Can anybody please pass on any top tips as im going to look at a damaged repaired focus tomorrow. It is cat C and is booked in for its test on monday so doesnt yet have the certificate, but when it does, does that mean it will all be straight? or dont they check it in that much detail? The story is its a body shop thats selling it, the insurers had it 8 months deciding to repair or not, then when they decided not to, he bought it , its had new front o/s wing bumper bonnet a/con radiator and another bit i cant remember the name of, think it was the bar above the radiator, then resprayed upto (including) the door. He says it has no history with it as the insurers kept all that, just a new mot, and on mon will have the certificate for its repair and a/con gassed up. undamaged they seem to be advertiseed for 5.5k but minimum hell take is 3. Any thoughts would be much appreciated as ive no experience of this before. Thanks

with a cat c test they only check the chassis and engine numbers etc match ive tested one that was still damaged so no they test to see if its straight
also it WILL be stamped on the log book and come up on HPI check
all the best

I believe that when you come to sell it, you must/should declare that the car has been written of, so the resale value "can" be sweet FA, depending on the buyers attitude towards it. Cheers Ray

the vic check is to see the work has been done properly as far as they can see but mainly to see if it is the same car eg not a ringer or a stolen on with your plates and numbers on?
ive done a few when i see a car i like i always try to find a damaged one to straighten first u can get a cheep car that way and u know its been done right if i do it my self.
i did a escort si last year on 1998 R cat c needed a door lock repair and new lock, drivers window and door painting cost me £15 for window and a few hrs of my own time to repair and paint door and give it a polish and it was back to new. carnt work out why it was a cat c though with such small damage low milage and 1 owner from new. so if the focus has been repaired properly by a good body shop and not bodged together it should be fine

If you're not looking to make money on it you can get a newish car for older car money. I used to get them from salvage yards and put them back on the road to run for 4 or 5 years then sell them cheap and get another.

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Originally posted by tootall
carnt work out why it was a cat c though with such small damage low milage and 1 owner from new.

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I think it should also be borne in mind that if you buy the car and it's subject to a further claim (e.g. someone runs into the back of you and the car is written off) the insurance company will pay out a much lower value on the basis that it's already been written off once.

I'm not trying to put you off, like others i've repaired and ran a few myself but you should go into it with your eyes open

The last 2 posts are spot on.

I would like to clear up the confusion about categories

Cat A - Absolute total loss, burn out etc

Cat B - Severe damage where it would be unsafe for that chassis to go back onto the road, break only

Cat C - The repair costs exceeded the value of the car (no more, no less. A £90 car with car cracked headlamp costing £100 would be Cat C)

Cat D - The repair costs exceeded the value of the car less the salvage value. ( A £500 car with a £350 repair, but the Insurer would get £200 salvage, so it would cost them £300 to total loss rather than £350 to repair)

25 years as a bodyshop estimator/manager and Insurance Company Motor Assessor

Thanks for all the comments. Having second thoughts now its chucking it down as its hard to see flaws in the rain. Would the cost of insuring it be any different, would i need to tell them?

Just bought a repaired Cat D car last weekend, no problem with the insurance premium only paid an admin fee to swap over from previous car which was virtually the same make and model. Got the car for a good price, intend to run it til its scrap so no resell price problems, accept that I would have to accept a lower payout if the car is written off. But that's an acceptable risk given the price I paid for it.