Cat D registered?

S

speed12

Member
Evening all.

Well a few weeks ago I thought my dream of owning a Z4 was over, however I went on go compare and managed to get a sensible quote of £1150 thats running a little Yaris for the work run, and the Z4 for 6,000 miles a year (though i may extend that to 8K a year).

So I am kind of back on the hunt for a Z4. THe trouble is in the past few months the prices have gone up by a grand or so. I am after a low milage 3.0 Se, dont really care about the age as its the miles that take their toll.

I noticed on autop trader there is an 04 plate 3.0 se with about 30K on the clock, which is not bad for a 5 year old car. Its quite a high spec with Xenons as well (which I want). the price is about £10k. The problem is it says its a cat D registered car, is this a problem do you think? or is it a potential good buy?

Anyone had much experience with cat D's etc?

Kind regards
 
So long as its been put back together okay ,and you can convince yourself of that somehow,the only problem is trying to sell it on when people HPI it. Having said that,I'm no authority but that seems quite expensive for a cat D taking everything into account. What do others think?
 
I cant see your logic of wanting to buy a cat D insurance write off with lower milage over a higher milage car, if has been reguarly serviced and looked after it will be fine.

Personally I wouldnt touch a cat D with a barge pole and would not pay £10.000 for it,
 
I agree, I wouldn't touch a Cat D car, unless there was a profit in it from buying, repairing and selling it.

There has been a cat d z4 Coupe at £12.5k on pistonheads for months so £10k seems pretty step and goes to show how hard they are to shift.

There's plenty of cars out there, you may just have haggle hard to get one within your budget.

I've bought land and property from putting in ridiculous offers sometimes they're accepted sometimes not, you've got nothing to loose, just show you're willing to walk away.
 
I also wouldnt touch a cat d at that price..it will need to be seriously cheap to tempt me and at that price it's nowhere near cheap enough.I got mine through a main bmw dealer in jan for 10k and it had lowish mile and a really good spec,just over five grands worth i think,so they are out there ,you just need to be on your toes and quickly go and see the best ones as the reasonably priced ones go mega quick.here's one with really low miles i think you can get for 11k http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1000810.htm
better paying an extra 1k than going for one you're not sure about
 
I have a body shop nearby that I try to use as seldom as I can (because I obviously have a damage problem in need of correction). They have a photo album that justifiably shows their accomplishments and skills and in fact, they are the only shop in the area authorized to repair damaged Acura NSX's. The local high end dealers and owners use them, but they are very reasonable and honest. Find the same shop near you, explain your concerns and ask them to examine the car. They should be able to confirm the quality of the repair work and give you some sound feedback concerning the value of the car in question. But, whatever the offered opinion is, you will still have to resell that optimism at some time in the future when you again sell the car. Tough decision. Good luck
 
hi, thanks for your replies. did some additional research last night and came to the same conclusion as everyone. it is still expensive and there is the risk of a poor repair that may bite me in a few years. needless to say i shall not be touching a cat d! thanks again.
 
I wouldnt touch it either, i thought about it before i found mine (due to the cheap prices) and then was told by people i know in the trade that you will struggle to sell it on.

The right one will be out there, just keep looking!
 
If the car was 20 years old and cost £500 then yeah i'd buy it but for a new car to be cat D the damage had to be quite bad and expensive. You can never tell though and unless you see the car before and after who knows what was done.
 
I agree, the risk is too great, and as you say it must have been pretty badly damaged to be classed as a cat D.

Im kind of breaking the golden rule if do get a Z4... I will be trading in my newer more sensible car for an older less sensible car... lol but I cant help it, every time I see a Z4 on the road i just think to myself.. "i want one of them so badly". Its just a shame that my budget only allows me an 03-04 model.

I then need to decide whether a third party warranty is worthwhile or not.

