Selling a Car that was a write off

judosean2005

Hello All,
Im just wondering if anyone had any advise on a way to sell a Catagory C write off car.
The car is a black volvo S40 08.only 55k miles.car has NCT.
And up till recently we knew the car had a crash but we didnt know we wouldnt be able to sell it.
All car dealers we contacted have just said they not interested.
We're trying to sell as we wanna buy 2 cars from the value.

Anyone any thoughts??
I could really use some ideas.
Sean

djimi

Have you any documentation to show that the car was repaired to satisfactory standard? The write off is going to affect the sale price regardless but it might help find a sale if you can show the level of the repair work.

Tropheus

Category C is not that bad and the classification largely depends on the value of the car at the time of the accident. What's category D for one car, could be category A for another depending on cost to repair against the value of the car.

Are you fully sure that the car was repaired correctly? I wouldn't necessarily rely on an NCT as proof of this.

judosean2005

djimi wrote: »

Have you any documentation to show that the car was repaired to satisfactory standard? The write off is going to affect the sale price regardless but it might help find a sale if you can show the level of the repair work.

No we have no Paperwork. Although a catagory C write off is cosmetic damage and must be repaired and engineer checked before allowed back on the road.
And car has been insured previously by owner and by me.
Aswell as passed NCT in march.

Dont know if that helps or not.

Similar cars that are not a write off but with more milage in garage are selling fr about €7500.

What can i realistically expect from this car? Car has 55k miles.

judosean2005

Tropheus wrote: »

Category C is not that bad and the classification largely depends on the value of the car at the time of the accident. What's category D for one car, could be category A for another depending on cost to repair against the value of the car.

Are you fully sure that the car was repaired correctly? I wouldn't necessarily rely on an NCT as proof of this.

Im not sure tbh. But to get car back on road- an engineer must have checked car and giving all clear.

Tropheus

judosean2005 wrote: »

Im not sure tbh. But to get car back on road- an engineer must have checked car and giving all clear.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that. Was it repaired in the UK or Ireland?

judosean2005

Tropheus wrote: »

I wouldn't necessarily assume that. Was it repaired in the UK or Ireland?

Think it was Ireland but was insured on UK plates.
I bought car with UK reg an paid the VRT to irish plates.

my3cents

judosean2005 wrote: »

Think it was Ireland but was insured on UK plates.
I bought car with UK reg an paid the VRT to irish plates.

So it could have been imported damaged fixed with the UK plates still on then VRTed cutting out the need for an engineer?

Tails142

I had a car that was vandalised and given a Cat D status. I bought the car back from the insurer as scrap and got the body work repaired. Now I'm a bit fuzzy on the detail but I definetly got a certificate of some sort to say it was repaired and now roadworthy to show my insurer. I cant remember if the repair place did it or I paid the insurer to send someone out to inspect but there was definetly a bit of paper I had saying the car was roadworthy and then I had to get it NCT'd again seperately.

judosean2005

Tails142 wrote: »

I had a car that was vandalised and given a Cat D status. I bought the car back from the insurer as scrap and got the body work repaired. Now I'm a bit fuzzy on the detail but I definetly got a certificate of some sort to say it was repaired and now roadworthy to show my insurer. I cant remember if the repair place did it or I paid the insurer to send someone out to inspect but there was definetly a bit of paper I had saying the car was roadworthy and then I had to get it NCT'd again seperately.

Mmm interesting.
But would that piece of paper increase the resale value?
Should i expect to get 75% of the value?
Or less?

djimi

Tropheus wrote: »

Category C is not that bad and the classification largely depends on the value of the car at the time of the accident. What's category D for one car, could be category A for another depending on cost to repair against the value of the car.

Are you fully sure that the car was repaired correctly? I wouldn't necessarily rely on an NCT as proof of this.

I thought C and D are economic write offs and A and B are mechanical? As in Cat B can have parts salvaged, cat A is completely gone and needs to be scrapped in its entirety, and then C and D are varying degrees of economic write off and can be repaired and put back on the road?

djimi

judosean2005 wrote: »

Mmm interesting.
But would that piece of paper increase the resale value?
Should i expect to get 75% of the value?
Or less?

