Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 Hi all, Ive joined the forum today as i have just put a deposit down on a CAT S 2019 Connect L2, its in great condition, but seems all it had is a bump to the front end and superficial damage only. The videos and photos the garage has sent me are exhaustive and show all the parts are both original and clean, nothing out of place or bent etc, apart from the bumper which he showed me pictures of the original damage. Its hard to say but i think ive got a great deal, just wanted another opinion on it. Attached are a few photos, firstly of it as it is now, and another couple of photos of the damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 And now here is a damaged photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 Here are links to my dropbox also, links to 2 short videos of the front end. Any help would be greatly appreciated. https://www.dropbox.com/s/wpx80huxorb9bga/VID-20200729-WA0001.mp4?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/h3hifj76j7xanhl/VID-20200729-WA0002.mp4?dl=0 Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke4efc Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 The problem is no matter how light the damage was, it's still been recorded as damaged structurally and is therefore worth exactly the same as every other CAT S transit connect out there. I don't believe for 1 minute that the little bumper damage is all there is. No way would a 1 year old van get wrote off for that. Did the airbags get deployed or pre-tensioners activated? Just seen the front numberplate is also bent. Make of that what you will... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke4efc Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 48 minutes ago, Robert-shetland said: And now here is a damaged photo I've just done some digging on this. notice how the first picture shows a plastic bumper at the bottom, and the bottom picture is fully painted white? Well at first I thought they'd just painted the whole bumper whilst doing the repair as it looks a lot better (it's an option at the factory), however I don't think that's the case now. I believe the pictures are 2 completely different vans. I've searched the reg on ETIS and the spec for the van says "Front Bumper Body Coloured Plastic", meaning it came from the factory painted white rather than left plastic. To make sure, I searched a random van from auto-trader that said "Front Bumper Plastic". What that means is the van adverted came with the white bumper from the factory, so the picture of the supposed damage cannot be from the same van. Hope I explained that well lol. Must add that ETIS isn't always 100% accurate, but it kind of makes sense in this scenario... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 57 minutes ago, Luke4efc said: The problem is no matter how light the damage was, it's still been recorded as damaged structurally and is therefore worth exactly the same as every other CAT S transit connect out there. I don't believe for 1 minute that the little bumper damage is all there is. No way would a 1 year old van get wrote off for that. Did the airbags get deployed or pre-tensioners activated? Just seen the front numberplate is also bent. Make of that what you will... Not so bothered about resale value as it wi be a working van ill be keeping long term, prob 10 years, so just want to be sure itll be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 30 minutes ago, Luke4efc said: I've just done some digging on this. notice how the first picture shows a plastic bumper at the bottom, and the bottom picture is fully painted white? Well at first I thought they'd just painted the whole bumper whilst doing the repair as it looks a lot better (it's an option at the factory), however I don't think that's the case now. I believe the pictures are 2 completely different vans. I've searched the reg on ETIS and the spec for the van says "Front Bumper Body Coloured Plastic", meaning it came from the factory painted white rather than left plastic. To make sure, I searched a random van from auto-trader that said "Front Bumper Plastic". What that means is the van adverted came with the white bumper from the factory, so the picture of the supposed damage cannot be from the same van. Hope I explained that well lol. Must add that ETIS isn't always 100% accurate, but it kind of makes sense in this scenario... The seller says the bottom part of the bumper was replaced and color coded and the top part was repaired. Just had a look onlune and the bumper can be bought in two parts. Bottom and top No airbags went off, did you watch the videos i put the links up for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke4efc Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 1 minute ago, Robert-shetland said: The seller says the bottom part of the bumper was replaced and color coded and the top part was repaired. Just had a look onlune and the bumper can be bought in two parts. Bottom and top No airbags went off, did you watch the videos i put the links up for? Yes I watched them. They don't show much about anything you should actually care about (chassis damage or warning lights). What I was trying to say is that that van came with a colour coded lower bumper from the factory. The picture above shows damage to bumper with a plain plastic lower half. If you don't care about resale value then fair enough. What you should care about is the fact the damage is probably worse than what's being described and something seems a little off to me. Personally I'd walk away, transit connects are common as mud (especially 2-3 year old ex-leases) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 9 minutes ago, Robert-shetland said: Not so bothered about resale value as it wi be a working van ill be keeping long term, prob 10 years, so just want to be sure itll be ok. Heres a more zoomed out picture with the new bottom part on the bumper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 3 minutes ago, Luke4efc said: Yes I watched them. They don't show much about anything you should actually care about (chassis damage or warning lights). What I was trying to say is that that van came with a colour coded lower bumper from the factory. The picture above shows damage to bumper with a plain plastic lower half. If you don't care about resale value then fair enough. What you should care about is the fact the damage is probably worse than what's being described and something seems a little off to me. Personally I'd walk away, transit connects are common as mud (especially 2-3 year old ex-leases) Maybe your right, not sure what to do now ive paid a non refundable deposit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke4efc Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 A CAT S from that? I know they write cars off over nothing nowadays, but that seems extreme Just now, Robert-shetland said: Maybe your right, not sure what to do now ive paid a non refundable deposit If you've been and seen it and it all looks straight then fair enough. Otherwise you're very brave for giving out non-refundable deposits lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 2 minutes ago, Luke4efc said: A CAT S from that? I know they write cars off over nothing nowadays, but that seems extreme If you've been and seen it and it all looks straight then fair enough. Otherwise you're very brave for giving out non-refundable deposits lol. Hes sent me about 8 or 9 videos inside and out, all HD, ive looked at them all on big screen and everything i can see in all of them looks right, he has plenty good reviews and sounds honest enough as well. So i gave the deposit based on all of that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 11 minutes ago, Luke4efc said: A CAT S from that? I know they write cars off over nothing nowadays, but that seems extreme If you've been and seen it and it all looks straight then fair enough. Otherwise you're very brave for giving out non-refundable deposits lol. U think ive made a mistake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke4efc Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 Jumped the gun a little maybe, hopefully you get lucky and everything's alright. Best bet is just go look at it with an open mind and make sure the chassis isn't bent lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert-shetland Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 7 minutes ago, Luke4efc said: Jumped the gun a little maybe, hopefully you get lucky and everything's alright. Best bet is just go look at it with an open mind and make sure the chassis isn't bent lol. The problem there is, im at the top of scltland and he is in London area😪😪 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke4efc Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Yeh that's never really a good idea. Can never really tell the condition of something until you go and see and test drive it. It may look nice but for all you know the suspension has been bodged and therefore handles like an elephant trying to ice skate... Surely there's a transit connect being sold near to you? Just remember if it looks too good to be true, it usually is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishysw2 Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 11 hours ago, Robert-shetland said: Not so bothered about resale value as it wi be a working van ill be keeping long term, prob 10 years, so just want to be sure itll be ok. Might as well get a legit van it will save so much headache Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 The S in cat S stands for structural. There's no way that little bumper crack is what caused the Cat S. Something must have been broken behind it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishysw2 Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 On 7/30/2020 at 10:30 AM, TomsFocus said: The S in cat S stands for structural. There's no way that little bumper crack is what caused the Cat S. Something must have been broken behind it... Yes it could be taken off the road if it is to bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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