Hi folks,
Please be gentle with me as I am a noob!
I wondered what people's opinion was on buying a crash repaired car and do you think the car in the following article went for the right price given its history? I tend to agree with the commenter who said it wasn't right but I suppose if everyone was upfront about it and it has an MOT then it shouldn't be a problem but the price needs to reflect the negative hsitory of the car. Your thoughts will be welcome..

[url="http://www.motor-trade-insider.com/index.php/2009/08/bargain-of-the-week-streetka-1-6i-luxury/"]Ford StreetKa 1.6i Luxury[/url]

Hi, I got my Streetka in April and love it, I was looking for ages to get one I liked at the right price and the right spec...

Lots I found had been accident damaged and it was hard to find one that hadn't been splated. I decided to go see a 55 plate Luxuary model that had been recorded as a cat d repaired. Was advertised as light front end damage....

Well we went to see this and it was awful... panels didnt line up propperly front and back(which was not right as he said it was only light front end damage) there was even broken glass under the bonnet etc(which he said hadn't broken?!) it had the wrong bonnet, bad looking alloys bent radiator bad paint work and the list went on... so obviously we walked away.

So after seeing that I decided that I def wouldn't go for an accident damaged car and picked one up at a genuine garage about 50 miles away. Love it

[quote name='DebbiWalsh' post='37482' date='Aug 16 2009, 09:46 AM']Hi folks,
Please be gentle with me as I am a noob!
I wondered what people's opinion was on buying a crash repaired car and do you think the car in the following article went for the right price given its history? I tend to agree with the commenter who said it wasn't right but I suppose if everyone was upfront about it and it has an MOT then it shouldn't be a problem but the price needs to reflect the negative hsitory of the car. Your thoughts will be welcome..

[url="http://www.motor-trade-insider.com/index.php/2009/08/bargain-of-the-week-streetka-1-6i-luxury/"]Ford StreetKa 1.6i Luxury[/url]
[/quote]
i agree with sparky because there are such a lot of electronics on new cars you find if a car has had a crunch it can affect the electrics. water end cars at potton nr sandy has a streetcar for sale genuine bloke also has a website,colin

a friend of mine buys repairs & sells badly damageg repairables all the time

he does say that it's a hobby for him as there is little profit in it
as there are so many deals about on non repaired cars.
he does it all himself as he used to own his own garage & he's also a body repairer & sprayer
so is very compitent in his work as i have had some odd jobs done by him myself
i.e
total respray of my ka...looks like new for an s reg.

if buying a damaged one go for cat c as they are usually less bother to correct &
re-register but take someone along with you that know what it's all about &
& be prepared for the unexpected like the bent chassis

i would not myself but each to their own

i think the car in question sold as a fair price considering what it's gone through but i don't think i would
like to be going too fast in it know whats it's gone through & may be a sod to sell as it looks
like the guy was lucky

best to but a crash job to order i recon & get some dosh up front for it perhaps ??

I rebuilt quite a few accident damaged cars myself over the years and my general opinion is that you can get yourself a good car at a good price. However, try to find out if the car your interested in has been repaired just for resale.
I built most of mine for my own use, i kept them for a few years and spared little expense in their rebuild.
If it has been rebuilt just for profit you never know what corners have been cut.

Cheers
Rich

[quote name='RICH 1199' post='37725' date='Aug 17 2009, 05:24 PM']I rebuilt quite a few accident damaged cars myself over the years and my general opinion is that you can get yourself a good car at a good price. However, try to find out if the car your interested in has been repaired just for resale.
I built most of mine for my own use, i kept them for a few years and spared little expense in their rebuild.
If it has been rebuilt just for profit you never know what corners have been cut.

Cheers
Rich[/quote]

Thanks Rich,
But should an new MOT certificate give me peace of mind? or am I being naive?
Debbi

check out the mot testing center orget the test certificate number & phone them about the car if possible
as they may well be a good garage or a friend of the guy that's done the repair ???

[quote name='DebbiWalsh' post='37736' date='Aug 17 2009, 06:09 PM']Thanks Rich,
But should an new MOT certificate give me peace of mind? or am I being naive?
Debbi[/quote]

A little naive im afraid Debbi, you really do need to take someone along with you that knows what he or she are looking for.
As for the MOT, well it is just a safety check to see if your car is roadworthy, they may check any [u]visible[/u] repairs they find have been done properly but wont take the car apart to inspect what they cannot see.
Saying that, if the car [u]has been properly repaired[/u] it certainly wouldnt put me off buying it. There are thousands of cars on British roads that have had some sort of repair, some lightly damaged and some that have had heavy damage, probably repaired by insurance body shops, sold on a few years later and whoever buys them will probably never ever know anything about it.

Cheers
Rich