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Would you buy a Cat D?

Zingari said:
Moving it on will be a load of hassle even when you price it right :what:


Especially if the syrup's still fouling the engine.
 
leave well alone, the forces at work in a bang are unbelievable. Don't buy the 'it was only cosmetic' line.
 
I bought an impreza Turbo cat d a long time ago it looked mint but after a while i started to notice things weren't quite right and slowly got worse it turned out the whole car was slightly bent twisted and everything had been cleverly hidden .I lifted the carpet with the seats out and found a slight crease right across the floor that you couldn't see from underneath unless you were looking for it. I don't think the car would have stood up in an accident .
I run a mile now from any cat c or d. If your really keen get the best inspection you can and bear in mind they are hard to sell .
Apologies for the negativity LOL.
Hopefully being a Porsche its been repaired correctly.
 
I would and have.

My father is now retired but was an Insurance assessor and President of the Institute of Assessors for many years and quite a specialist in accident repairs.

The damage it takes to make something a Cat D can actually be quite small even on an expensive car because simple unrelated things like the cost of a replacement (equivalent) hire car which can very quickly make the repair uneconomic even though it has absolutely no bearing on the damage inflicted on the car itself.

The difference between a Cat C and a Cat D in essence is the cost of repairs (this subject always stirs up a hornets nest though)

Cat D - vehicle is economically repairable but for it's own reasons the insurer decides not to repair it (i.e. stupid stuff like hire car cost due to unavailability of a certain part etc)

Cat C - vehicle repair costs exceed the value once the value of the salvage has been taken into account.

Many moons ago I bought an Audi which had the interior stolen (seats and door cards), bought it as a Cat D - bought a secondhand interior from a breakers and fitted it myself- no damage to the car at all - never missed a beat.

So the truth is yes it will be more difficult to sell when the time comes and it will always be cheap but if you have it inspected and are happy with it you might just get a car you couldn't normally afford - and what's bad in that!
 
resigner said:
That GTS in question was I am told sold by an OPC, who didn't check it. The new owner then found out and went rather mental at the OPC (justified!) and I think got his money back or some compensation.

A Cat D, in theory, must, absolutely must, of been repaired properly. It can't be put back on the road without it being checked out properly and officially signed off.

That car, assuming it checks out, and Portiacraft wouldn't be selling it if it didn't. is a bargain. If I was in the market for a keeper, I would be snapping it up. It's a manual GTS low mileage cab for peanuts. It would be a £70k car if it wasn't Cat D.

I wouldn't want to sell it on in a few years, so only if it's a keeper.

For peanuts.............. are you serious?

I was offered a mint 2011 GTS coupe, 2 wheel drive manual fully loaded car, 1 owner from new, FPSH for £52k 6 months ago.

Therefore don't consider the above car is being sold for peanuts.
 
160dmb & squelch great advise

OP if the car is like £15-20k cheaper than the next cheapest GTS or from a like to like car then this wouldn't put me off

According to the ad its had a 111 point check and a 2 year Warranty by OPC in 2016 so what is there to worry about???

(Even though i don't know how the OPC put a warranty as i was under the impression they don't entertain a Catted Car???)

I'd go inspect the car personally or take someone that knows how to and if it looks ok and drives ok then try doing a deal

All the best
 
resigner as below

Signed off by who and who even checks the quality of these repairs?

When there used to be the VIC check for CAT C & B (yes CAT B) even VOSA who used to carry out the VIC Tests never used to check the repair as a VIC test meant VEHICLE IDENTITY CHECK

resigner said:
That GTS in question was I am told sold by an OPC, who didn't check it. The new owner then found out and went rather mental at the OPC (justified!) and I think got his money back or some compensation.

A Cat D, in theory, must, absolutely must, of been repaired properly. It can't be put back on the road without it being checked out properly and officially signed off.

That car, assuming it checks out, and Portiacraft wouldn't be selling it if it didn't. is a bargain. If I was in the market for a keeper, I would be snapping it up. It's a manual GTS low mileage cab for peanuts. It would be a £70k car if it wasn't Cat D.

I wouldn't want to sell it on in a few years, so only if it's a keeper.
 
Loads of interesting opinions, I think there's a few considerations in your personal circumstance that dictates whether you'd go for it.

Will see if I can get info on how it was pranged & take it from there.
 
My car is a CAT D.... Would I buy another. Probably if it was the right car at the time. I exchanged £15k for my 996 turbo. Reality is a lot of cars are involved in accidents and repaired without the future owner knowing. Cars that are written off as a CAT D normally could have been repaired financially but the additional costs and any future snagging may have made it less viable to repair. Say for example it is repaired, the owner gets it back but is not happy with the paint job or simply 'it does not drive the same as it did' type of comment. It is so much easier for the Insurance to just pay out.
When I was looking at turbos I went to see some real dogs. Also cars that were not dogs but clearly needed suspension work, radiators were originals etc. Then I saw mine advertised at around £17k and thought why not go have a look. It needed a new centre rad and the spoiler did not work. Otherwise it drove fine etc. Offered the man £15k and he accepted so long as I let him retain the private plate which was awful anyway. The bargain turbo bagged. Had a lot of fun with it changing bits myself, modding it etc. No need to pay a premium on servicing etc as the purists already do not like it. Same with modding.

