Cat D Coupe

[Simon 3.2M]

I am going to look at a Cat D coupe tomorrow however, before I do I was wondering if it is a car known on the forum and what people think of Cat cars and purchasing one. I won't add a price here as I would like to see where the forum values it. The car has 127k, had a knock to the front passenger bumper which resulted in a bumper repair and replacement headlight - the headlight has black internals as opposed to the original silver so they are not matching. The car also doesn't have the MFSW but I do know this isn't necessarily due to anything other than the build spec. I believe the car has FHS and overall looks to be in a tidy condition. The reg is MA57 RBX.

 

[M340]

MOT history doesn't look too bad.
https://cazana.com/uk/car/MA57RBX

There is a CAT C (much worse) on Autotrader with 57k for £5.5k.
According to someone that test drove it, it has...issues.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Z4-3-0i-M-Sport-57k-Blue-With-Silver-Leather/183849498062?hash=item2ace48b5ce:g:1wcAAOSw5chdBgvm

 

[Simon 3.2M]

MOT history doesn't look too bad.
https://cazana.com/uk/car/MA57RBX

There is a CAT C (much worse) on Autotrader with 57k for £5.5k.
According to someone that test drove it, it has...issues.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Z4-3-0i-M-Sport-57k-Blue-With-Silver-Leather/183849498062?hash=item2ace48b5ce:g:1wcAAOSw5chdBgvm

Thanks mate, what do you think it would be worth?

 

[kinger]

I would value the car at 50% of normal price...
I would also check with my insurance company if they would even insure a previously written off car, so wont
I would walk away...theres always another car.
I recently viewed an X5 Msport that was beautiful , did the deal on it, shook his hand, then he revealed it was a cat D...cheeky b**t**d
I walked away from that and found a newer & better car for for £750 more after a haggle.
Personally i wouldnt let anyone put their monkey on my back...

 

[Ed Doe]

I had a cat d coupe. Did 55k in it, bloody brilliant it was. Wouldn't let it bother you personally, cat d icar should be valued approx 30% less than a non cat car. At 127k it's a bit leggy but go with your eyes open, get the owner to show you plenty of pics of the damage etc, and if it looks nice and drives well I'd crack on!

 

[mr.tourette]

I'd not want to be paying more than 4.5k for that car personally

 

[HU51A_FU]

Unless they have been structurally compromised and then repaired by an approved BMW body shop i wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, mine was written off in 2009 and put back and upgraded at the same time so winner winner, its never done me wrong so far, same with the last 2 owners. You can get some real bargains with cat c/d write offs but you need to do your homework, photos of damage and repair progress also help to understand what has been done in terms of repairs also.

 

[barnyg]

I'm sure you've already looked up the MOT history but on that note, looks like it was driven as a daily until around 2016. From then on completely clean MOT history with nothing advised and no failures, plus only a few thousand miles covered over 4 years. I'd think this is a sign that this has been bought by someone who's been caring for it well since then, perhaps buying as a higher mileage cat d and sorting out a lot of the issues as a cheaper way to get into ownership? Sorry, no idea regarding price though, coupes seem to be all over the place right now!

 

[mmm-five]

The key is to make sure the seller is being honest about the amount of damage sustained.

A bumper & headlight would not equate to a write-off, unless there was some underlying chassis/crash structure damage that made it uneconomical to repair.

If that is the case, and the seller isn't forthcoming, then you'd have to assume it's simply been patched up as cheaply as possible.

I'd want to be seeing insurance/bodyshop quote (mine was 3 pages long) and letter/email from insurer telling why it was written off, along with subsequent repair invoices & guarantees from the bodyshop/repairer. Maybe even a full chassis geometry check (not an alignment).

Then I'd still only pay 60-70% off the market value of a non-Cat vehicle.

In this case, I'd not pay more than £5k.

 

[mmm-five]

I'm sure you've already looked up the MOT history but on that note, looks like it was driven as a daily until around 2016. From then on completely clean MOT history with nothing advised and no failures, plus only a few thousand miles covered over 4 years. I'd think this is a sign that this has been bought by someone who's been caring for it well since then, perhaps buying as a higher mileage cat d and sorting out a lot of the issues as a cheaper way to get into ownership? Sorry, no idea regarding price though, coupes seem to be all over the place right now!

MOT is not a guarantee of structural integrity though...it's a very basic roadworthiness test.

 

[Simon 3.2M]

 

[mmm-five]

Are you sure all those pictures are of the same car, as one shows a headlight washer cap missing

 

[barnyg]

I'm sure you've already looked up the MOT history but on that note, looks like it was driven as a daily until around 2016. From then on completely clean MOT history with nothing advised and no failures, plus only a few thousand miles covered over 4 years. I'd think this is a sign that this has been bought by someone who's been caring for it well since then, perhaps buying as a higher mileage cat d and sorting out a lot of the issues as a cheaper way to get into ownership? Sorry, no idea regarding price though, coupes seem to be all over the place right now!

MOT is not a guarantee of structural integrity though...it's a very basic roadworthiness test.

I know, just gives a hint as to how the cars been cared for over the years that's all!

 

[Jl-c]

Actually it looks to me on the one picture, both headlamp washer covers are missing.

 

[sjj84]

The key is to make sure the seller is being honest about the amount of damage sustained.

A bumper & headlight would not equate to a write-off, unless there was some underlying chassis/crash structure damage that made it uneconomical to repair.

If that is the case, and the seller isn't forthcoming, then you'd have to assume it's simply been patched up as cheaply as possible.

I'd want to be seeing insurance/bodyshop quote (mine was 3 pages long) and letter/email from insurer telling why it was written off, along with subsequent repair invoices & guarantees from the bodyshop/repairer. Maybe even a full chassis geometry check (not an alignment).

Then I'd still only pay 60-70% off the market value of a non-Cat vehicle.

In this case, I'd not pay more than £5k.

I wouldn't be surprised at all that a bumper and headlight would write it off. Insurers use new parts prices, I'd bet a genuine headlight especially if it's got xenon wouldn't be cheap. Then there's the price for a bumper, then the cost to have it painted and fitted.

If the headlights don't match that's something you'd have to do because it will frankly look terrible, plus with the high milage I wouldn't pay over 4.5k absolute max.

 

[Nash3vans]

I’ve bought repaired and drove cat cars for the last 25 yrs. Take someone along who knows what to look out for. Damage and paint repair isn’t easily disguised.

 

[SiJar]

I would walk away, plenty of decent ones up for sale.

 

[blunderthumbs]

If it was me I wouldn't touch it. I wouldn't be comfortable driving a car that had previous issues. Then when you come to sell it on you might have problems. There are surely plenty for sale that have not been written off.

 

[keving1]

I do have to laugh at people who say walk away or that they wouldn't buy a CAT car - How do you know with any car that you buy that it hasn't been involved in an accident and repaired outside insurance?

 

[mr.tourette]

No need to walk away, the OP seems to be looking at a rock bottom priced coupe so I'm sure he's going in with his eyes wide open..of course there's better about at 8k plus but thats not the point here is it