Cat C Advice please

[albacore]

I recently purchased a classic car from a dealer and am have subsequently found out that it it a cat C write off although this isn't recorded on the V5. I wasn't advised of the write off by the dealer who I'm pretty sure is legally obliged to make me aware of this - can anyone provide any information regarding this please?

[Guest ian cognito]

How did you find out the car was cat c damaged as it is necessary to inform the DVLA who subsequently record it on the log book but this is usually done by the insurance company. Cat C is beyond economical repair, not structurally damaged, especially on older cars this damage could be fairly minor. If the dealer knew the car was cat c damaged, he would be legally obliged to inform DVLA.

[albacore]

We are trying to sell the vehicle on and a potential purchaser ran an hpi check which threw up the write off issue. Can you offer any further advice?

[albacore]

how can i find out how bad hte damage was?

[Guest ian cognito]

Can't understand why the write off was shown up on HPI and not shown on the log book, you obviously need to go back to the dealer on this but he could deny knowledge if it wasn't on the log book, also check with DVLA and see if they have got it noted. There is nothing illegal in repairing a Cat C write off as you can buy the car from the insurance company and do the repairs yourself as long as the car is roadworthy once repaired, proved by a valid MOT certificate.

[albacore]

the dealer said he did not no, may he did not no as it is not on the v5 but how can i find out how bad it was? will the dvla tell me, or hpi. cheers for your help i had a car that was 6k now i have a car thats 3k i feel sick.

[Guest ian cognito]

The value of a cat c right off will be 25-40% lower than the market value of the car so you could reasonably expect £4k, not that it will make you feel any better. An insurance company will usually write off a car where the labour costs are 50%+ of the market value so you can expect the car to have had around £3k of damage. Not sure how you can find out what the damage was but this web site is quite useful. www.abi.org.uk/Display/File/Child/387/MotorVehicleSalvage.pdf

[Rob S]

Can't understand why the write off was shown up on HPI and not shown on the log book, you obviously need to go back to the dealer on this but he could deny knowledge if it wasn't on the log book, also check with DVLA and see if they have got it noted.

 

I think you will find that when a vehicle is declared as a write off to DVLA, they do not record this information on the V5 but only on their own databases.

 

With regards to the vehicle, it might be worthwhile contacting HPI to see if they will advise you of how many checks have been carried out on the vehicle in the time leading up to when you bought the car. A call to your local trading standards might be worthwhile too.

[Guest ian cognito]

You can apply to DVLA for the registration certificate (V5C), which will be issued and will contain the following message - ‘Accident damaged and/or substantially repaired; identity checked on dd/mm/yy'. All subsequent V5Cs will carry this message. Further information on the VIC can be found on the link below.

 

Rob this should be noted on the log book, the quote above is from the DVLA website.