CAT C

[Roony]

Hi all..

Looking at a CAT C...vehicle... I understand what the C means but is there any recording of the actual damage held any where? or do I just go by what the owner is telling me...?

[Countdown]

Roony said:

Hi all..

Looking at a CAT C...vehicle... I understand what the C means but is there any recording of the actual damage held any where? or do I just go by what the owner is telling me...?

I'm guessing that the InsCo which wrote the car off will have an Engineers Report somewhere?

If you know it's a Cat C just look for the signs and see if they corroborate what the Owner is telling you e.g.

- paint oversprays/mismatched paint/paint on rubber trim
- poor shutlines/panel gaps
- new parts such as suspension bits
- mismatched front and back number plates
- car drives like it needs tracking

[Jamescrs]

If I was to buy a Cat C I would want to see the pre repair images if they have them because I think sellers will always under estimate the extent of the damage to get a sale.

If you don't know yourself you would want to take someone with you extremely knowledgable on the specific marque and preferably with a background in accident repair who can look for what may be tell tale signs of a repair

[Trevor555]

Jamescrs said:

If I was to buy a Cat C I would want to see the pre repair images if they have them because I think sellers will always under estimate the extent of the damage to get a sale.

If you don't know yourself you would want to take someone with you extremely knowledgable on the specific marque and preferably with a background in accident repair who can look for what may be tell tale signs of a repair

This ten times over.

And the real test, one that an MOT doesn't cover, go to 70mph, test the brakes, see if it's bent.

You wouldn't want to find out it's not straight when you actually need to hit the brakes hard at 70mph.

[carboy2017]

This is a brilliant piece of advice on what to look for just 2 months back I looked at a 2007 Lancer which was advertised on FB and after haggling the owner agreed to sell the car to me

however 2 things I noticed was that the panel gap in the near side bumper and mudguard was not good and when asked he said it had a crahs long before he bought (that bit was true)

The car was pulling to the left and he said it needed tracking

but when I did an HPI check it was a CAT D (something that was not told to me) hence I walked away from it,shame as it was otherwise a cracking car

Countdown said:

I'm guessing that the InsCo which wrote the car off will have an Engineers Report somewhere?

If you know it's a Cat C just look for the signs and see if they corroborate what the Owner is telling you e.g.

- paint oversprays/mismatched paint/paint on rubber trim
- poor shutlines/panel gaps
- new parts such as suspension bits
- mismatched front and back number plates
- car drives like it needs tracking

[Roboticarm]

Do a check with vcheck they include links to salvage photos, this works it the write-off was in 2015 onwards

https://www.vcheck.uk/

Edited by Roboticarm on Thursday 15th October 18:52

[Roony]

Thanks all... The car was cat C in 2000..... its a classic alfa spider s4 1992 model.. The current owner thinks it had been vandalised resulting in a full paint job, hence written off... I suppose an inspection is the only way to go.. and them haggle like mad!

[maz8062]

Roony said:

Thanks all... The car was cat C in 2000..... its a classic alfa spider s4 1992 model.. The current owner thinks it had been vandalised resulting in a full paint job, hence written off... I suppose an inspection is the only way to go.. and them haggle like mad!

If it's this one, the price is too high IMO:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009214...

Especially when compared to this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-Alfa-Romeo-Spider-...

They say that a Cat S/C should be at least 30% less than the value of a Non-Cat car, so the owner would have to come down by a lot.

[Roony]

Yes that's the one..

To be fair the MOT history is better on the cat C car... and it still retains the original mirrors.. the other has the mirrors missing along with the rear badges..

I agree it's too expensive..



quote=maz8062]

If it's this one, the price is too high IMO:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009214...

Especially when compared to this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-Alfa-Romeo-Spider-...

They say that a Cat S/C should be at least 30% less than the value of a Non-Cat car, so the owner would have to come down by a lot.

[/quote]

[ZX10R NIN]

Do a VCheck it's a bit more extensive ask to see photos of the damage before it was repaired, also cat C was the highest so could mean some structural damage.