View Full Version : Crashed Damaged cars...your thought?
stevelou5
13-07-09, 03:05 PM
Has anyone ever bought crashed damaged cars in the past and what have been their experiences with them?
I have seen a few cheap cars on ebay over the past few months, going cheap as they have been cat c.
been tempted to buy, but not too sure if I will be buying problems. I have heard mixed views on people saying too many crap repair jobs going round and the car never seems to be the same once repaired?
seen a few honda type r's going for £3500!!! cat c!
is there any way in getting a full report on the extent of the repairs, if its a crashed damaged car will that go down on the hpi checks???
just want to see what people's opinion's are thats all.
Cheers
I always prefer to buy a damaged car. When people sell a car the is always a reason why, normally something they wont tell you or will lie to you about.
If you buy a damaged one chances are the person didn't want to get rid of it, so if its repaired properly its fine. I've had 2 damaged cars, both been the most reliable lol :)
idge2003
13-07-09, 03:47 PM
I'd have no issues with buying a damaged as long as the price (as right as re-sale may be a problem) and it's been done right!
I believe a cat c is shown on the V5 not sure about cat d though!
Brett
Has anyone ever bought crashed damaged cars in the past and what have been their experiences with them?
As I say I've had 2 and they have been the most reliable cars I've had :)
and the car never seems to be the same once repaired?
If you never drove the car before the accident how can you say it's not the same? ;)
is there any way in getting a full report on the extent of the repairs, if its a crashed damaged car will that go down on the hpi checks???
If its written off by insurers it will have had an insurance report...however getting hold of this will be a slag. Your best bet will be taking a friend who is a mechanic/handy with a spanner and seeing what they think.
just want to see what people's opinion's are thats all.
There you go, sorry for the rushed uninformative reply earlier, been mega busy today :)
Steves Cleenz
13-07-09, 04:01 PM
as long as the work has been done good then there is no problem in them, i have repaired my ZS that got wrote off earlier this year, loved doing it that much i repaired a Rover van too, and i have just bough a ZR to rebuild too lol
Depends on who did the work and to what quality it was carried out.
Though i would certainly say the majority of the time, a car will never be the same after a big-ish shunt.
I bought a car which had been a write off repaired and it was a nightmare!
Then i had a car and i put it into someones rear bumper, i had endless problems with it after it came back from repairs through insurance.
Once a car has been crashed i would leave it personally.
Southside_ZS
13-07-09, 05:32 PM
How can you have endless problems with panel damage repaired cars?
It annoys me when people go on saying oh i'd never buy a car thats been in a crash. I usually laugh and say, how do you know your cars not been in a crash before? just because its not on a Cat C or D doesn't mean anything. Nothing to say it wasn't un-recorded or repaired by insurance is tha?
Persoanlly it doesnt bother me. Aslong as you can find out where it was damaged before repair so you can take extra time looking around the repaired area. Or even better ask to see pics of before it was repaired.
afcbadam
13-07-09, 05:39 PM
my dad found this out the other day, he has just paid 10K for an 18 month old st220, hpi clear, no signs off accident damage, went in to fords the other day and they measured the paint thickness, its had a door skin and the wing has been re-painted. we didnt know and neither did the aa inspector, nor did the ford body shop man.... untill he measured the paint thickness
talkingcars
13-07-09, 05:40 PM
Even brand new cars get crashed and repaired before delivery.........
If you've got the time, space and knowlage a lightly damaged car can be a real money maker or just a bit of fun, I've been tempted before but lack of mostly time and slightly a lack of space have stopped me.
However I would be more wary of buying a car that has recently been cat c or d and repaired.
stevelou5
13-07-09, 08:09 PM
cheers for all the comments people.
what is the difference between cat c and d???
afcbadam
13-07-09, 08:26 PM
cat a- has to be crushed,
cat b- scrap yard jobbie, never allowed on the road again, but parts that are not damaged can be salvaged
cat c- will cost more to repair than the pre accident value of the vehicle (manufactures parts used to quote this)
cat d- insurance company say its un-economical to repair, but can be repaired for less than the pre accident vehicle value
stevelou5
13-07-09, 08:45 PM
cat a- has to be crushed,
cat b- scrap yard jobbie, never allowed on the road again, but parts that are not damaged can be salvaged
cat c- will cost more to repair than the pre accident value of the vehicle (manufactures parts used to quote this)
cat d- insurance company say its un-economical to repair, but can be repaired for less than the pre accident vehicle value
cheers for that!!!
another silly question then....do you agree with the insurance company to get the car fixed then or do you not go through the insurance company and just get it to a body shop your self??? (how does it become a cat c or d if that makes any sense)
insurance company gets a quote to repair the damage using brand new manufacturers supplied parts. If that comes to more than what they think the far is worth then they write it off cat c or d
Edit to add.
Generally if you use eBay and scrappies you can repair the car for far less than the insurance company can
stevelou5
13-07-09, 08:50 PM
insurance company gets a quote to repair the damage using brand new manufacturers supplied parts. If that comes to more than what they think the far is worth then they write it off cat c or d
cheers for that!!
afcbadam
13-07-09, 09:13 PM
only written off by an insurance company, they have people who inspect the damage and determain how bad it is, and wether its a cat a,b,c or d.
How can you have endless problems with panel damage repaired cars?
Front end damage, it hit the rad and caused waterpump damage, the repair company didnt repair the waterpump so as i was driving along after getting the car back it started overheating, i pulled over but i figure it was too late as even after the waterpump was replaced i had issues with coolant and then soon got HGF... i'm certain it was all linked.
Car was never the same after the crash, never ran the same at all.
afcbadam
13-07-09, 09:23 PM
some will be ok others wont. i wouldnt personally buy one. some cat c & d are only 1k cheaper to buy, i would rather wait 6 more weeks, save up the extra and buy a non accident damaged car.
Steves Cleenz
13-07-09, 10:11 PM
when my car got wrote off, they put it as a CAT C, the insurance assesor put but a rebuild cost at over £8000 for my car, it has cost me less than £900 to put back on the road, yes i have done the work myself, i got a quote for a body shop to do the work and they wanted £1700 to do it and that was including genuine MGR panels, insurance assesors are complete KNOBS lol
agreed. But then again they wrote off my 13 year old laguna and I got my zed with the bank loan I was forced to get so I won in the end. This is best car I have ever owned but then again it's not hard against the ***** I have driven around in
Southside_ZS
13-07-09, 10:26 PM
Front end damage, it hit the rad and caused waterpump damage, the repair company didnt repair the waterpump so as i was driving along after getting the car back it started overheating, i pulled over but i figure it was too late as even after the waterpump was replaced i had issues with coolant and then soon got HGF... i'm certain it was all linked.
Car was never the same after the crash, never ran the same at all.
Im still yet to work out how a damaged rad can cause waterpump failure? Sure it wasn't just sheer coincidence and it started leaking anyway? they are a common fault on the k-series.
Yampiedog
14-07-09, 08:39 AM
I agree that some accident damaged cars are repaired well and could prove to be a bargain however, I guess it's almost a personal superstition, I think some cars come off the production line and it's their fate to becoime accident damaged. I know you can't tell which but I also think that they continue to be prone to accident damage after their first prang!
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