Buying?-quick question
Discussion
I'd assess each car individually, but in principle, yes.
The Elise is one of those cars that can end up being written off as a result of sometimes very minimal damage. Don't forget for every car that's a known write off, there's another car that's been stuffed into a tyre wall on a trackday and has been repaired in the owner's shed. No insurance involvement, no record of any damage. At least you know a write off has been damaged.
Think about it - any damage to the front or rear clam that can't be repaired means a whole new clam. The insurance company will want to carry out repairs at a professional garage. The garage will assess the damage, note the fact that an insurance company is involved, and produce an estimate based on the use of new, Lotus supplied parts. These cost A Lot Of Money and the insurance company will decide it's an uneconomic repair and cat d it.
The car will go through somewhere like Bluecycle, be bought by a salvage company and end up in the hands of someone who repairs the car using a perfectly good clam they got off a specialist breaker or eBay for a few hundred quid. Another few hundred to have the clam sprayed and the car is as good as new.
There are people who turn their noses up at these cars but as long as you inspect the car properly and there are photos/paperwork to prove the extent of the original damage and the price reflects the fact that the car has been written off then what's the problem?
You won't get much money for it when you sell it, but as long as you didn't pay much when you bought it, who cares?
The Elise is one of those cars that can end up being written off as a result of sometimes very minimal damage. Don't forget for every car that's a known write off, there's another car that's been stuffed into a tyre wall on a trackday and has been repaired in the owner's shed. No insurance involvement, no record of any damage. At least you know a write off has been damaged.
Think about it - any damage to the front or rear clam that can't be repaired means a whole new clam. The insurance company will want to carry out repairs at a professional garage. The garage will assess the damage, note the fact that an insurance company is involved, and produce an estimate based on the use of new, Lotus supplied parts. These cost A Lot Of Money and the insurance company will decide it's an uneconomic repair and cat d it.
The car will go through somewhere like Bluecycle, be bought by a salvage company and end up in the hands of someone who repairs the car using a perfectly good clam they got off a specialist breaker or eBay for a few hundred quid. Another few hundred to have the clam sprayed and the car is as good as new.
There are people who turn their noses up at these cars but as long as you inspect the car properly and there are photos/paperwork to prove the extent of the original damage and the price reflects the fact that the car has been written off then what's the problem?
You won't get much money for it when you sell it, but as long as you didn't pay much when you bought it, who cares?
Edited by Risotto on Thursday 2nd October 18:33
Boggy said:
Don't do it unless it's for Racing/Rallying there’s no value what so ever in either a cat D or C now the market is the way it is
Boggy
based on exactly what?Boggy
cars are often Cat C&D'ed for sod all real damage, it's just a case of taking each car on it's own merrits.
only real downside to one is re-sale will not be the same as a non-listed car
The Bumblebee said:
cheers guys. thinking about it, not worried about re-sale price, but the low price is attractive.
As long as;a) You are satisfied it's been repaired to sufficient quality
b) You know what the above actually entails
c) You accept that the hit in value will be on you at resale
d) It's sufficiently cheap
Then a write off can be a good purchase. I think a lot of insurers are a bit put off by the construction of the Elise, which can work to your advantage.
Alternatively, the construction means there can be nasties hidden in apparently light damage, so be 100% sure of what you're buying.
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