Im not sure about the value, but it would make it easier to sell the car I would have thought if you can show potential buyers that the car has been inspected and passed properly.

judosean2005

djimi wrote: »

I thought C and D are economic write offs and A and B are mechanical? As in Cat B can have parts salvaged, cat A is completely gone and needs to be scrapped in its entirety, and then C and D are varying degrees of economic write off and can be repaired and put back on the road?

Yes this is true. Yet cat C is a slightly worse case then Cat D. And there for must be engineer checked.
In both C and D, The car can be repaired but insurance company state the repair cost is roughly 2/3 of the overall total car value.

So im told anyway..

fmcg_scribe

judosean2005 wrote: »

Yes this is true. Yet cat C is a slightly worse case then Cat D. And there for must be engineer checked.
In both C and D, The car can be repaired but insurance company state the repair cost is roughly 2/3 of the overall total car value.

So im told anyway..

Categories explained here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_check

fmcg_scribe

djimi wrote: »

Im not sure about the value, but it would make it easier to sell the car I would have thought if you can show potential buyers that the car has been inspected and passed properly.

Reckon that a parts breaker would offer you more than a scrap yard. Because car is UK spec (?), parts breakers in Northern Ireland might also be interested.

dantastic

Just stick it up on donedeal 1000 cheaper than the next cheapest and you should find a victim for that one soon enough.

JustAddWater

dantastic wrote: »

Just stick it up on donedeal 1000 cheaper than the next cheapest and you should find a victim for that one soon enough.

<sarcasm> Lovely </sarcasm>

judosean2005

dantastic wrote: »

Just stick it up on donedeal 1000 cheaper than the next cheapest and you should find a victim for that one soon enough.

We thought of that.lol.
But if we dont tell them the car was crashed, we are liable and may go to court if any issue.

dantastic

You can tell them no bother. If there's a deal too good to be true fools will line up and will be happily parted with their money.

Just give them a good deal, your car might be perfect and a savvy buyer will get a deal. It might be a death trap and a fool will be parted with his dosh. Either way, you just want to get rid of it.

bazz26

Any interested buyer who does a history check on the car will show that it is a Cat C write off. You may have to get an engineer's report done on the car in order to prove to or convince a potential buyer that was repaired correctly.

cjpm

Sold a written off car last year. The buyer will need an engineers report to insure the car so the best thing is to get that yourself. That way you are being honest about the write off and the buyer knows that they will have no prob insuring.

I used a fella called cotter in Cork.

mickdw

Ya i would get an engineers report done now.
Should not be massive money. Then advertise it as previously being an economic write off but perfectly repaired. ..... assuming the engineer finds all well.

mgbgt1978

fmcg_scribe wrote: »

Reckon that a parts breaker would offer you more than a scrap yard. Because car is UK spec (?), parts breakers in Northern Ireland might also be interested.

Who said anything about scrapping the car ???

fmcg_scribe

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Who said anything about scrapping the car ???

Scrapping is a legitimate discussion point because OP said "All car dealers we contacted have just said they not interested."

When you have a non-runner or a Category C or D for sale, you have to consider all the options.

djimi

fmcg_scribe wrote: »

Scrapping is a legitimate discussion point because OP said "All car dealers we contacted have just said they not interested."

When you have a non-runner or a Category C or D for sale, you have to consider all the options.

Its a 08 S40; Id say scrapping is a long way from a legitimate discussion point!

I would have thought that even discounting it massively would bring in more than scrapping it would.

bazz26

It just needs an official engineer's report stating that it has been repaired to the correct standard and is fit to be on the road.

mickdw

fmcg_scribe wrote: »

Scrapping is a legitimate discussion point because OP said "All car dealers we contacted have just said they not interested."

When you have a non-runner or a Category C or D for sale, you have to consider all the options.

Scrapping is not a legitimate discussion here. The car has a value and will have a market at a price far above scrap value. Just cause car dealers are saying they don't want it does not mean it has no value.

judosean2005

bazz26 wrote: »

It just needs an official engineer's report stating that it has been repaired to the correct standard and is fit to be on the road.

