What does "cat d write off" actually mean?

[ChrisBarns]

Thinking of buying a newer BMW - prob E36M3 and wondered exactly what this means?

[Chris-W]

Deemed beyond economical repair - minor damage (ie. non-structural).

[bazza93]

i think that one means behond economical repair, in other words it will cost too much to repair it

[ChrisBarns]

So "chassis" probably straight and everything but lots of expensive bits like lights, painting and labour make it non- economic to repair?

I've seen a couple advertised that have been repaired. I'm guessing bloke buys second hand bits, doesn't charge for own labour etc, makes small profit or gets cheap car.

Presumebly they are always worth less. Is there any reason why you shouldn't buy one?

[bazza93]

thats it you got it in one there no reason not to buy as long as they have been put back together correctly and not bodged

[fuzzy]

minor/light damage thats beyond economical repair in comparison to the value of the car so in an e30 that could be as little as a bent wing and broken light. no reason to avoid in old ,cheap cars really as long as its been repaired properly. it will always be on record so resale value will always be slightly less than a straight one.

[ChrisBarns]

I'm looking at £7k of E36 M3.

[SCOTT325SE]

I'm looking at £7k of E36 M3.

Thats decent straight, non-crashed E36 M3 money chap! (depending on what year etc)

[fuzzy]

I'm looking at £7k of E36 M3.

well id look very closely if i was you and check out everything, lifting carpets etc to have a good look and try to find out exactly what happened and when to get it written off in the first place. thats decent money for an e36 m3 as ive seen early straight ones go for £4500.
as its not £500 e30's were talking about its worth being over cautious.

[E30BeemerLad]

as Scott has said £7K on a cat D sound pricey, that's minter money with no accident damage.

But to put things into perspective, if you had an E35 M3 worth say £4K and I keyed every panel on the car, it would be a cat D write off.

[bmwe30mtech]

Dont let a cat d put you off, the damage only has to be very minor. My car is a cat D simply due to a bent wing and dented passenger door! Will slightly lower resale value of any car, but not hugely as cat d is nowhere near as significant as the others.

[bss325i]

Cat A: Scrap only
Cat B: Can only be broke up for parts salvage
Cat C: Can be repaired and put back on road after car has undergone a VIC (vehicle identity check) and does
not come with a log book until the vehicle has been MOT'd then had a VIC.
Cat D: Can be repaired and put back on road, comes with log book.

Vehicles that are written off and given these catergorys have not necesary been in an accident, they may have been written off because of malicious damage, fire damage or have been stolen and recovered with damage or missing parts.

Just check any vehicle thouroughly or get someone who knows what to look for to check it. Having a Cat C/D car isn't that bad but it does have a stigma attached to it which will obviously effect its value.

[SlipNSlide]

As mentioned above... Can you Find out what date the damage happened? and just check it over thoroughly mate

[maxfield]

I don't think the DVLA know of the damage that's been done.

Could be wrong...

[Ric_Vezza]

About a year ago i was all set to buy a cat d Z3 M Roadster which a friend of a friend was selling for 10k?! It only had something like 40k on the clock. my heart was set, yeah it might be a bit of a hairdressers car, but they are..... off! plus not too bad to insurance as i was only21.
anyway, when i got there, me and a friend were looking a littler closer. The panels hadn't been fitted all the well, the gaps were a little...er...inconsistant. When i took it for a test drive it felt a little flat. I started to think about the achilles heel of the evo lump, the vanos unit, which was a bit noisy if im honest.This obviously had nothing to do with it being a cat d but still, its not a cheap repair.
If it wasn't for my friend convincing me to go away and think about it, i would have handed over the cash,letting my heart rule my head.
When your thinkin about paying top money for a car, which was all of my budget, you have to consider all the possible faults. cat d or no cat d. The difference being,when your buyin a car that will always show as having being written off, the value WILL always be affected.
So in my opinion if you are getting alot of car for a reduced price and are not worried about the reduced maket value, then subject to thorough inspection, a cat d can prove to be a good buy.

Who am i to say, though just thought id share.......

[bss325i]

Lucky you have good friends ric!

[BIGJO]

I'm selling an 94 E36 M3 (non Evo) for £4,500. Black.

No mods besides a strut brace.

PM me if interested.

Forgot to add it's straight & not Cat D.

