Cat C Griffith
Discussion
How much is the asking price? What is the mileage, condition, spec of the car, how many previous owners? Once we know that, then we can compare it with similar undamaged cars.
It has obviously been repaired a long time ago, and presumably been through a lot of MOT's since. If the chassis was damaged in the crash, and repaired/replaced, then it probably has rusted away by now, and needs a new one anyway for example so to that extent, does it really matter.
The problem is always going to be the stigma of the Cat C, which will hold back the price and put people off.
It has obviously been repaired a long time ago, and presumably been through a lot of MOT's since. If the chassis was damaged in the crash, and repaired/replaced, then it probably has rusted away by now, and needs a new one anyway for example so to that extent, does it really matter.
The problem is always going to be the stigma of the Cat C, which will hold back the price and put people off.
LucyP said:
How much is the asking price? What is the mileage, condition, spec of the car, how many previous owners? Once we know that, then we can compare it with similar undamaged cars.
It has obviously been repaired a long time ago, and presumably been through a lot of MOT's since. If the chassis was damaged in the crash, and repaired/replaced, then it probably has rusted away by now, and needs a new one anyway for example so to that extent, does it really matter.
The problem is always going to be the stigma of the Cat C, which will hold back the price and put people off.
2000X 45k miles £23,750 Good condition, nice blue colour with full leather. It has obviously been repaired a long time ago, and presumably been through a lot of MOT's since. If the chassis was damaged in the crash, and repaired/replaced, then it probably has rusted away by now, and needs a new one anyway for example so to that extent, does it really matter.
The problem is always going to be the stigma of the Cat C, which will hold back the price and put people off.
LucyP said:
The problem is always going to be the stigma of the Cat C, which will hold back the price and put people off.
Most people wouldn't buy one at all, they'd rather pay the going rate for one that's not been written off.If you do consider it, pay an absolute anorack to go inspect it, drive it.
And make sure the Anorack takes it up to 70mph to try braking at that speed. They'll soon know if it's not straight.
Scary thought I know, but you don't want to find out it's bent when you actually need to hit the brakes at 70mph.
2000X 45k miles £23,750 Good condition, nice blue colour with full leather.
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4.0, 4.3, 4.5, 5.0Ltr, BV? etc. Did the seller disclose the Cat C, if not, why not, & what else may therefore be hidden? As others have said, the Cat C will always put people off, reduce value & it would need to be inspected v.carefully. It will still need the usual checks & nearly £24k is a still a lot of money.
There is a 2001 Griff on currently for £24k. Seems crazy cheap to me. Buy that. If you bought it with no knowledge of the write off, you can sue to get your money back. I would avoid or pay very much under the odds.
Ignore… same car…dooh
Nic
Ignore… same car…dooh
Nic
Edited by NicBowman on Monday 29th August 22:46
TrotCanterGallopCharge said:
2000X 45k miles £23,750 Good condition, nice blue colour with full leather.
4.0, 4.3, 4.5, 5.0Ltr, BV? etc. Did the seller disclose the Cat C, if not, why not, & what else may therefore be hidden? As others have said, the Cat C will always put people off, reduce value & it would need to be inspected v.carefully. It will still need the usual checks & nearly £24k is a still a lot of money.
As a X reg (2000) it'll be a 5.0 litre. None of the others you mention were in production by then. Seems about the average for a non-Cat car so for a cat C, over-priced probably (IMHO f course). If a car is cheap enough, and as said, safe, a cat C or cat D (now S and N) car is OK but must be relatively cheap because you'll have to sell it cheap too.4.0, 4.3, 4.5, 5.0Ltr, BV? etc. Did the seller disclose the Cat C, if not, why not, & what else may therefore be hidden? As others have said, the Cat C will always put people off, reduce value & it would need to be inspected v.carefully. It will still need the usual checks & nearly £24k is a still a lot of money.
A Tvr can get written off for seemingly minor fibreglass damage so it would depend on what happened to it.
When I had my Chim written off all I had was a quick phone call with the assessor and was basically telling him the damage and costs involved!
Prices should reflect it though as not many are brave enough to buy a catagrized one without knowing the extent of the damage.
I’d see it at least 30% less but that’s just a guess.
V check I think it is may have some more in depth information than Hpi which is crap.
When I had my Chim written off all I had was a quick phone call with the assessor and was basically telling him the damage and costs involved!
Prices should reflect it though as not many are brave enough to buy a catagrized one without knowing the extent of the damage.
I’d see it at least 30% less but that’s just a guess.
V check I think it is may have some more in depth information than Hpi which is crap.
Edited by Belle427 on Monday 29th August 20:55
If HPI are still showing it as cat.C, it means the car has either failed an Autolign inspection, or never had one ; probably the latter. In which case, you have no way of knowing how well or badly the repairs were done.
Autolign is the only company in the UK to be approved by the insurance industry for inspecting and certifying damaged cars, and for re-classifying on the HPI register. They only have one standard - either the car is perfect, at least as good as new : or it fails. If a car passes their inspection, it gets moved onto HPI's "condition inspected" register, and the insurers will treat it as an undamaged car.
