Explain Cat C/D to me (boring question alert)

Google it everyone has a different opinion and you'll find 1000,s of threads about it.
I've had a few cat c cars over the years the only problem come when you come to sell it.
Some people will run a mile some like me will buy it on the condition its in there and then.
All depends on the car and value your buying i guess.
The vic check is nothing to do with the quality of the repairs some people will list as vic passed and pam it off as if it does.
All the vic check does is check the vehicle identity check hence VIC.

In simple terms, a Cat D car is one which has been assessed by insurers and repair quotations have exceeded 50% of what they believe to be the value of the vehicle.

A Cat C car is one that exceeds 100%.

You shouldn't be any more or less wary of them than any other vehicle and every vehicle should be inspected thoroughly as say for instance you went to view two cars, which were identical models. One was a Cat D, but was mint and repaired to a high standard and only suffered cosmetic damage. The other one had no marker against it and looked in good condition on the surface, but had been involved in a heavy impact and underneath it had been repaired poorly, but as no insurance claim was ever made against it, it wasn't a Cat D or C. Therefore you may decide that car is a better buy, even if it is probably advertised at substantially more money.

I've bought and sold hundreds of Cat D cars. As someone in the industry of repairing cars (properly), in the vast majority of cases I buy them in their damaged state, so I know exactly how they have been repaired, but if they have been repaired correctly or they're straight and just need some cosmetic tidying then that's fine, but it's always good to have a photo of a car in its damaged state and a photographic record of repairs. There is no problem selling them on. Naturally people would expect to pay a percentage below market value of the equivalent non-categorised vehicle, but as long as you've bought it at the reduced percentage in the first place then everyone's a winner. But remember that if you are buying or selling a car like that, you should expect the percentage to be taken off a non-cat car in the equivalent condition. ie/ If the Cat D car is a low mileage minter, knock the percentage off an equivalent straight one. I know I'd rather have a mint, properly repaired Cat D car to a ropey, abused, high mileage non-cat car.

When the insurers come up with the valuations, in many cases they will only use brand new genuine parts and main dealer labour rates. Plus in a lot of cases they will add on storage costs and hire car expenses to the repair estimate. So it is very easy for cars with next to no real damage to be written off.

I can give you three examples based on cars I own/have owned recently.

This MINI Cooper I bought as a Cat D car, unrepaired a couple of years ago to use as my daily driver. Here it is in its damaged state:



Just a little dent by the headlight. An otherwise mint, pampered, low mileage example, spotless inside and out. Cat D for something which most people wouldn't even worry about insurance on. All I did was give the bonnet a thrash with the panel hammer to get the headlight alignment right and took it for MOT and started to use it straightaway (it was MOT'd anyway, but worth having it checked over). Then a couple of week later, pulled the dent out, tight skim of filler, repaint the bonnet, job done.

Second example, I don't have any pics to hand, but a 55-Reg KA. Bought direct from Copart online salvage auction. Was a Cat C with no noticeable damage at all. Turns out it had been hit lightly on the rear, but the bumper was undamaged as it sprung back into shape, but lift the carpet and the boot floor was kinked ever so slightly, but didn't affect the car in any way. Took it straight for MOT, which it just needed a new rear number plate light for. That was the only thing that was damaged. Still use the car today as a runabout/Courtesy car

Third example, I recently bought an Audi A1 TDi Sport with the intention of repairing it to replace the above KA as a runabout/courtesy car. This was one of the more heavily damaged cars I've bought. Certainly in terms of the way it looked anyway. Was mostly bolt-on bits that were damaged, but we did have it on our jig as the one chassis leg had been pushed out a couple of mm and needs a new dash as the passengers airbag had been deployed. When I came to apply for the V5, I contacted the DVLA I was unsure whether it would be a Cat D or Cat C (as you don't have to pay the £20 for a Cat C for a replacement V5). I thought it was going to be Cat D, but wasn't sure. Anyway, turns out it was neither and despite being vastly more substantially damaged than the other two cars (and most that I buy), It's not on V-Car at all. Again, it's a car that can be repaired perfectly, but still a good example of what to look for and how Cat D or indeed Cat C can be something or nothing at all in reality.

There are plenty of cars with much more damage to them still on the road than anything on the register.

I have seen a 2 year old cat c polo for sale on a major salvage auction site, the damage was a trolley dent down one side.

I have also seen a 2 month old passat that was cat d, it was in a right state, front end destroyed and the engine snapped off the mounts.

What I'm trying to say is,you really need to see it in its damaged state or do a hpi to find out how old it was when it was written off.

This is mine fixed it Last year to use as my main car.





Two doors for £50 each and bit of filler an paint on the wheel arch. Doesn't look too bad. Good enough for a run around.

cat C or D doesn't really matter I think.

Basically if the car is a brand new 20 grand car, it must have had a lot of damage for an insurance to pay out 20k instead of fixing it.

If you buy cheaper cars, they will be put on the register for minor damage as it still costs a lot to repair.

My advise is to buy a car that was worth between 2-3k before the accident, as the damage won't be a severe to write off cheaper cars.

"Beyond economic repair" tends to be the phrase the insurers use.

Examples of my "write off" cars over the years :
Hunter (still in daily use) - vandals/morons broke the windscreen. No panel or paint damage. The insurers couldn't find anywhere with one in stock, they quoted £1200 & 12 weeks to custom make one to fit. I ended up not claiming on the insurance and fitted a good used screen (I was offered 2, one was free, 1 was £30)
Citroen AX - SHMBO bumped a car when parking, the other car needed paintwork, the AX had a broken clip on the bumper and chipped paint. Insurers said they would write the AX off if I claimed as the paintwork would be about what the car was worth. It cost £3 for a spraycan for the bumper, and the bumper clip never did get fixed.
Peugeot 205 (when it was fairly new) - cute blonde another driver swerved to avoid me when I was parked and rolled their car It clipped the back quarter of the 205 on the way past. Car was still fine to drive but the insurers wrote it off due to cost of parts/labour/paint. It cost under £50 for a panel from a scrapyard fitted and painted.
A chap I worked with had his Princess written off when his door got dented in a carpark. He fixed it with a £20 door from the scrapyard.

I wouldn't be concerned* about Cat C or D ( insurers see the cost of new panels + labour + £££ paintwork  I see a dent I can live with or fix with used parts and a spray can )
* If it was a big crash and it's been bodged back together, be concerned!

Even on the more heavily damaged cars there, once you've stripped off the parts that bolt on, which are neither here nor there, there won't be an awful lot to put right with them.

Just depends what price you can buy them for and whether it's worth the price of the parts and time to repair them.

What type of car/budget are you looking at, just out of interest?