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[Ken T]

Yes, please do, I work during the week in Hunslet, Leeds. Is this another meet brewing

Ken

[theowletman]

Went to the local car auction yesterday for a nose around.
Some of the cars were being sold  with the words TOTAL LOSS on the windscreen.......can anybody tell me what this means and are these cars safe to buy ..or sell.?

Some may have had very minor damage, some may have had only parts stolen or paintwork damaged ( as stated by one of our members ). An example is a Micra that I valued a few months ago, it came back on HPI as a total loss. The damage was to the roof and bonnet and the tops of the wings, it was parked in the owners garage and he had the garage roof re-felted, the hot bitumen used to waterproof the garage roof came through and damaged the car. He took pictures at the time and was able to explain and show the damage, the car drove perfectly, he had bought it back from the insurers and had the paintwork sorted. However, as it was classed as a write off the car ( to the motor trade anyway ) is only worth 50% of its book price, so be careful how much you pay. Unless you are very good at things mechanical and know how to spot hidden damage you could end up with a very sharp pain across the wallet. As a private seller you are not legally obliged to tell a buyer that the car has been the subject of a total loss, BUT, if they ask you and you lie about it, that is mis-representation and they can have you for it. CAUTION and RESEARCH is the way forward. Log onto www.hales.co.uk and see what they have.

[MikeDundee]

Mine was a Cat D. The only damage was some S**T had poured paint stripper over most of the panels, and as a respray cost about £2000, they wrote it off. Nothing mechanical at all, and it aids spotting it in a crowded car park.  

Ken

Who are you callin a S**T?   I'll be down there to finish the job if yer dont watch it mate

 

  ...somethings never change............

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

The cars that I saw all looked in good condition and with long MOT's.
So from what I am reading on this thread....A TOTAL LOSS car can just have cosmetic damage that makes it too expensive to repair for insurance purposes.....so If a car such as this can be bought for about 50% of book value this would seem to me to be a good deal.
Would these cars be marked as cat..?...on the log book?

[Ken T]

I'm fairly sure they aren't marked on the log book. This only shows the current ownership of the vehicle. Theoretically the MOT is all you need to pass to get it back on the road, the Cat C check, I think is to verify the identity, primarly to stop ringing. The trick is to throughly inspect the car, as theowletman has said, nothing worse than doing a simple rear bumper change only to find that the impact has creased the boot and pushed the shell back, jaming the rear doors, so it would need an expensive shell pull to get straight. Occasionally you see a car gong down the road sideways, you know what has happen there. A friend reversed with his door open, and hit something; this distorted the shell so badly the car was Cat B. I check the door gaps; they should be constant all the way round. If they close up then something is not right, and walk away!.

Ken

[Ken T]

I've also got one of these 4 ton hydraulic ram kits; they are not bad for small jobs, but you will not get the accuracy of a proper straighten. The metal distorts and stretches during an impact, so its very difficult to get it back to the original shape.

Ken

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

By the way a P reg 2.5V6 Omega tourer estate (manual) went for £330 plus £50 costs with full 12 months MOT and tax till december
Quite a tidy car ....engine sounded healthy.....just rusty along the top of the drivers door....tempted.

[theowletman]

The cars that I saw all looked in good condition and with long MOT's.
So from what I am reading on this thread....A TOTAL LOSS car can just have cosmetic damage that makes it too expensive to repair for insurance purposes.....so If a car such as this can be bought for about 50% of book value this would seem to me to be a good deal.
Would these cars be marked as cat..?...on the log book?

YES THEY ARE.
From 01/04/2006 ( IIRC ) the V5 registration document DOES show that the car has been the subject of a VIC - Vehicle Identity Check - and the reason for a car having one of those is usually after theft and / or damage. If you are buying to keep it and run it into the ground then it is a cheap way of buying a late plate car. Please don't watch TV shows like Wrecks to Riches and think that they are gospel, in truth they are very misleading. The bald cockney geezer thinks that buying a damaged car, repairing it, sticking a nice radio in it, ALL FOR A FRACTION OF THE FORECOURT PRICE is a good idea, they normally manage to save the punter £2k on a £10k car, what they don't tell the buyer is that when he or she go to trade the car they will find it hard, and will only get 50% of the market value at the time. Also any manufacturers paint / bodywork warranty will be void if it has not been done at an approved repairer and genuine parts used. Failed car dealers like the baldy geezer make me sick. As I said take care, with the current state of the car market there are plenty of undamaged cars around at well below normal prices. Even if the damage is slight, if the car has been categorised as a write off or total loss its future value WILL  suffer badly, no reputable dealer will want it as they have to sell it on, normally they will send it straight  to auction so there are no comebacks, and will only offer what it would fetch at auction, so we are now back to why those cars you have seen appear to be cheap. If a deal seems to good to be true it probably is.If you buy one, get a good drive first if possible, and be prepared to keep it and get your moneys worth out of it. Oh and remember to tell your insurers, they may impose conditions and ask for a  proper engineers report.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

The cars that I saw all looked in good condition and with long MOT's.
So from what I am reading on this thread....A TOTAL LOSS car can just have cosmetic damage that makes it too expensive to repair for insurance purposes.....so If a car such as this can be bought for about 50% of book value this would seem to me to be a good deal.
Would these cars be marked as cat..?...on the log book?

YES THEY ARE.
From 01/04/2006 ( IIRC ) the V5 registration document DOES show that the car has been the subject of a VIC - Vehicle Identity Check - and the reason for a car having one of those is usually after theft and / or damage. If you are buying to keep it and run it into the ground then it is a cheap way of buying a late plate car. Please don't watch TV shows like Wrecks to Riches and think that they are gospel, in truth they are very misleading. The bald cockney geezer thinks that buying a damaged car, repairing it, sticking a nice radio in it, ALL FOR A FRACTION OF THE FORECOURT PRICE is a good idea, they normally manage to save the punter £2k on a £10k car, what they don't tell the buyer is that when he or she go to trade the car they will find it hard, and will only get 50% of the market value at the time. Also any manufacturers paint / bodywork warranty will be void if it has not been done at an approved repairer and genuine parts used. Failed car dealers like the baldy geezer make me sick. As I said take care, with the current state of the car market there are plenty of undamaged cars around at well below normal prices. Even if the damage is slight, if the car has been categorised as a write off or total loss its future value WILL  suffer badly, no reputable dealer will want it as they have to sell it on, normally they will send it straight  to auction so there are no comebacks, and will only offer what it would fetch at auction, so we are now back to why those cars you have seen appear to be cheap. If a deal seems to good to be true it probably is.If you buy one, get a good drive first if possible, and be prepared to keep it and get your moneys worth out of it. Oh and remember to tell your insurers, they may impose conditions and ask for a  proper engineers report.

some good points...well made.

[theowletman]

Just to correct the link I put in a previous post it should have been www.dhales.co.uk. Sorry.