written off car..

[rbumagat]

i have recently visited some scrap yards. and there were cars that they actually sell upon repairing the damages. are these cars already written off? and if so, can they still sell it and if i buy it, can i still insure the car and make claims in the future if it is gonna be involved in an accdent?

Category C and Category D Registered Cars

[jake-the-peg]

There are 4 categories of write off

Category A must be cubed - no part can be salvaged for re-use (usually reserved for vehicle fires)

Category B Cannot be repaired (I think this is possible in rare cases with a special license) parts can be salvaged

Category C - Repairs are more costly than the value of the vehicle - can be repaired but the Police are informed as they'll want to know why you're doing it and check it's not a ringing operation

Category D - Repairs more than 60% of the vehicles value or recovered after insurance pay out. Insurance companies write off above 60% just in case the costs escalate.

These can be repaired and insured but with complications - they will always have write off against them when anybody does a check so their value is reduced even if perfect this means some insurance comppanies won't touch them.

But if you're OK with this and are not too concerned about resale values there are some fabulous bargain to be had - I heard of one that had been stolen with the owners keys and recovered after a claim had been settled - the only thing that made it a write off was that a couple of thieves had been driving it about for a month or two.

Don't know about buying from a scrappy though, you'd want to be very sure about the original damage and have confidence in the repairer.

Get an AA report - you wouldn't want a weld to fail on the steering or suspension when you're on a motorway and an MOT just won't give you that level of testing

[ianess]

I had my beloved Vauxhall Cavalier 1.8i "written off"by my then insurance company as beyond economic repair several years ago and 500 miles from home.    Within 3 months I had a letter from Swansea telling me that someone else had re-registered it as fit for the road.   Yes, write-offs can be bought cheaply if you're prepared and able to repair it within your budget.  If I'd been closer to home I would have fixed it myself.