Car write off query

UndertheBridge

Posted on this forum a while back, was looking for ideas on a ideal first car.
After a long time looking I finally found a Peugeot 206, fantastic car in a local garage, test drove it with my dad and made sure that dad checked everything was in order.

I called 2 insurance companies today looking for a quote and upon giving the reg no of the car was told that it was written off beyond economical repair (not sure of the exact details, both insurers would not divulge any more info).

I contacted the garage who seemed to be equally as shocked as I was and claimed to know nothing about it (hmmm?)

I know that there are different categories of written off cars and that it is possible to repair and put back on the road.

Just want advice on what I should do...walk or should I say run away from this or investigate further? Is there a way of finding out what damage was actually done to the car that caused it to be written off?

Orando Broom

UndertheBridge wrote: »

Posted on this forum a while back, was looking for ideas on a ideal first car.
After a long time looking I finally found a Peugeot 206, fantastic car in a local garage, test drove it with my dad and made sure that dad checked everything was in order.

I called 2 insurance companies today looking for a quote and upon giving the reg no of the car was told that it was written off beyond economical repair (not sure of the exact details, both insurers would not divulge any more info).

I contacted the garage who seemed to be equally as shocked as I was and claimed to know nothing about it (hmmm?)

I know that there are different categories of written off cars and that it is possible to repair and put back on the road.

Just want advice on what I should do...walk or should I say run away from this or investigate further? Is there a way of finding out what damage was actually done to the car that caused it to be written off?

Don't walk. Run, run as far as you can. It was crashed badly enough to be written off. Keep looking you'll get what you're looking for. Continue to check to the same degree you are doing so far, it's smart and you'll get a fine car.
Good luck with the search.

Atlantic Dawn

There's no official register in Ireland of what vehicles were wrote off and what were not, the car could be 4 cars welded together and once it passes the NCT is perfectly legal to go on our roads.

From an insurance point of view the car could have been worth say €4000, was in a crash with €2500 worth of repairs and so was a right off in their eyes as the repairs exceeded a percentage of the value of the car, that's not stopping someone fixing it and putting it back on the road perfectly legal.

I wouldn't touch the car myself unless I was getting it at about 30% of the price of a similar car.

CiniO

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

There's no official register in Ireland of what vehicles were wrote off and what were not, the car could be 4 cars welded together and once it passes the NCT is perfectly legal to go on our roads.

From an insurance point of view the car could have been worth say €4000, was in a crash with €2500 worth of repairs and so was a right off in their eyes as the repairs exceeded a percentage of the value of the car, that's not stopping someone fixing it and putting it back on the road perfectly legal.

I wouldn't touch the car myself unless I was getting it at about 30% of the price of a similar car.

Does it mean, that insurance companies will still insure such a car, even if they know it was written off before?

Atlantic Dawn

CiniO wrote: »

Does it mean, that insurance companies will still insure such a car, even if they know it was written off before?

They don't all share the info with each other of what was written off but in most cases if the car was written off while insured with company X then company X will not insure the car again.

UndertheBridge

The car actually passed an NCT two days ago. Meant to mention that in my first post.

Wow what sort of NCT system is there if a car that could have been badly written off and "repaired" in some way can be deemed fit for our roads?
I mean could they not spot something that would indicate it was damaged.

TouchingVirus

Just because a car is a write off doesn't mean it was left in a state that means it'll never again be fit for the road. It just means the insurance company wasn't willing to stump up the cash for the repairs. The car may very well be roadworthy now if somebody repaired it properly.

All that being said, Peugeot 206's are grand learner cars and there are heaps of them out there. I'd leave that chestnut if I were you.

CiniO

UndertheBridge wrote: »

The car actually passed an NCT two days ago. Meant to mention that in my first post.

Wow what sort of NCT system is there if a car that could have been badly written off and "repaired" in some way can be deemed fit for our roads?
I mean could they not spot something that would indicate it was damaged.

It was written of, because it was uneconomical for repair.
Doesn't mean it was unrepairable.
To be honest you can repair any car, no matter how badly crashed, and make it roadworthy.
It's all just a matter of cost.

iknorr

First off, a 206 is not a good car. it might look nice but its the poorest quality car peugeot ever made.

Best cars for a learner are ford fiestas. Reliable, parts are cheap, and cheap to run.

If the car past the NCT then its road legal. It may have been a write off, theres different categories of write offs - repairable write offs being one. it may have just been a dent in the chassis. Nothing major if repaired correctly.

Find out exactly what damage occured in the crash and compare the value of the car to a non crashed car.

Then again.....as i said earlier a 206 is not a good car. unless u prefer to spend more money to have a "stylish" car over a reliable car.

EDIT: I bought a car years ago that was a write off, Slight dent in the chassis. Car was bought for 800 repair was 300. + cost of new nct. Sold a week later for 2350 buyer was told of repair. Car is still on the road.

cock robin

Your first mission should be getting the garage to take the car back. Do what ever you must but make them give you a refund or another car. Get legal advice if you must. They are totally responsible in this regard.

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

To be honest you can repair any car, no matter how badly crashed, and make it roadworthy.
It's all just a matter of cost.

Car with the rear part of the chassis in the front seats can be repaired ??

RoverJames

RoverJames wrote: »

Car with the rear part of the chassis in the front seats can be repaired ??

Reshell, replace all the broken components :-)

Eken27

i drive a 2004 car it was crashed but repairable by the previous owner a few years ago ,i have the car 2 years now i havent had one bit of trouble with it,it drives perfect and it passed nct with flying colors. it came up on the car check web sites as written off?? because the insurance payed out money, i say if it passed the nct its safe to drive , theirs thousands and thousands of cars on the roads that were crashed but never went through insurance and they dont know about them and they insure them..

ABajaninCork

iknorr wrote: »

First off, a 206 is not a good car. it might look nice but its the poorest quality car peugeot ever made.

Best cars for a learner are ford fiestas. Reliable, parts are cheap, and cheap to run.

If the car past the NCT then its road legal. It may have been a write off, theres different categories of write offs - repairable write offs being one. it may have just been a dent in the chassis. Nothing major if repaired correctly.

Find out exactly what damage occured in the crash and compare the value of the car to a non crashed car.

Then again.....as i said earlier a 206 is not a good car. unless u prefer to spend more money to have a "stylish" car over a reliable car.

EDIT: I bought a car years ago that was a write off, Slight dent in the chassis. Car was bought for 800 repair was 300. + cost of new nct. Sold a week later for 2350 buyer was told of repair. Car is still on the road.

I disagree sir!! Had a 206 for many years. Very reliable, took me here to Ireland, never had a peep out of the car until this year. I only got rid of it as the poor old fella was getting too expensive to repair. Cost of parts is hideously expensive here. From that POV, I wouldn't run another Peugeot here. If however I went back to England, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one.

Fiestas are pretty good though. Another easy car to drive IMO.