Category C Damage

[BIGJO]

Hello people. Just found out the cars a Cat C. Now I know i'm going to drop him on the price by atleast 500 sheets. Already confirmed.

Now, what do I need to inspect if anything? I don't know whether this geezer's got a Danny Le Rou how the car was damaged as it was done before his ownership.

This is what I found out about Cat C:

A vehicle that is written-off by the insurers because the repair costs are greater than the value of the vehicle itself, but which can nonetheless still be potentially repaired to a roadworthy condition.

Cat C and D cars have been damaged and are beyond economical repair using new genuine parts and will be recorded on the HPI register Cat C cars have to go for a VIC check which is only to confirm the cars identity once repaired not the quality of the repair and if this is good the v5c will be marked Cat C ,Cat D cars dont need this test at the moment and the V5C is not marked if the cars have been repaired well then you could buy yourself a bargain as most Cat C and D cars are cheaper but they will allways be marked on the HPI register.

Any comments?


Kind regards.

[E30BeemerLad]

best thing to do is a HPI if you want the facts on what wrote it off etc

If a vehicle has been Cat C total loss it should have have a VIC check done, is there any paperwork to support this? If it was a Cat C years ago then the VIC may not have applied back then.

[BIGJO]

I did the HPI fella and it's come up with Cat C Feb 2005 (previous owner before the owner now).

I'm assuming the VIC has been done as the owner now has been driving it.

The owner doesn't have any information about the Cat C. I think the only person who will know is the previous owner. Might have to track him down with the V5 and ask him. I won't have his details till I buy the car though.


Kind regards.

[e36boy]

If its cat c i would stay well away to be honest, I watched something the other week about cat c and d cars and how much more unsafe they are in accidents, It was shocking to watch......Cant remember what programme it was, It might have been fifth gear.

I would stay well away, But thats just my opinion.

[beardymat]

If its cat c i would stay well away to be honest, I watched something the other week about cat c and d cars and how much more unsafe they are in accidents, It was shocking to watch......Cant remember what programme it was, It might have been fifth gear.

I would stay well away, But thats just my opinion.

it was fifth gear and the car had been repaired very badly which is why it faired so badly.my car is a cat c which i have repaired to factory spec and i am in no doubt as to its safety.check the link in my sig.

just find out what damage it had and look at the repairs carried out.

dont forget that due to the age of these cars they will be cat c for no reason.i have bought two e30`s recorded as cat c and both just had very minor dents which i chose not to repair.they were in no way dangerous.

[BIGJO]

Thanks gents.

My only worry is that I have no information about how the car resulted in a Cat C spec. The owner is useless as he doesn't know till he received the new log book once he changed the log book into its original plate (from private).

How am I to find out the damage?

Shall I ask the geezer to ask the previous owner before I purchase the car?

The owner has had the car for about a year now and says there's no problems. So why sell the car? The fella says its because he's a lorry driver & doesn't need a car or something.

Any suggestions?


Kind regards.

[E30BeemerLad]

the name of the previous keeper should be on the V5 still, can't remember if it has their address also, but see if the current owner will give you these details.

If not then surely there are some bills with the history which have previous keeper details on?

[BIGJO]

Okay, think the address is on the front of the V5.

I'm looking to inspect on the car and look for any non-factory welds. I need a decent torch though


Kind regards.

[pnd]

this will make it harder to sell on and always be at the back of your mind Why not walk away?

[curryp]

could of been on its roof for all you know you must find out what happened and see the vic check stuff or you could be wasting money and lives

[dazleeds]

vic info wont tell you a thing about the damage

all a vic check does is check the cars id nothing to do with damage at all

they merely check that the car hasnt been rung up etc

[curryp]

do they not check to see if its been cut and shut and that its properly repaired if so?

[BIGJO]

How do I find out where the damage was? Contact the previous owner through the owner? How can I do that? Ask for his/her details and write to them or look them up on Yell.com or something???


Kind regards.

[curryp]

check round the car for panel misalignment and for larger gaps between panels to see if you can see which end took the impact could be both.lift carpet out of boot and check boot floor for creases or distortion.take lining off c pillar and check for weld and join marks.check under bonnet aswell for new crossmember etc etc.get a good look for any paint mismatch on panels aswell.a friend of mine bought a sport and stupidly didnt do any of these checks and it turned out it had a red coloured front end on his black car once the crap paint job inside the engine bay started to come off you could maybe try asking the dvla although they probly wont give out owner info do you know anyone in the police?

