A bargain or just plain trouble?
- Thread starter CoupeChief
- Start date
Z4coupebeaver
Member
There are all kinds of reasons why a good car becomes cat C/D as has been discussed before but that does not mean they are all good or bad.
Cat C indicates a little more than minor cosmetics and I imagine there may have been the suspicion of structural damage. Now structural damage won't be bent back into shape by an insurance repairer on a car like the Z4M but it would by a private repairer.
I'm not saying it has structural damage. I had a bump in a car many years ago (long before my MC days) and the assesor said the car may be twisted. The insurance company wrote it off. I bought back the salvage, had the shell lazer aligned finding there was no twisting at all. This check would have added to the cost of the assesment for the insurance co so they didn't want to risk throwing good money after bad.
Even if it was twisted - this can usually be twisted back but some structural integrity would have been compromised. An MC is a very stiff car so most of the time it won't matter if the car only has say - 90% of the crash resistance of an undamaged straightened car.
The question is - do you want to take a risk? At that price, I'd say probably not but it is still cheap entry into MC ownership. The spec does also go against it although I have to say, I like the colour and the dash.
If the car is good (very very difficult to tell without a major inspection) and you are going to keep it a long time then offer a grand less than asking and it's probably worthwhile.
Cat C indicates a little more than minor cosmetics and I imagine there may have been the suspicion of structural damage. Now structural damage won't be bent back into shape by an insurance repairer on a car like the Z4M but it would by a private repairer.
I'm not saying it has structural damage. I had a bump in a car many years ago (long before my MC days) and the assesor said the car may be twisted. The insurance company wrote it off. I bought back the salvage, had the shell lazer aligned finding there was no twisting at all. This check would have added to the cost of the assesment for the insurance co so they didn't want to risk throwing good money after bad.
Even if it was twisted - this can usually be twisted back but some structural integrity would have been compromised. An MC is a very stiff car so most of the time it won't matter if the car only has say - 90% of the crash resistance of an undamaged straightened car.
The question is - do you want to take a risk? At that price, I'd say probably not but it is still cheap entry into MC ownership. The spec does also go against it although I have to say, I like the colour and the dash.
If the car is good (very very difficult to tell without a major inspection) and you are going to keep it a long time then offer a grand less than asking and it's probably worthwhile.
Liverpool
I've seen plenty of CAT D/C cars for sale over the years and I've got no problem buying one if you go into the sale with your eyes wide open.
However, this seller is a trader, and has plenty of opportunity to amend the ad to inform buyers of the CAT C status and the full history of the car.
If an assessor thought the car had a bent/twisted chassis, then why would the insurer not spend the tiny (relative) amount of cash to get it checked out properly before paying out an extra £5k-£10k in writing the car off?
IMHO, adding a full chassis alignment (I've seen it done in less than half a day on a chassis alignment rig) to the cost of those parts is still unlikely to get the final figure anywhere near the £10k or so required to do so.
Hence my opinion that there's more to this than meets the eye.
However, this seller is a trader, and has plenty of opportunity to amend the ad to inform buyers of the CAT C status and the full history of the car.
If an assessor thought the car had a bent/twisted chassis, then why would the insurer not spend the tiny (relative) amount of cash to get it checked out properly before paying out an extra £5k-£10k in writing the car off?
IMHO, adding a full chassis alignment (I've seen it done in less than half a day on a chassis alignment rig) to the cost of those parts is still unlikely to get the final figure anywhere near the £10k or so required to do so.
Hence my opinion that there's more to this than meets the eye.
Hi,
I am the owner of the vehicle and just putting up a quick post to satisfy any questions you may have. I have posted the add on several occasions to sell the vehicle and as you can see they all have the damage mentioned. If you have contacted me regarding the car you will know i clearly explain in person that it is recorded as Cat C and the details I have of the damage. I have also offered any prospective buyer the opportunity to organise their own inspection and the cost will be dealt with when dealing for the car, my reasoning for this is that they choose who THEY want to inspect the car for additional piece of mind. There was and is no structural or chassis damage otherwise I wouldnt have bought the car. I am a private seller, I am a car enthusiast and would regularly change my cars this does not make me a dealer.
I am the owner of the vehicle and just putting up a quick post to satisfy any questions you may have. I have posted the add on several occasions to sell the vehicle and as you can see they all have the damage mentioned. If you have contacted me regarding the car you will know i clearly explain in person that it is recorded as Cat C and the details I have of the damage. I have also offered any prospective buyer the opportunity to organise their own inspection and the cost will be dealt with when dealing for the car, my reasoning for this is that they choose who THEY want to inspect the car for additional piece of mind. There was and is no structural or chassis damage otherwise I wouldnt have bought the car. I am a private seller, I am a car enthusiast and would regularly change my cars this does not make me a dealer.
You're right. I shouldn't have claimed you were a trader/dealer.
I was simply using the term to denote someone who sells a fair amount of cars over a short period, and by my count you've sold/have for sale about 6 cars over the last 3-4 months.
If you're buying them for a quick bit of fun and then selling them on at a loss, then of course you're not a trader. But if you're buying them, cleaning them up and selling them on, then 'trader' is the closest term I can think of - even if it is only a hobby.
Have you any more information from the previous owner as to why the car was written off considering it had so minor an amount of damage, or is the parts list just missing some bits (wheels, tyres, airbags, etc.)? Some photos of the accident damage would go a long way to assessing the claimed superficial/light damage caused.
I was simply using the term to denote someone who sells a fair amount of cars over a short period, and by my count you've sold/have for sale about 6 cars over the last 3-4 months.
If you're buying them for a quick bit of fun and then selling them on at a loss, then of course you're not a trader. But if you're buying them, cleaning them up and selling them on, then 'trader' is the closest term I can think of - even if it is only a hobby.
Have you any more information from the previous owner as to why the car was written off considering it had so minor an amount of damage, or is the parts list just missing some bits (wheels, tyres, airbags, etc.)? Some photos of the accident damage would go a long way to assessing the claimed superficial/light damage caused.
Hmmmm as with the other recent thread, something always doesn't seem quite right with Cat 'x' cars.
If this car was written off two years ago, as someone above has suggested, then it would have had a trade value in excess of £20k, so why would it get written off for the sake of a few grands worth of parts, maybe up to £5k including fitting?
lon, you are probably fed up of getting stick over this car, but it just goes to show that selling a car with a potted history is so difficult, and the reason why IMHO at least 99% of insurance write-offs are simply not worth the hassle.
If this car was written off two years ago, as someone above has suggested, then it would have had a trade value in excess of £20k, so why would it get written off for the sake of a few grands worth of parts, maybe up to £5k including fitting?
lon, you are probably fed up of getting stick over this car, but it just goes to show that selling a car with a potted history is so difficult, and the reason why IMHO at least 99% of insurance write-offs are simply not worth the hassle.