that the rules have now changed.

Cat C cars now have to be inspected after their repair before a V5 will be issued, this ensuring the intergrity of the repair.

IMO absolutely nothing wrong with buying a damaged repaired car - so long as the damage areas have been repaired properly....it can be a bit of a bargain for the buyer.....

We had this Lotus Carlton in......

http://www.infinicar.com/lotus/889_1.jpg

Which when repaired ended up like this....

http://www.infinicar.com/instock/l657/1.jpg

Owner bough the car for about 60% of its true value....it was a 39,000 mile late LC, worth circa £20k - purchased because of its history (accident) for £13000

It drove every bit as well as mine, and when it was inspected, passed all geometry tests/integirty tests with flying colours - those of you that visited whilst it was here having its clutch fixed will know how nice it turned out.....

So all in all, a good way to buy a car at discount if you are careful.

Paul

 

[black-cat]

Was that Lotus Carlton re-shelled? as I cant believe the roofline and sill was straightened.

 

[matt the cat]

Not all cars are listed on the hpi register. It could have been a third party write off and not logged.

IMO a car may be repaired to the high standard shown in the LC above, but as an engineer who has studied stress and strain etc, once a metal has been deformed it is impossible for it to retake its original for. So If a car has been jigged and meets all checks, if and when the car is involved in a crash, the straightened elements will serve as a weak link.

i just wouldnt feel safe driving a high performance car that has had that magnitude of damage initially, but each to their own...

 

[Infinicar]

The Lotus Carlton above was not reshelled - it was fitted with a new sill/pillar assembly. For the record, we did not carry this work out, just sold the car on to a Lotus club member.

I hear what you are saying Matt about metal strengths - you are ofcourse quite correct. This is one of the reasons the rules have changed - to make sure that the repairs take into account the weakened areas in an accident. The metal thats been affected and not replaced is not going to give as much strength in the event of another accident on the same part of the car. The sill/pillar assembly on the car above was fitted with some extra strengthening pieces....the thinking ofcourse is that should it be hit agian on that side with that degree of impact, the sill will take the bulk of the force again, before its transferred to the "weaker" metal of the floor - this incidentially was not replaced (it could have been) because the chassis number stamped into the floor resides right at the point of impact under the drivers seat.

In keeping with the good reputation and image I like to portray, when I advertised this car, I actually showed the before and after pictures - a bit of a rarity in the selling of a recorded car. But it seemed to work - people didnt seem that put off, and in fact I could have sold this car 4-5 times over.....

Horses for courses, you pays your money you takes your choice

Paul

 

[matt the cat]

paul,

I was not implying any sub standard working practices at infinicar, just using the lc as an example.

Its nice to see that companies such as yours go to the level of consideration that you have when repairing. There are so many duffers out there serving as potential death traps to the unsuspecting.

Best regards,

Matt.

 

[TheCake]

Quote: Originally posted by matt the cat on 27 May 2004


There are so many duffers out there serving as potential death traps to the unsuspecting.

If I may say so, probably the post of the topic. There is nothing wrong with an accident repaired car IF its done correctly.

Its the bad ones which give the idea a bad name.