Reduced price due to Cat D writeoff?

goodlad

Just looking for some opinions here. I was looking at buying a car from a dealer and ran a check on it. Its showing as a Cat D write off in the UK. Now i asked the dealer and they claim they didnt know but still within a few hours produced pictures for me of the damage to the car in the UK.

It just looks like plastic damage and has all been repaired. But the question is, should the asking price on the vehicle be reduced due to the record of the write-off? Or the fact that the repairs were done the vehicle should keep with current prices of similar cars.

bazz26

How is it priced compared to similar cars that are not a Cat D write off? Cat D is the lowest category of insurance write offs in the UK and is usually just cosmetic damage such as a body panel, etc. The car has to be priced below similar non written models as it will still be flagged as a Cat D write off when you go to sell it. Any potential buyer after you will see in a history report.

Also I'd take with a pinch of salt the story that they didn't know about it. If they were that stupid they would not be in the business of selling cars very long. It's their business to know and if the car was bought by them at an auction in the UK you can be sure this information would have been available and the car priced accordingly which would be one of the reasons at the moment to buy in the UK given the currency exchange rate. Of course this brings up the quandary of whether or not you really want to buy a car off a dealer who wasn't honest up front about it irrespective of being a Cat D write off or not.

goodlad

It is priced give or take a few hundred quid in line with others of the same type.
The price isnt reduced at all due to the write off. I dont doubt for a second they didnt know about the write off, i would assume its priced in line with fingers crossed a buyer didnt run a check on it.

Tbh i was looking at another similar car from a dealer in Wexford today and ran a check on that and it was a Cat C write off, that dealer also claimed they had no idea.

I can accept the Cat D write off being just boyd panels as i have the pictures of the damage and it is cosmetic. Like you say, do i want to deal with them still, but also its a question of what kinda money would i be expecting a 16,000 euro car reduced by due to a cat d write off history. Whats a reasonable price drop

Henry Ford III

A cosmetic write off is still a write off, and even when repaired properly it won't be worth as much as a similar non write off car.

The seller knew about it all along but denied it.

I think you should run away, at great speed too.

goodlad

Only reason I'm thinking it's still worth it at a reduced price is because it's a car I'm aiming to hold onto for at least 5 years. I was more so thinking it may be still worth buying if the price was reduced due to the write off history. I just don't know what's a realistic price drop due to it

Henry Ford III

goodlad wrote: »

Only reason I'm thinking it's still worth it at a reduced price is because it's a car I'm aiming to hold onto for at least 5 years. I was more so thinking it may be still worth buying if the price was reduced due to the write off history. I just don't know what's a realistic price drop due to it

c.20% I'd say.

colm_mcm

In reality, they won't have to make it that much cheaper for it to sell.

goodlad

I just left it. Price didn't reduce at all. They will get a buyer who doesn't run a motorcheck

NIMAN

I find it hard to believe a dealer bought a car in without running a check on it first, so they lied there.