Car listed as 'cat c'..

[melly89]

Just wondering if anyone can explain to me what it means when a car is listed as 'cat c'? Im looking at buying a car and one ive seen islisted as 'cat c' and im not sure what this means

 

Any help is really appreciated

[craigd]

Cat C refers to an insurance write off. There are four levels of damage A-D. Cat D = minor and Cat A = vitually impossible to repair.

 

The car has been involved in an accident and deemed un-economical to repair by the insurance company. The owner then buys back the car off the insurance company and repairs it, re-registers it and sells it on. All Perfeclty legal. Personally I'd steer clear of it. A HPI check will usually tell you what damage was recoreded

[*RTC*]

It's means the insurance company classed it as a Write Off as it was cheaper than fixing it! Someone has then bought it cheap then fixed it up. If its just body work that was damaged and they've done a good job on the repair it can be a bargain. The concern would be what damage was done to the chassis etc.

Check with your insurance company if they will insure it first as some insurers can be funny.

[Shogun]

Just wondering if anyone can explain to me what it means when a car is listed as 'cat c'? Im looking at buying a car and one ive seen islisted as 'cat c' and im not sure what this means

 

Any help is really appreciated

Its been in a accident that was not a major accident but for economical reasons the insurance company paid the owner out rather than repair it, usually there is no problem with them,the re sale price is a lot lower and you can sometimes get a good bargain be careful though try and find out who did the repairs and always ask if the car has been VOSA inspected before you buy it, cat D are the ones to avoid .

[tonyp5467]

Its been in a accident that was not a major accident but for economical reasons the insurance company paid the owner out rather than repair it, usually there is no problem with them,the re sale price is a lot lower and you can sometimes get a good bargain be careful though try and find out who did the repairs and always ask if the car has been VOSA inspected before you buy it, cat D are the ones to avoid .

 

cat d are only light damage or stolen with keys etc so why the need to avoid them?

 

 

cat a = crush only-no salvage at all

cat b = parts only and only sold to registered breakers

cat c = moderate damage deemed uneconomical to repair by insurance co.

cat d = very light damage/stolen recovered

 

cat c cars require a v.i.c (check vehicle identity check) by vosa before a repacement logbook(v5c) is issued and then it is recordered on the v5 that its a cat c right off

cat d cars SOMETIMES require a v.i.c check but NOT always is it required

[neeeeeeeeeek]

There was a thread a couple of weeks ago about it, I posted on it. Search for Volvo and it might come up as I mentioned my one on it.

[ukheman]

Its been in a accident that was not a major accident but for economical reasons the insurance company paid the owner out rather than repair it, usually there is no problem with them,the re sale price is a lot lower and you can sometimes get a good bargain be careful though try and find out who did the repairs and always ask if the car has been VOSA inspected before you buy it, cat D are the ones to avoid .

 

CAT A cars will need to be crushed no parts can be taken off

CAT B cars breaker only parts are taken off chassis should be crushed

 

in both 2 above cases.. cars are sometimes exported and IDs changed. so no one can tell its history. this is usually the case when cars are involved in floods because the car still may start and drive with no damage. but depending on insurance company they may write off as A,B,D,C or X no law here..

 

CAT C cars are when repair cost exceeds the cost of the car.. which normally means damage is quite severe

 

these cars will need a VOSA inspection and will state on the log book the car has had severe accident damage.

The VOSA inspection does not check the quality of repair so i dont know why the comment above.. merely to check if stolen parts have been used. The MOT will check the car is road worthy.. but again not the quality of repair..

 

CAT D normally cars with light or no damage usually up to 70% repair cost of the total value of the car....

 

CAT X or U (unrecorded on HPI.. normally cars that have been stolen and then recovered.

 

you have to be prepared that an accident damaged car will not be repaired up to insurance standard. as the insurance company will use brand new genuine parts. so try and check the work carried out. if possible obtain pictures of the car pre accident as most dealers buy salvage directly from the insurance companies online....

 

there is no legal law that states a car has to be A,B,C etc this is solely down to the insurance company... i have seen cat c cars with less damage as cat d cars and vice versa... and you can buy a CAT X with heavy damage but because the car is basically brand new... ie fleet car the insurance company decided to class is this way to obtain a higher salvage value....

 

Good luck !

[steveh]

A HPI check will usually tell you what damage was recoreded

 

A hpi check will tell you only what the write off category is, it will not tell you anything about the actual damage that was caused to the vehicle to get it that classification.

[melly89]

Thankyou for the replies, very useful

[GrannyGranny]

Personally, unless the car was signifigantly cheaper than a non cat C/D car I would look elsewhere. If you are planning to keep it long term and maybe run it into the ground it will always be difficult to move on.