Thanks everyone
 
speed12 said:
I will be trading in my newer more sensible car for an older less sensible car... lol but I cant help it, every time I see a Z4 on the road i just think to myself.. "i want one of them so badly". Its just a shame that my budget only allows me an 03-04 model.
Click to expand...
Nah, don't worry about it - I changed from a 55-plate sensible car to my 54-plate Z4. Nowt wrong with going older :D

Glad you decided against the cat D one. I paid a touch over £10k for my 54-plate, very-low-mileage 3.0i 5 months ago, so £10k should get you a straight, clean 04-plate 3.0i I reckon.
 
i wouldnt be too concerned about the age, i have a late 2003 53 plate 3.0i se and over the last 15 months & 10000 miles it has been faultless apart from a cigarette lisghter fuse, and its the daily driver for me.
 
Nothign wrong with cat D's provided you buy them DIRT cheap and also have pics of the rebuilt to support any future sale!

Personally tho...I wouldn't touch one!
 
check with your insurance to see if the quote stands for a written off car. As imports and catagory d/c right offs can increase the premium.
 
Hi all,

There is nothing wrong with buying a cat D, provided you follow some fairly simple rules.

1) Make sure you purchase at the right price. As a guide I've always priced cat D cars at least 25% below normal book value.

2) Check the car out thoroughly - If you are serious, have a full inspection done, and get the repair work checked thoroughly. Some Cat D's have well documented repair histories, along with photo's of the original damage, and work to repair. If you dont know what the original damage was, and what was done to repair, it raises a whole load of questions! In which case dont touch.

3) When you come to sell, you will have trouble. People will buy Cat D's, but they are much fewer than regular buyers. Most people will avoid a Cat D like the plague. Meaning you will probably need to sell dirt cheap. If it were a run around, or a car you wanted to keep and run into the ground, it would be very worth it.

4) If you still fancy a CAT D, there is always the option of buying damaged, and arranging repairs yourself. At least you know the quality of work, and some of the history this way. Likewise, you should be able to do it even cheaper!

Salvage cars are a bit of a hobby of mine, and in the right crcumstances I'm a big fan. If you are really interested in finding out more my site is http://www.wrecks2riches.co.uk - I havent spent much time on it recently but if you look through some of the archived stuff you may find something of use. Otherwise, feel free to drop me a PM.

However, that said, my Zed is not salvaged, and I specifically went out of my way to find as clean, and original example as possible, as the zed is a keeper!

Completely depends what you want, but from what you mentioned in your posts, your may be better to keep looking, or keep saving.
 
woldnt touch another Cat D. Been there before and its impossible to sell it unless you are looking for 50% of what a non Cat D car should be. :thumbsdown:
 
Wouldn't go near one with a barge pole because of the style of ownership I have, however there is from elliots post (and my banking background) a certain sweet logic to getting one.

Suppose £10k is the norm and you buy one for the 25% off at £7500. Let's keep it simple and say the car has halved in book value so now it's worth £5k less of course 25% to sell as a Cat D = £3,750 Loss over the period is £3750.

Ther perfect car costs £10k looses the same 50% book, so I can sell for £5,000. Loss over the period is now £5,000, so it cost me £1250 more to run than a Cat D and the only person who knew was the seller, me and new buyer. (There's a real nice Cat D for sale now that I would never have known as such :) )

Simplistic maths and you can play with the %'s, but the logic is good that if you buy cheap and sell cheap, you'll lose less over a given period.
 
cj10jeeper said:
Wouldn't go near one with a barge pole because of the style of ownership I have, however there is from elliots post (and my banking background) a certain sweet logic to getting one.

Suppose £10k is the norm and you buy one for the 25% off at £7500. Let's keep it simple and say the car has halved in book value so now it's worth £5k less of course 25% to sell as a Cat D = £3,750 Loss over the period is £3750.

Ther perfect car costs £10k looses the same 50% book, so I can sell for £5,000. Loss over the period is now £5,000, so it cost me £1250 more to run than a Cat D and the only person who knew was the seller, me and new buyer. (There's a real nice Cat D for sale now that I would never have known as such :) )

Simplistic maths and you can play with the %'s, but the logic is good that if you buy cheap and sell cheap, you'll lose less over a given period.
Click to expand...


A Great and very sensible post! :thumbsup:

Some people are just not "wise" enough and think that a cad D is the worst thing since Fred west!! :headbang:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom