Buying a previously crashed car??

Little Miss!

I'm thinking about buyin an import, a 320d, the seller told me it had a tip previously and got a new wing and door (all genuine parts), tis all fixed up now and looking nice i checked it out and the previous insurance company said it was beyond economical repair??

should i just stay away or if i do hammer out a good deal with him, should i buy? would the fact that it was classed beyond repair effect me in the future in any way??

any help would be great

Henry Ford III

Tread very carefully.

Buy a HPI check on the car, and go see the seller with it. A new wing and door wouldn't have rendered it beyond economic repair surely?

Little Miss!

hey cheers for the reply,

that's exactly what i was thinking, gonna have a look tomorrow with my mechanic buddy so hopefully he'll be able to spot any major problems with it, i'm thinking tho would it matter insurance wise that is was classed ber in the uk?

STForSale

Why waste £25 on a HPI check when you can walk away for free.
Far to many used cars on the market to be buying a car that was written off. A lot of cars have minor panel damage repaired, this would stop me if the damage was profesionally repaired but but a write off is a different ball game altogether.

The fact that he lied about it would also count against the seller.

bazz26

With insurance companies an economic write off generally means the repair needs to cost 30 or 40% of the market value of car.

But something doesn't add up with me here, if the car is worth a fair amount then the price of a new painted wing and door would not be deemed an economic write off by the insurance company.

If the car is not worth a whole lot then why would anyone spend big money on repairing it with genuine parts by which I guess you mean new parts. Surely on a car that is not worth alot it would make more sense to get used parts from a scrap yard?

Given these doubts and the fact that the 320d are a dime a dozen in the UK I would pass this one up.

Little Miss!

i know what ur sayin but i'd my heart set on this one, would ye definitely say no even if i got it fairly right?? could the possible consequences really be that bad....

Henry Ford III

Little Miss! wrote: »

i know what ur sayin but i'd my heart set on this one, would ye definitely say no even if i got it fairly right?? could the possible consequences really be that bad....

Yes they could be. They could also make the car way less valuable (think 30+%) and if not repaired properly could actually make it dangerous.

As I said tread very carefully.

Little Miss!

i guess i could ask to see the estimate for the repair that was carried out, if of course he'll let me see it! is there anythin else in particular i should ask or look out for?

Henry Ford III

If the seller was economical with the truth previously........

no1beemerfan

There are plenty of 320d's out there. I wouldn't settle on this one if your getting conflicting reports on the damage done.

Walk away and you'll be better off. You'll get the same spec etc. if you are prepared to do a bit of research.

Mr Benevolent

Little Miss! wrote: »

i guess i could ask to see the estimate for the repair that was carried out, if of course he'll let me see it! is there anythin else in particular i should ask or look out for?

You'll be up sh!t creek upside down without a paddle if you buy a repaired write-off that the seller has already lied about.

mickdw

Not worth the bother. I would have more confidence if it was advertised as cat D or whatever category the damage was. The seller is covering up that he is selling a write off. If you could see detailed pictures of the damage & repair bills etc it might be worth looking at for the right kind of price but generally I would say walk away.....quickly
Also, your insurers would value your car lower too based on previous history I assume, if you needed a pay out on it

Little Miss!

the price is pretty good but i was hoping to produce my print off with the history and get the price down even more, this is probably a stupid question but should my mechanic buddy not be able to tell what damage was done by looking at what was repaired or is it impossible to tell

oh and mickdw i was thinkin bout the insurance too, i'd be valuing it lower so lower premium to pay!

smcgiff

Howdy,

You may as well give the year, milage and buy price of the car... It'll make better advice possible.

From what's been said so far I wouldn't walk away... I'd run!

Mr Benevolent

Little Miss! wrote: »

mickdw i was thinkin bout the insurance too, i'd be valuing it lower so lower premium to pay!

That's not how it works. The insurance company's system already has a value for the car.

OP, I suspect you'll go ahead with the purchase of the car despite our warnings. What was the point of asking us if you were going to ignore our advice anyway?

smcgiff

Little Miss! wrote: »

oh and mickdw i was thinkin bout the insurance too, i'd be valuing it lower so lower premium to pay!

Funnily enough I don't think the cheaper price will make much of a difference on your premium.

ha-ya-said-what

Little Miss! wrote: »

and the previous insurance company said it was beyond economical repair??

any help would be great

Now did the insurance company tell you if they had notified the Dept of Transport and declared the vehicle "written off" , if so the seller may have been told to scrap the vehicle or sell for parts. Cos when the NVDF as notified of written off vehicles the records of that vehicle become locked on the system therefore no change of ownership or taxing of the vehicle can take place

Little Miss!

on the report i got it said it wasn't written off just beyond economical repair!!

ha-ya-said-what

Just double check cos I've seen a case where the car was beyond economical repair, but could have been paid for and restored by the owner, yet the insurance company went and deemed it as a write off to the Dept.

smcgiff

Little Miss! wrote: »

on the report i got it said it wasn't written off just beyond professional economical repair!!

FYP - Cars can always be repaired, as it seems a new panel hides a multitude. You don't have a clue what problems this car has. I know someone who repaired a high end car also declared beyond economic repair and all seemed fine until his car turned into a swimming pool. Water leaked in what looked like a minute but long crack. Pretty sure he regretted getting the car fixed.

Little Miss!

i'm aware i've no clue what problems this car has but is that not the reason i'm bringing a mechanic, should he not be able to tell?

ha-ya-said-what

Bringing a mechanic to view the vehicle is of no use if it's just sitting on a drive-way for them to give you an anyway decent report the mechanic would have to be able to put it on a lift to check all underneath, even at that some of them wouldn't be great at telling you about body work.

One case before where a buyer brought a mechanic who declared a car "sound, great car" which it was but never spotted anything about damage but this buyer also brought a panel beater/spray painter who spotted damage that had been done and restored even tho it had only been minor bump to the wing that had been fixed.

TBH you really are taking on more hassle than the vehicle is worth. No one can really guarantee someone else's work, may appear fine but could encounter endless problems let it be a week to 3 months later.

Henry Ford III

Look why don't you check out the prices of similar cars and compare?

If this is 30% cheaper (my guestimate) have a closer look. If not run Forest run!

Tragedy

Cat C and Cat D cars are extremely common in England, but sellers usually have evidence of the damage/repairs(even if it's just pics of the minor damage+receipts for replacement parts).

Expect and demand 15% off average price for a Cat D and 30-40% off for a Cat C

Absurdum

walk away, plenty more choices are out there

Digitaljunkie

You deserve everything you get if you don't walk away. Your buying a lemon

Tragedy

Digitaljunkie wrote: »

You deserve everything you get if you don't walk away. Your buying a lemon

Not necessarily. I've seen a 2003 car get written off because it was badly keyed the whole length of the car.

That doesn't make it a lemon.

jimmycrackcorm

Tragedy wrote: »

Not necessarily. I've seen a 2003 car get written off because it was badly keyed the whole length of the car.

That doesn't make it a lemon.

+1. An insurer would have to get the car repaired with a main dealer (or another approved rip-off facility) and the cost would be extortionate when it could equally be repaired much cheaper.

An uneconomic repair occurs when the estimated value of the car plus the cost of repairs exceeds the market value of the car. This explains why a car getting keyed can become "an "uneconomic" write-off.

For the op's advise, at least you are being told that something happend the car - lots of cars get tips and buyers are none the wiser. Get a mechanic to look at it and get it at a good price. Those who tell you to run away from a good deal might have a different story to say if they tipped their own car tomorrow....