Hello! 

 

I'm looking at a Fiesta Economist and as I'm sure we're all aware, car prices are nuts these days.  Would you ever consider buying a fiesta that has been previously written off or would you always avoid and pay the extra?

 

Thanks Dean 

Cat S no, Cat N possibly.

e.g. if a £15k car has been written off, it's probably had £12k worth of damage - that's a big shunt.  A £2000 car could be written off because it's kerbed two alloys, had 2 doors and a rear quarter dented - not so much of an issue.

But I've never been brave enough to risk it yet.... Apparently there are some dodgy people involved in the car repair trade.  Yeah, I know, hard to believe!  Write-offs always seem to be for sale from 'private individuals' according to AutoTrader - how can that be?

My motorbike is a Cat N and I've no problem with it.

Many vehicles are deemed to be uneconomical to repair by insurance companies because they have to use brand new parts and have the work done by approved repairs like a main dealer charging £120 per hour.

It is true that many Cat N repaired vehicles are for sale by alleged private individuals which is very often not true. If the work has been none structural then I would say that you should be fine. 

My Golf is a cat N, paintwork is scruffy and chipped easily, pattern part bonnet is rusty, colour match isn't perfect, there are annoying rattles and minor broken parts that don't affect the drive in any way.  It's impossible to part ex or sell.

But I bought it very cheap and have treated it as disposable.  Spending the absolute minimum on maintenance.  (4 years - 1 tyre, 2 wiper blades, 1x fuel filter, 2x suction-method oil changes).  

So I would say if you just want an A to B car, don't intend to sell and aren't bothered about imperfections then cat N is fine.  I wouldn't buy a cat S as you can never be sure they were repaired to a high standard.

I have no intentions of ever buying another cat N myself.  Too much of a perfectionist.  And want something that can be easily sold or PX'd in future.

Only if I saw it smashed, then stripped and knew the guy who fixed it

I would never buy one personally, not unless I knew the car and could be sure of what is said about it, as others have said light panel damage maybe, but I saw a car report site for checking out a car prior to purchase, and when I looked at the site I was an instant convert, the person does more than just check for the reported stuff, he also checks for the underhand stuff and so much more, they have done a slideshow to display why he does it, and to say it's scary, is a massive understatement, but 2 other things to consider when buying such cars is insurance hikes and resale value, for the same reasons your wondering about it here.

I saw it on a BMW forum so I hope it is ok to link to it, as linking the content is a big No No as I know, but if you click on the 1st picture it will load the slideshow, and you can scroll through the after shots that sold the car as though nothing had ever happened to it, then the before shots of the actual damage prior to repair of many examples, it's really scary, and are all true cases demonstrating why he felt the need to go to the lengths he has.

Buying a car? Buyer beware!! Read this!!

Hi.

If you had any issues  with insurance for a previously written off vehicle then please feel free to drop me a line. The majority of our insurance schemes have no issues with insuring previously written off vehicles.

Regards,

Dan.

I've had a lot of cars over the years that were bought as damaged repairable, and repaired by me.

Most were older cars, with only minor panel damage though.

I don't see a problem, as long as the repairs have been done properly.

Thanks for the replies much appreciated! After seeing those before and after pictures I'm deffinately been put off 

The pictures weren't meant to put you off directly, I was simply showing the danger of not knowing what your getting, you can be sure those cars were sold with extremely selective text minimising the detail and extent, but as others and I have said, if you are sure of the facts due to knowing the car and\or owner, and can be proved to be the type of what we would say minor damage (often dented panels nothing more), as opposed to hiding the extent that these sellers did, you should be fine, but it's the dealers that sell such cars as to why so many won't touch them.

But they gave a link to a car check service who goes above and beyond due to such cars being sold, and he has spent years developing his network of references he can access to catch such cars that they have showed, with understated comments, he has even added a Taxi check last I used it, to catch out those high mileage cars without saying it was a taxi, you can find him at the following link, and I don't know him, nor do I get anything from this, I've just used his service and was impressed at response time to queries, hope it helps.

Vcheck Ltd