Cat D or not Cat D, that is the question

[Blusox]

Hi All,

Found a lovely mini Cooper, 20K 2k2 Indi blue/white with chili, a/c, and aero kit for a snip under £9K. Prob is the poor guy didn't realise it was Cat D until a punter hpi checked it Apparently had some front nearside panel damage but all now fully repaired. Anyone out there had experience buying or owning a Cat D car? Any advice would be appriciated, such as effect on resale and insurance if any


Blu

[andyupnorth]

Found this on the net:

Category D - Repairs more than 60% of the vehicles value or recovered after insurance pay out. Insurance companies write off above 60% just in case the costs escalate.

These can be repaired and insured but with complications - they will always have write off against them when anybody does a check so their value is reduced even if perfect this means some insurance companies won't touch them.


So it was obviously more serous than just a minor knock. I personally wouldn't touch it without an extended test drive, an engineer's report and some more money knocked off.

[Blusox]

I looked into this too and the cost of repair can often include the cost of providing such things as a hire car for the duration of the repair work caried out. Given some of the waits people on this site have had for spare parts through their dealers this could well be the case. A replacement clam shell bonnet and front wing, along with a new front aero bumper stretched over a month waiting time or so, then add labour, may well exceed 60% of the cars value, what do you think?

Blu

[AndrLync]

This could be the case...

My girlfriend's 3-month old Cooper was hit whilst parked on the road, wrecked one alloy & tyre, probably steering and suspension to driver's side and wing. It was over £14K list but apparently her insurers nearly wrote it off, it was off the road for nearly 6 weeks in all.

However, I'd probably have to agree with andyupnorth and say get it very well checked out and make sure it's cheap as you'll have problems selling.

[Paul]

I know someone who recently had a front end smash, needed a fair bit of front end work, both airbags had deployed etc, and that wasn't written off, not that close to being written off either apparently!

[Blusox]

The slavage category system is suppose to give a rough idea of damage, D is light, C is beyond economical repair, B is damage to the sub frame and A is total write off such as burnt out etc. Think I'll give it a miss though, getting messed around by my companies car allowance so won't have the cash for another month , if its still there I might reconsider.
Thanks for your oppinions anyway guys

Cheers,
Blu

[MrK]

My freind has bought several Cat C and D Minis over the past 2 years, and repaired them to a high standard. The only problem is, the write off is recorded on Vcar as written off, on one of the following categories (as far as i can recall)

CAT D - Can be repaired, and put straight back on the road
CAT C - Can be repaired, but, needs inspection at a Ministry of Transport Test Centre, and the test will be marked on the log book.
CAT B - Break Only - Car CAN NOT be put back on the road. Has to be broken for spares
CAT A - Car has to be destroyed. Cant even be broken for spares
CAT X or CAT E - Unrecorded.

Some CAT D cars are mint. Mate repaired a Chilli Red, Mini One which had Bonnet damage, Apex wing damage, and needed a new bottom arm. Not that expensive to repair. The car was written off because the previous owner had been driving around for ages in a hire car etc....

IMHO CAT C or D cars are a good buy, if professionally repaired, and at the right money. Dont expect a garage to take one as Part Exchange though!