If this Griffith really appeals to you, above others which have no issues, I would ask the owner to put it through the Autolign inspection process. It will cost £250 - 325 , but a certificate will add a lot more than that to his car's market value. If he refuses, walk away.
https://www.autolign.co.uk/
I bought my S2 this way 26 years ago, and never had reason to regret that decision.
Autolign is the only company in the UK to be approved by the insurance industry for inspecting and certifying damaged cars, and for re-classifying on the HPI register. They only have one standard - either the car is perfect, at least as good as new : or it fails. If a car passes their inspection, it gets moved onto HPI's "condition inspected" register, and the insurers will treat it as an undamaged car.
If this Griffith really appeals to you, above others which have no issues, I would ask the owner to put it through the Autolign inspection process. It will cost £250 - 325 , but a certificate will add a lot more than that to his car's market value. If he refuses, walk away.
https://www.autolign.co.uk/
I bought my S2 this way 26 years ago, and never had reason to regret that decision.
It is quite likely that the damage was minimal but was fibreglass damage, perhaps a front end or rear end shunt. This is an expensive and very specialist job to fix properly and as I remember Insurance companies don't usually pay more than 2/3 of current market value as their own expenses added on make it cheaper to write the car off. If the damage was some years ago when the cars were worth much less, a £5k repair bill would have written the car off in the eyes of an insurance company. I have a 350i which was my brother in laws. He had someone bump into the back of it and crack the rear bumper around 15 years ago. The fix was going to be too expensive for the insurance company and they wanted to right the car off. The damage wasn't even visible unless you knew where it was! He argued and eventually got it fixed though.
Generally Cat C cars seem to be worth in the region of 2/3 normal market value and so can be a compete and utter bargain if they have been repaired correctly.
Generally Cat C cars seem to be worth in the region of 2/3 normal market value and so can be a compete and utter bargain if they have been repaired correctly.
keynsham said:
It is quite likely that the damage was minimal but was fibreglass damage, perhaps a front end or rear end shunt. This is an expensive and very specialist job to fix properly and as I remember Insurance companies don't usually pay more than 2/3 of current market value as their own expenses added on make it cheaper to write the car off. If the damage was some years ago when the cars were worth much less, a £5k repair bill would have written the car off in the eyes of an insurance company. I have a 350i which was my brother in laws. He had someone bump into the back of it and crack the rear bumper around 15 years ago. The fix was going to be too expensive for the insurance company and they wanted to right the car off. The damage wasn't even visible unless you knew where it was! He argued and eventually got it fixed though.
Generally Cat C cars seem to be worth in the region of 2/3 normal market value and so can be a compete and utter bargain if they have been repaired correctly.
It was written off in 2004 when cars were worth 25k. I spoke to an ex factory tech who said at that time plenty were re-chassis’d and had body sections replaced at the factory - so he said it was likely to have been a bigger one….Generally Cat C cars seem to be worth in the region of 2/3 normal market value and so can be a compete and utter bargain if they have been repaired correctly.
Who knows….
Trevor555 said:
Most people wouldn't buy one at all, they'd rather pay the going rate for one that's not been written off.
If you do consider it, pay an absolute anorack to go inspect it, drive it.
And make sure the Anorack takes it up to 70mph to try braking at that speed. They'll soon know if it's not straight.
Scary thought I know, but you don't want to find out it's bent when you actually need to hit the brakes at 70mph.
As the car has independent suspension and 4 wheel alignment any ( bent ness ) can be ironed out with some re alignment work. It’s what’s done on straightened tin top race cars all the time. If you do consider it, pay an absolute anorack to go inspect it, drive it.
And make sure the Anorack takes it up to 70mph to try braking at that speed. They'll soon know if it's not straight.
Scary thought I know, but you don't want to find out it's bent when you actually need to hit the brakes at 70mph.
If the 4 wheels are inline it’s good to go
So if it’s been geo’d in its recent past that should mask anything unless it’s like a banana.
In fact a rear axle on many smaller modern cars are not necessarily that centred when mounted but the front is just aligned to it. The body might crab by a few mm ( not noticeable ) but the car will drive in a straight line. I think manufacturing has moved on from the days of those comments but it was once very true. As long as the four wheels are geo’d and in line it doesn’t effect a thing.
So if the car drives well it still might be bent but effectively repaired and within tolerance to geo it into shape. Or it was never any more bent than half the Tvr chassis ever made anyways.
The important thing is if it can be geo’d without having one spring wound up and another corner wound down just to get it to sit level then it’s as straight as it needs to be I would have thought
if you consider that a Griff was uneconomical to repair with damage at 50% of value then a £25k car with £10k of damage was repaired early in its life where a Griff worth £12k [ when prices were at the low end ]with a repair worth £7k was a "write off". Which one would in theory be the best car?
Aussie John said:
if you consider that a Griff was uneconomical to repair with damage at 50% of value then a £25k car with £10k of damage was repaired early in its life where a Griff worth £12k [ when prices were at the low end ]with a repair worth £7k was a "write off". Which one would in theory be the best car?
I’m sorry but that’s just confusing? Gassing Station | Griffith | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff