Some say you can remove HPI classifications (cat C/D etc)

[TonyHetherington]

In the Ferrari forum there's a thread discussing a Cat C 355. Looks remarkably good value, having had a few tiles fall on it from a roof. Link here; http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Within it, somebody posted a link to this website;

http://www.autoligninspections.co.uk/inspections.h...

Where it clearly says "Any vehicle that passes the inspection will be thoroughly roadworthy and within five working days the vehicle will be removed from the HPI condition alert register".

Now, does that say what I think it says? That with a simple inspection (£265 worth, so it's only going to be a couple of hours) you can get the car to a point where the HPI category is removed and the car appears "original" once again?!

I'm raising it here for the wider audience, rather than diluting the existing thread, but it just completely baffled me that such a simple process could get a car cleared? Or have I read it totally wrong...?

[kambites]

I assume that they mean the car will no longer be a category-C write-off - ie it will be road legal again. However, it will still have on its record that it was once written off, which is what most people mean when they say "cat C".

I could be wrong though.

Edited by kambites on Monday 15th February 08:47

[paoloh]

You can ahve a car inpected that removes the Cat marker but provides a an "inspected" marker on HPI.

[TonyHetherington]

Ah so essentially it says "the car is not currently Cat C, but once was". So you never lose the fact that it was Cat C (the value of which could be 000s of course).

[GreigM]

On the other hand - the inspections are VERY thorough - if the price was corrected I'd happily buy and inspected car which was once Cat C - to some extent its had a more thorough inspection of chassis etc than any other used car you'd buy - at least you know it was all done correctly.

[kambites]

TonyHetherington said:

Ah so essentially it says "the car is not currently Cat C, but once was". So you never lose the fact that it was Cat C (the value of which could be 000s of course).

I think so, which is exactly what people typically mean when they say a car is cat-C. If a car is really cat-C, it's not allowed on the road because it's unregistered.

[TonyHetherington]

GreigM said:

On the other hand - the inspections are VERY thorough - if the price was corrected I'd happily buy and inspected car which was once Cat C - to some extent its had a more thorough inspection of chassis etc than any other used car you'd buy - at least you know it was all done correctly.

Depending on the damage that was caused (i.e. cosmetic versus chassis) £265 worth of inspection doesn't sound very much at all. A few hours tops. That's nowhere near enough time to give a car a (to quote you) "VERY throough" inspection, surely?

[paoloh]

kambites said:

TonyHetherington said:

Ah so essentially it says "the car is not currently Cat C, but once was". So you never lose the fact that it was Cat C (the value of which could be 000s of course).

I think so, which is exactly what people typically mean when they say a car is cat-C. If a car is really cat-C, it's not allowed on the road because it's unregistered.

The car will lose the previous marker but it is pretty obvious the only reason to have the car "inspected" is because it was written off at some point.

Does give potential buyers a lot of confidence in the repair though.

[kambites]

paoloh said:

kambites said:

TonyHetherington said:

Ah so essentially it says "the car is not currently Cat C, but once was". So you never lose the fact that it was Cat C (the value of which could be 000s of course).

I think so, which is exactly what people typically mean when they say a car is cat-C. If a car is really cat-C, it's not allowed on the road because it's unregistered.

The car will lose the previous marker but it is pretty obvious the only reason to have the car "inspected" is because it was written off at some point.

Does give potential buyers a lot of confidence in the repair though.

Don't cat-C cars have to go through a DVLA inspection to get them back on the road anyway?

[GreigM]

TonyHetherington said:

Depending on the damage that was caused (i.e. cosmetic versus chassis) £265 worth of inspection doesn't sound very much at all. A few hours tops. That's nowhere near enough time to give a car a (to quote you) "VERY throough" inspection, surely?

Its a couple of hours focused on very specific things - chassis straightness, welding, brakes etc - the important safety stuff....not messing about with "do the electrics work" like a dealer inspection - so for what they do inspect, it is thorough....they just maybe don't inspect as much as some people would expect.

[kambites]

GreigM said:

TonyHetherington said:

Depending on the damage that was caused (i.e. cosmetic versus chassis) £265 worth of inspection doesn't sound very much at all. A few hours tops. That's nowhere near enough time to give a car a (to quote you) "VERY throough" inspection, surely?

Its a couple of hours focused on very specific things - chassis straightness, welding, brakes etc - the important safety stuff....not messing about with "do the electrics work" like a dealer inspection - so for what they do inspect, it is thorough....they just maybe don't inspect as much as some people would expect.

That can't possibly be enough time to properly check chassis alignment though, for example or to check the quality of welds that you can't see without taking the car to bits (of which I'd imagine there are usually plenty).

[cdrx]

kambites said:

I think so, which is exactly what people typically mean when they say a car is cat-C. If a car is really cat-C, it's not allowed on the road because it's unregistered.