[lance1a]

another thing is, that though the insurance company will take your money as though it were a straight car, they will adjust any subsequent write-off payout in accordance with Cat D value, IE: 75% of actual value.

[BIGJO]

Cat D is sometimes recorded and it will say Cat D on the log book. Not in all situations. Depends whether DVLA have been notified by the insurance company?

[Steve-E30]

Didnt thnk they said cat d or whatever on the log book , When it goes for a mot it comes up on there computer as flagged as it has had accident damage

[BIGJO]

I bought a Cat D car before which had it written on the log book (bottom of front page).

However, my friend's Cat D car doesn't mention anything on the log book.

I find this odd lol!

[Steve-E30]

I know of a cat c but the car was re-shelled but that still shows up on hpi but nowt on the logbook , Never seen it on the logbook , Might be a new thing dvla are doing maybe ??

[DaveD]

I'm looking at £7k of E36 M3.

..Beardymat is the man to ask as that is what he does for a living

just had a look on the trader..3.2 evo for that money

[Jhonno]

7k is clean straight and low miles evo money..

[B7]

Funny I should stumble on this. Currently looking to put myself back in an e39 after a painful year with a company peice of shite.

Today I was sorely tempted to phone a 535iSE steptronic with a lot of toys, in Silver with black leather. It's a Cat d though. Says it had a LIGHT rear ender in 2001 and the insurance would only consider BMW main dealer repair which put it beyond economical repair. Guy had it repaired by a standard body shop and the photos I've seen, it looks fine. However then he lets slip that the shunt happened in 2001 (it would probably have booked at 14-16k) and both the 2 offside door airbags had blown which had subsequentley been replaced with non airbag panels. I'm not so sure now as I doubt airbags would blow in a LIGHT rear ender and I doubt a light rear ender would cost £15k to put straight!

Tread carefully as often, you dig a bit deeper and things emerge. I'd have no issues buying a £2000 cat d e30 sport as to be honest, it don't take much to write that sort of money off using main dealer parts and the high labour rates these days. However the more dough you blow, the more risky it becomes as it takes more to write the thing off in the first place.

[bss325i]

Funny I should stumble on this. Currently looking to put myself back in an e39 after a painful year with a company peice of shite.

Today I was sorely tempted to phone a 535iSE steptronic with a lot of toys, in Silver with black leather. It's a Cat d though. Says it had a LIGHT rear ender in 2001 and the insurance would only consider BMW main dealer repair which put it beyond economical repair. Guy had it repaired by a standard body shop and the photos I've seen, it looks fine. However then he lets slip that the shunt happened in 2001 (it would probably have booked at 14-16k) and both the 2 offside door airbags had blown which had subsequentley been replaced with non airbag panels. I'm not so sure now as I doubt airbags would blow in a LIGHT rear ender and I doubt a light rear ender would cost £15k to put straight!

Tread carefully as often, you dig a bit deeper and things emerge. I'd have no issues buying a £2000 cat d e30 sport as to be honest, it don't take much to write that sort of money off using main dealer parts and the high labour rates these days. However the more dough you blow, the more risky it becomes as it takes more to write the thing off in the first place.

Trev, anything is possible with airbags, ive see a curtain air bag set off because the car hit a kerb, only damaged the wheel and suspension arm.

[B7]

Yeah I suppose your right but the fact the door panels had been replaced with non air bag ones put me right off. I didn't even bother to ask if the air bag light goes out on the dash (which I suspect it wont if it's looking for bags that ain't ever gonna work.

Ringing a grey one up tomorrow. Spec does not seem much but I'll keep you posted mate.

[bss325i]

Thats right, air bag light wont go out with no air bag in place and will still stay on even if ones pluged in, needs to be reset with the appropriate software. Good luck with your search, would have thought with the prices of 39's now that a cat C/D wasn't nesesary?

[isTURBO]

Wow 7K is definately straight e36 m3 money mate.

Ive seen £4500 for a bloody good straight early e36 m3 in the autotrader.

doesn't seem like much of a bargain at all mate

[dimebag_from_hell]

A mate of mine hit a kerb the other day and the air bag set of! He only kerbed 2 wheels, suspension was 100%!

[dimebag_from_hell]

7K could get you a nice evo........OR AN E30 M3!!! I know if i had that sort of money i would be going down the e30 route......the e36 is just a substitute until you can afford the grand daddy of them all