Contacted a assessor company. They will charge me €200 to throw up on a lift and make sure its road worthy. (Seems alot like an NCT)

So if i get the all clear with engineer. Obviously i wont get 100% of the cars value.which is approx €7500.
But id have better chance to sell car..

djimi

Maybe Im being naive here, but to me if you get the engineers report, then advertise the car with full disclosure of the write off, and photos of the report, then it might be easier to sell? You wont get full value for it, but likewise your honesty would set you aside from those write offs that are a nasty surprise for a prospective buyer when they run a Motorcheck on the car.

mgbgt1978

fmcg_scribe wrote: »

Scrapping is a legitimate discussion point because OP said "All car dealers we contacted have just said they not interested."

When you have a non-runner or a Category C or D for sale, you have to consider all the options.

But it's not a 'non-runner'. It's a repaired Cat C......it's worth a lot more than scrap value (by weight) or as a sale to a Car Dismantler.

The best advice given was to put it up on Donedeal....probably for around the cheaper end of same model & year. There will be interest at that level.

edit; if selling amongst the cheaper cars an engineers report would actually be a selling point.

fmcg_scribe

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

But it's not a 'non-runner'. It's a repaired Cat C......it's worth a lot more than scrap value (by weight) or as a sale to a Car Dismantler.

The best advice given was to put it up on Donedeal....probably for around the cheaper end of same model & year. There will be interest at that level.

edit; if selling amongst the cheaper cars an engineers report would actually be a selling point.

You're being a bit sensitive. I didn't suggest that this particular is a non-runner. I was making a more general point for cars that fit any of those 3 categories (non-runner, C, or D).

Agree that it's probably best to advertise this particular car on a car site, state its situation clearly and honestly, and see what sort of reaction you get. As with selling an undamaged used car, it's all about finding a buyer and price discovery.

If you go little or no interest from ad, it would be a good idea to approach parts brakers directly, especially ones that specialist in that make of car.

The last resort would be a scrap yard.

judosean2005

Just spoke to the guy who sold me the car. He says that an engineers report was completed already.
So maybe i can just contact that office and pay for a copy??
That possible?

fmcg_scribe

mickdw wrote: »

Scrapping is not a legitimate discussion here. The car has a value and will have a market at a price far above scrap value. Just cause car dealers are saying they don't want it does not mean it has no value.

Nobody is saying that the car has no value. Scrap yard option would pay the least and thus is a last resort option if all else fails. BUT it's still an option!

Most punters would steer clear of Category C or D cars - they would be thinking about insurance quotes and moving the car on down the line. Realistically, the sort of person who would be interested in a car like this would be DIY enthusiast who wants to cannibalise the car for parts or a parts breaker.

judosean2005

So the car had an engineers report. But the seller had to hand this the import office to get his import documents.
Then i went to VRT with import documents.
All a bit crazy..

mgbgt1978

That's a bit strange, as they usually just copy everything and hand back the originals (apart from V5).

edit; Sorry , just re-reading that last post. The seller had to get Import documents, but you had to go to the VRT office ?????
What Import Docs did the seller have to get ?
Wasn't this car a Uk import ? Surely all that was needed was the V5 Cert.

mgbgt1978

fmcg_scribe wrote: »

You're being a bit sensitive. I didn't suggest that this particular is a non-runner. I was making a more general point for cars that fit any of those 3 categories (non-runner, C, or D).

I'd say sensible rather than sensitive. Nobody, especially the OP suggested the car was only fit for scrap...apart from your original post.
I'm pretty sure the OP was looking for advice for his particular situation, rather than 'general points' that do not concern him.

fmcg_scribe wrote: »

Agree that it's probably best to advertise this particular car on a car site, state its situation clearly and honestly, and see what sort of reaction you get. As with selling an undamaged used car, it's all about finding a buyer and price discovery.

If you go little or no interest from ad, it would be a good idea to approach parts brakers directly, especially ones that specialist in that make of car.

The last resort would be a scrap yard.

Don't think there's too many Breakers specialising in Volvo V40's .
It has already been pointed out by others that this car is saleable for far,far more than scrapyard value.

If a car is running (and this one definitely seems to be, as well as not being particularly old) then there is always a buyer out there. If the OP needs to find a copy of an engineer's report that's a small price to pay compared to scrapping the car.
At present he would get around €130 if he was to scrap the car.
He would get around €250 (at most) from a Breaker...and that would only be if they had somebody looking for an expensive part from this particular model.