Clearly over the last year I have spent a fortune getting the engine built etc but this has ***** all to do with the accident. I have had the car geo'd and everything points the right way.

Clearly if I ever sell it will be worth less than a straight car but I paid less so what is the difference?

Edited to say;
Go have a look at it and see how it makes you feel. Look for different colour panels. Also check all the gaps between panes etc to make sure they are all equal. I do this when I buy any used car as just because a car is not a CAT does not mean its never been in an accident. Viewing it like that makes a CAT D the more honest car in some ways.
 
Cheapest 2 wheel drive cabrio GTS is £58k and is a PDK. Manual cars are much much rarer and sought after in GTS form, so it is easily a £65k car, if not a £70k one, but not an £83k one!

So, let's take £65k, and remove 30%, which is £20.5k, which leave then leaves us at £44.5k.

So it's spot on at the lowest value you could possibly think it's worth.

Note, cabrios are more expensive than coupes, seems to be true for almost every model of 997 there is out there.

Now add in Portiacraft being the the selling dealer and I wouldn't blink if I was in the market. Harry is a great guy, as is Martin, they know their stuff and wouldn't risk their reputation.
 
The quality of any car that has been subject to an Insurance write off relies entirely on the integrity of the current owner/repairer - there was a case of a new car supplied by main dealer that a few months later was involved in an accident, the car went in for repair and the owner then received a phone call from the repairer enquiring as to who did the previous accident repair.

It turned out the "new car" had been on the forecourt of the "reputable dealer" when a runaway car came down the road and smacked the "new car" the "reputable dealer" repaired it and sold it as a new car.

In the village where I live I have a main dealer in the next road on several occasions I have seen "Dentech" type repairers getting dents out of unregistered cars - on the forecourt!

*
*
Del.
 
Possibility

I was considering this car, and still am, but it was not repaired by OPC.
Who can I pay to assess the car independently? I know nothing about paint, and would rather have an individual assessment. Selling it on, does concern me massively, and when I buy a GTS, it's a long term keeper. It's hard to value a CAT D car, as I can only imagine a dealer picking this up again in the future. Harry is a sound guy, and its his reputation, but the problem is selling it on.
 
Peter Morgan is generally seen as the go-to guy for PPI's. His website is Porscheinspections.com.

A rule of thumb has been that Cat D cars are around two thirds (0.66%) the value of the HPI Clear equivalent. However, on slightly more 'special" cars rarity value can narrow the price gap but that's down to simple supply and demand. For example, on AT the two cheapest 996 Turbos are both Cat D at £30k and £31k followed by a couple of privates / high milers and then prices rapidly go north of £35k. So an HPI Clear 996Turbo at £35k should have the Cat D equivalent (at 0.66%) at £23,100 which is unheard of. I've not scrutinised specs but a quick look shows the price drop to Cat D prices to be around 15 to 20%. So by that reckoning, if the GTS residuals remain solid they may even drag UP the value of the Cat D one.

Anyway, regarding the re-sale value of the Cat D car currently at £45k – if we say the HPI Clear equivalent would be £65k (possibly conservative but it makes the man-maths easier) that makes it a shade over 30% cheaper than it would be if it was HPI clear, so you could argue it's a bargain GTS (provided it passes a proper inspection). Its resale value will likely follow the same trend as the HPI clear cars, so:

CAT D price of £45k saves £20k over a £65k HPI Clear car.

After 10% depreciation and "n" months (insert predicted time period here) the Cat D loses £4,500 and the HPI Clear Car loses £6,500
After 20% depreciation the Cat D loses £9,000 and the HPI Clear Car loses £13,000
After 50% depreciation (hopefully unlikely) the Cat D loses £22,500 and the HPI Clear Car loses £32,500.
If the model actually appreciates in value then the inverse applies (in whatever time period).

So basically any loss (or gain) in value in terms of pound notes would be smaller on the Cat D (and possibly easier to swallow) and from that perspective you could argue it actually makes BETTER financial sense... And if the HPI Clear cars do indeed drag up the prices of the Cat D, then you could even be quids in!! Ch-ching!

So that concludes my man maths anyway!

The only 'problem" with selling it on is the fact that potential buyers will likely be having the same debate, but simple economics / supply / demand dictates they do sell. After all, if Cat D cars did not sell then the price reduction would be far greater than 30%.

The choice, as they say, is yours...
 
Cat D cars hang around for a long time as they are generally over priced. Also take account of who is selling it. There are many dealers out there I wouldn't buy a straight car from let alone a damaged repaired :what:

It's a lot more palatable dumping in less than 20 large on a Cat D than paying over 40. depends how long you keep it but the bigger the price your target audience decreases as buyers wont take the risk and lower thier sights to an older/alternative spec etc
 

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