Registering a car as a cat c write off does not "unregister" a car. You can legally own, drive and sell a cat-c car.

kambites said:

Don't cat-C cars have to go through a DVLA inspection to get them back on the road anyway?

Nope. You need to get a VIC check before you tax it, but that only checks that the identity numbers on the chassis, engine etc match. It does not check if the car is roadworthy.

[TonyHetherington]

GreigM said:

TonyHetherington said:

Depending on the damage that was caused (i.e. cosmetic versus chassis) £265 worth of inspection doesn't sound very much at all. A few hours tops. That's nowhere near enough time to give a car a (to quote you) "VERY throough" inspection, surely?

Its a couple of hours focused on very specific things - chassis straightness, welding, brakes etc - the important safety stuff....not messing about with "do the electrics work" like a dealer inspection - so for what they do inspect, it is thorough....they just maybe don't inspect as much as some people would expect.

You obviously have experience of it so I will bow to your knowledge - I have none (hence the thread ), but it does surprise me still that something so critical can be done in a few hours.

I take it this isn't in addition to some sort of stringent DVLA test at a local centre (same sort of place where you have the IVA)

[kambites]

cdrx said:

Registering a car as a cat c write off does not "unregister" a car. You can legally own, drive and sell a cat-c car.

No you can't. You can legally own, drive and sell a car that was cat-C and has now been put back on the road, but still has the write off on the register. If a car is still cat-C, it has been written off and is no longer allowed on the road until it is re-registered.

AFAIK you can't even tax a car which has been written off and not 'un-written off' again (I thought it needed a VIC check?) and I'm sure you wouldn't find anyone who would insure it.

At least that's my understanding.

Edited by kambites on Monday 15th February 09:32

[cdrx]

TonyHetherington said:

I take it this isn't in addition to some sort of stringent DVLA test at a local centre (same sort of place where you have the IVA)

It isn't. It would be VOSA, not the DVLA anyway but they don't care either as long as you have an MOT (which can be from before the damage).

[Dracoro]

Doesn't look well repaired though. Just look at the shutline between the bonnet and wing, the bonnet is clearly standing proud. Also look a the popup light and it's alignment with the strip that sits across the end of the bonnet.

What's just as important is FULL documentation of all the damage (including pics) and FULL evidence of repairs, especially on a car like that.

Must be a hell of a lot of tiles to cause £30k's worth of damage

[cdrx]

kambites said:

No you can't. You can legally own, drive and sell a car that was cat-C and has now been put back on the road, but still has the write off on the register. If a car is still cat-C, it has been written off and is no longer allowed on the road until it is re-registered.

AFAIK you can't even tax a car which has been written off and not 'un-written off' again (I thought it needed a VIC check?) and I'm sure you wouldn't find anyone who would insure it.

At least that's my understanding.

No offence, but your understanding is wrong you do need to get a car VIC'd before you can tax it again though. But your existing tax (pre accident) isn't void, so you don't have to do that before getting back on the road.

All the process of writing a car off is putting it on the total loss register and paying out. Nothing else is involved - nothing is 'unregistered'.

If the car is roadworthy (plenty of older cars are cat-c from being keyed, for example) you can just drive it away. Existing tax and MOT are valid.

If the car isn't roadworthy, you need to repair it so it is. Then you can drive it as before. Existing tax and MOT still valid.

Insurance companies will cover you on a cat-c car. Most don't check when you take out a new policy. Some like to see an engineers report, others just want a fresh MOT.

[paoloh]

kambites said:

paoloh said:

kambites said:

TonyHetherington said:

Ah so essentially it says "the car is not currently Cat C, but once was". So you never lose the fact that it was Cat C (the value of which could be 000s of course).

I think so, which is exactly what people typically mean when they say a car is cat-C. If a car is really cat-C, it's not allowed on the road because it's unregistered.

The car will lose the previous marker but it is pretty obvious the only reason to have the car "inspected" is because it was written off at some point.

Does give potential buyers a lot of confidence in the repair though.

Don't cat-C cars have to go through a DVLA inspection to get them back on the road anyway?

They go thru a Vehicle Identity Check that ensures it is not a stolen/cloned car.

It has nothing to do with quality of repair!

[kambites]

Oh OK. When a friend of mine had his prelude written off (cat-C) a few months ago, he was told that he couldn't drive it on the road until something or other had been done - I thought it was the VIC check.

[AndrewW-G]

The VOSA test to put a car back on the road after a cat C incident is normally a fairly simple and cursory check over of the car, to ensure that it is fit for the road and confirms its identity. Cat C’s normally do not have a log book issued to them and require a VOSA check

Once passed, the car is allowed back on the road and the logbook can be applied for, however if HPI’d the car would still be flagged as a cat C damaged car


The Autolign test is a comprehensive test, not only looking at the structure of the car, but also that any repairs have been carried out to a high standard, once carried out, if HPI’d the car would be flagged as having been repaired, with the flag being an advisory and not a caution

Edited by AndrewW-G on Monday 15th February 09:46