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What can a Motorcheck 'write-off' mean?

  • 12-06-2022 10:14pm
    #1
    bradlente
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,911 ✭✭✭


    Hows it goin, I just recently did a motorcheck on a car I'm looking at buying from an acquaintance. This person doesn't have the motor up for sale and does not appear to be in any hurry to sell it on. It looks like a good deal considering the low mileage of the machine. They gave me a little detail about the history of the car that they know of, and I will probably press them for any more details before I pull the trigger. I'll also be getting a proper inspection beforehand, have had a little drive in it but not really enough to know much, but it seems decent.

    Some of the motor history is a bit all over the place:


    Vehicle manufactured

    2012

    First registered

    24/11/2012

    Jump to section


    2019

    Write Off

    25/09/2019

    Jump to section


    Owner change

    16/11/2019

    Jump to section


    Owner change

    16/11/2019

    Jump to section


    Owner change

    28/12/2019

    Jump to section


    Registered in Ireland

    29/12/2019

    Jump to section

    Owner change


    14/05/2021



    I see the description of 'category S write off' on motorcheck means 'the vehicle has been extensively damaged and the insurer has decided not to repair as the cost would not be economical. However, the vehicle may be repaired and returned to the road.' The car looks like it has not been damaged at all, and there is no sign that the car needed extensive work, although some parts have been replaced by the current owner. I'll definitely be digging into this more and getting a few more opinions.

    What are all the possible reasons for a car being declared as 'written-off'? I think there is a less than serious reason why this may have occurred, as I don't think this car has endured extensive damage.

    One other thing I noticed is that the ownership of the vehicle changed over the course of two days. Could anyone suggest an arbitrary reason this has popped up? I recall seeing something about it in the buying/selling megathread so might go have a look over a few pages there to jog the memory.


    Thanks for any input.



Comments

  • #2
    User1998
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,376 ✭✭✭User1998


    Category S means there was structural damage done to the car and the insurance company deemed it as uneconomical to repair.

    Cat S cars get put back onto the road all the time which is fine as long as they are repaired to a high standard. But make no mistake the car did suffer structural damage at some point and you don’t know the standard of repairs that were done. There are also Category N write offs which stands for non structural.

    If you go ahead with the purchase you need to be paying at least 30% less than private sale market value and getting an independent inspection to ensure its been repaired to a high standard.

    The change of ownership thing isn’t an issue. The car was damaged, and shortly after the ownership changed when the car was imported here and then again when the car was sold shortly after.



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