[Brianmoooore]

A cat C in 2005 will be very minor damage - certainly not worth worrying about.
Nearly every E30 I own has been cat C, and the damage to all of them has been no more than a wing, bumper headlamp and bonnet - and that's just the worst ones.
One, which I put through a VIC last week (blue car, DVLA shows red!!??) had just taken the sump off the engine on something and then driven home. Quick engine change and as good as new. What's the problem in buying that?
Another one I bought was listed as 'engine fire'. Turned out that the engine earth strap had corroded and fried the oil level sensor earth wire. I could have easily repaired that engine loom, but I had a spare one, so, two hours later that car was fully repaired.
Don't waste your time looking for welds that shouldn't be there, 'cause there won't be any!
saw the fifth gear program as well - absolute rubbish! That was a badly done repair, plain and simple! Cars aren't hewn from solid blocks of steel; they're made from panels welded together, and there's no problem with removing a damaged one and replacing it if you know what you're doing.
Did get slightly caught out a few months ago when I bought (not a BMW) cat D. It had been stuffed before and the front left deformable section badly repaired and smoothed over with filler. Only shown up because the new impact cracked the filler a little.
I cut a straight undamaged deformable section from another scrap shell and fitted it to my car in such a way that it was locked in position before any welding was done. I'm absolutely confidant that my repaired shell would perform exactly as designed in a crash.

[beardymat]

you see, thats why i like brianmoooore. he just talks sense, well informed sense.

[BIGJO]

Thanks cuzz & especially Brianmoooore

Any more advice on what areas to look at?


Kind regards.

[E30Mark]

Having said that I've seen cars at the breakers for sale as Cat D, but the whole chassis / roof is bent then there are Cat C cars where all they need is a new window / ignition switch. The insurance companies all have different ideas about what the category meanings are

[BIGJO]

What are the main areas to look for fella's?

Chassis, what else is worth looking at?


Regards.

[e36boy]

The likes of Brianmoooore and Beardymat are more qualified to advise you on this than me, All im trying to say though is you dont know how badly the car has been damaged and how well it has been repaired.

I personally would want more than 500 quid off aswell if you do decide to purchase the car.
Its upto you mate, But id try and do a bit more research on the car.

[BIGJO]

I'm restricted to do research on the damage due to not having contact with the owner who pranged or had someone prang into them.

I'll try negotiate with him & see if I can take more than 500 notes off!

The geezer doesn't know where the damage was on the car, absolutely useless!


Regards.

[Brianmoooore]

Having said that I've seen cars at the breakers for sale as Cat D, but the whole chassis / roof is bent then there are Cat C cars where all they need is a new window / ignition switch. The insurance companies all have different ideas about what the category meanings are

Cat C is generally taken as repair costs using new parts exceed 60% of the cars value.
A six moth old BMW can have £40,000 worth of damage to it, and still be a cat C, whereas if an 'ordinary' E30 needed paint (has to be to new standards), then you're looking at £1000 to start with. This would write off any E30 with a value less than £1500 at a stroke.

[E30Mark]

Having said that I've seen cars at the breakers for sale as Cat D, but the whole chassis / roof is bent then there are Cat C cars where all they need is a new window / ignition switch. The insurance companies all have different ideas about what the category meanings are

Cat C is generally taken as repair costs using new parts exceed 60% of the cars value.
A six moth old BMW can have £40,000 worth of damage to it, and still be a cat C, whereas if an 'ordinary' E30 needed paint (has to be to new standards), then you're looking at £1000 to start with. This would write off any E30 with a value less than £1500 at a stroke.

I understand that, but i looked at a E30 318iS Cat D in the breakers near me recently, both front innerwings / chassis legs were knocked over approx 9", the roof was distorted, os sill was bent, but the car was Cat D, i had them check it twice.... no logic behind the category.

Anyway i'm going off topic.

BIGJO go view the car, if it's a dog leave it for someone else to buy. E30 cabs aren't exactly rare, yet!!

[BIGJO]

It's an E34 M5 which has been repaired fella in 2005. It looks mint from the pictures but am going to see it properly tomorrow. Thanks for your advice Mark, it was much appreciated


Regards.

[E30Mark]

My mistake thought you were going to see a cab,

Good luck with the viewing.

[BIGJO]

That's all right fella, easy mistake

Thanks again.

[BIGJO]

Bought the car today. We checked the whole car inside and out, nothing visible but looks like it could've been just a wing as the driver side wing looks a little out.

Anyhow, got the car and it was an absolute bargain.

Thanks again lad

Jo.

[Falkster]

Not read everything but wouldnt a cheaper car suffer from a Cat C if the repairs were quite expensive but if you had a new car with Cat C you would stay well clear!

Sorry if I repeated anyone elses posts

[beardymat]

the insurance catagorisation system is so open to interpretation by the individual engineer that it should not be relied upon to assess how badly a car was damaged.

as has been pointed out, an e30 as with any cheap car could be written off and categorised as c for as little as a cracked sump or in the case of two i have bought, small cosmetic dents.

i buy from salvage auctions quite regularly and have noticed a trend for stolen and stripped cars to be catagorised as c which is presumably to help stop another similar vehicle being stolen and stripped to refit this one.how many people on here have swapped their interiors? not exactly a good reason to run away from a car is it.

another reason i consider the system flawed is that if it is in the insurers best interest to recoup as much of the loss as possible on a large payout they will give it a cat d which will deffinately increase the price it makes at auction no matter how badly damaged it is.

the bottom line is its best to find out what damage occured and what repairs have been carried out and make a decision from there.