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Buying a car that is Insurance cat


Lone-wolf

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I am looking at getting a much newer car early next year, i keep seeing cars that have been in a crash and repaired cat s cat n such like and the asking price tends to be a lot lower than a non cat car, is this a total minefield or can a decent car be bought at a keen price, any one done this

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Cat N can be a decent buy, but i wouldn't if you're not mechanically minded (to judge whether or not the repair is decent). 

 

I personally wouldn't touch Cat S with a 10foot pole. Cat N means panel damage (and similar sorta stuff), whereas Cat S means structural damage. It's one thing to fall flat and buy a shoddy repaired Cat N, but a shoddily repaired Cat S  is dangerous. 

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I WOULD STEER CLEAR EVEN CAT N 

I BOUGHT VW GOLF MK 7 GOT IT ABOUT 1500 BELOW MARKET VALUE LOOKED AND DROVE GREAT

THEN FRONT OF BONNET STARTED TO CRACK AND HEY HO THERE WAS THE FILLER

LUCKILY I GOT A MATCHING BONNET PRETTY CHEP BUT YES B AWARE

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2 hours ago, Lone-wolf said:

I agree with both replies, its a minefield i want a small estate car so might just go for a Dacia Logan as they are low price

loads of space in them bro engines a bit small but speed not needed in an a estate tbh and like you said price wise 👍

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If its a newish car and already been through an MOT I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you can see pictures of what damage it had then this is key.

 

I have seen a Golf R32 written off as a cat S because the interior was stolen, the cost of a replacement leather interior from VW was nearly as much as the car.

 

Labour nowadays is also crazy, especially when a body shop knows its an insurance job. My fiesta had a ding in the bumper and it was nearly written off as the shop was estimating £500 for just the paint from Ford, bumper brackets £400 etc, it was mad.

 

So look at each car for its own damage rather than just in general.

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MOT doesn't mean much. 

 

I know that for a fact, since my father in laws car made it through an MOT despite it not being fit for it. All it took is to take it to a mate (it was "fixed" after the MOT). It's also nonsense that a stolen interior is a Cat S. Like it literally can't be, the requirement for Cat S is structural damage. That means a bent frame, for example, a warped firewall, broken A/B posts etc. Cat S stands for Category: structural damage, repairable. An interior would be Cat N, which stands for Category: non-structural damage, repairable. 

 

So either the guy with the R32 was dishonest and tried to hide the fact that his car was wrecked behind an allegedly stolen interior, or you misremember. 

 

For reference:

 

https://www.asm-autos.co.uk/blog/what-is-cat-s/

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On 25/10/2022 at 12:27, m4inbrain said:

MOT doesn't mean much. 

 

I know that for a fact, since my father in laws car made it through an MOT despite it not being fit for it. All it took is to take it to a mate (it was "fixed" after the MOT). It's also nonsense that a stolen interior is a Cat S. Like it literally can't be, the requirement for Cat S is structural damage. That means a bent frame, for example, a warped firewall, broken A/B posts etc. Cat S stands for Category: structural damage, repairable. An interior would be Cat N, which stands for Category: non-structural damage, repairable. 

 

So either the guy with the R32 was dishonest and tried to hide the fact that his car was wrecked behind an allegedly stolen interior, or you misremember. 

 

For reference:

 

https://www.asm-autos.co.uk/blog/what-is-cat-s/

 

Hi, yes you are correct, im getting my new and old catetgorys muddled, it was a Cat C, the old format, it was a R32, this was a few years ago now!

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27 minutes ago, Candyman said:

 

Hi, yes you are correct, im getting my new and old catetgorys muddled, it was a Cat C, the old format, it was a R32, this was a few years ago now!

 

No worries lol, it is confusing - got it mixed up before too. Cat C just means "repairs more expensive than the car's worth", which could have been an option back then, if you knew what to look for (repairs done decently or yourself). 

 

But my point still stands, if you don't know what to look for, then i'd stay away from them. 

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I think the comment re the MOT might of been aimed at cars damaged and repaired that are under 3 years old, so no MOT history to back up the mileage, some people love to buy the 2.5 year old damaged car with say 70,000 on the clock, fix it up and wind clock back to about 14,000 to make it more attractive, but i will steer clear of a Cat insurance car

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