Category D cars sales

[Kido 4]

Hi guys first of all hello and hope this forum grows into what is needed for starters like me in the motor trade to get advice and tips of this complex Car game .

I have invested a lot of money in a bang up to date body shop and for the last 3 years Have been dealing in cat d cars 2011 up wards that have a manufactures warranty of a least 2 years to run .

I have being selling all of the repaired cars on eBay . But the last 9 months have seen a slow down on sales . Does any of you guys know of anyone in the trade that deals in cat d cars . Thinking of trying a few through a car auction .

What is your take on cat Ds cars ?

Has anyone here got any experience in the resale of damage repaired cars ?

[Andy Entwistle 96]

Hi Kido, welcome to the forum.

 

I'm sure you'll get plenty of other feedback from others in the next few days, but having spent 7 years working with categorised vehicles I found that most dealers stayed well clear of them.

 

Categorised cars generally fetch around 50% of their non write off value at auction, the big franchised and independents won't touch them, so your pool of bidders is limited.

 

You are always going to be fighting an uphill battle, as the industry has always been very much against written off cars. The biggest problem is the patchy quality of repairs and the charlatans out there, I have sadly seen too many that are dangerously rebuilt in a back street garage on the cheap, no one wants to risk being associated with that.

 

Have you considered getting these officially checked. Although this would not remove them from HPI's condition alert register, it does mark them as "Condition Inspected", which is a check of the quality of repair and safety ( unlike a VIC test which is purely identity). This may add value and make the cars more attractive

[Kido 4]

Hi Andy

That is a good idea (Condition Inspected ) .

It is hard to educate people on the different category's and that cat d is light damage , but then again any that I have had to explain this to have never bought a car , buyers already know what a cat d is just wich there was more of them !

What I need is a trade out let as my set up can turn out 2 or 3 cars per week if I had the turn a round .

[James Baggott 227]

Why not set up a site selling the cars? Sometimes if you have to wait for others it never happens! Might be the excuse you need to set up on your own with a showroom...

[johnhartleycars 8]

Hi Kido 

 

You mention that the cars have 2 years to run on the manufacturers warranty, isn't this invalidated if the car is recorded as Cat D?

[Kido 4]

That is a grey area , when I finish a car ready for resale I bring it to the dealer for a service get the book stamped and show the repair to the damage done to the vehicle . And all but Ford have been happy to continued the manufactures warranty .

[Philip Raby 7]

I've written magazine articles on Cat D Porsches. Generally they are worth 20% less than equivalent non-recorded cars and can be a great buy. 

 

The interesting thing is damage to a new and high value car will be repaired, with no record appearing in the history, whereas the same damage on an older less valuable car results in a record, even if the car's properly repaired.

 

It's not a route I would go down, but I have heard about people exporting Cat D cars as a way of losing the history. 

 

Phil

[ttirreM_nitraM 6]

You'd only ever be able to sell to private sellers at an auction, reason being no one else will touch them!

 

The idea of setting up your own website to sell them is a good one, another idea might be to back it up with some kind of warranty provided by yourself, personally I'd be quite happy to buy a Cat D if I knew I could take it back within 2 years should the repair work need redoing...

[ttirreM_nitraM 6]

That is a grey area , when I finish a car ready for resale I bring it to the dealer for a service get the book stamped and show the repair to the damage done to the vehicle . And all but Ford have been happy to continued the manufactures warranty .

 

Ah but have any dealers proved this by performing warranty work on a Cat D?

 

I'd be worried they say they'll honour the warranty, only to welch on the deal when push comes to shove, maybe I'm being cynical...

[Andy Entwistle 96]

Most manufacturers warranties do have small print that terminates the warranty if the car is an ABI classified write off. The idea of setting up your own would be worth considering, i'm sure that someone like Warranty wise might be interested in chatting to you

[Warrantywise 2]

Hi guys

 

We've just had a read through this thread. We do in fact cover Category D vehicles. The only thing you'll find different to booking a warranty on one of your vehicles that isn't Cat D is that we reduce the repair limit by 25%. So say the Cat D car you are selling is £10,000, the maximum repair limit for that particular car would be £7,500. 

 

Hope this all makes sense!

 

Thanks,

Warrantywise

[Kido 4]

Hi guys thanks for the replies ,

Don't know of any customer has had any warranty work carried out on a car that I have sold them ,but on a BMW 116 that had frontal damage was repaired and when it was getting its 10k mile service done the dealer found a fault with the fuel injection which was done under warranty . Knowing that the car was a cat d .

I have emailed car buyers and have had some response in terms of interest but all offering 60% of trade price ,that don't stack up for me . In fact it would be a loss of a average of £1,200 per car !

I am buying my stock of copart does anyone know of other out let's that deal in damaged repairable they would recommend ?

Will be in touch warrantywise .

[ttirreM_nitraM 6]

Here @ BCA we do sell Cat C and Cat D but not in there own specific auction, if your interested the best thing to do would be to contact your local branch who would be able to let you know which sales have Cat C and Cat D in them.

[Kido 4]

Here @ BCA we do sell Cat C and Cat D but not in there own specific auction, if your interested the best thing to do would be to contact your local branch who would be able to let you know which sales have Cat C and Cat D in them.

Have done waiting on reply thanks for the tip .

lot of buyers looking , had a Peugeot just finish a 7 day make an offer on eBay got 433 views 35 watchers that is more than usual , but no sale . Have the car priced £2,300 below book price and £3,000 below any other of same type on eBay.

Will try eBay auction as just sold a 2012 BMW 320 d for good money on auction instead of buy it now are make an offer!

[Tom 164]

I've only ever sold one cat d which had paint stipper damage and had been re-sprayed, the chap that bought it couldnt give  a monkeys as the lower than average screen price was already a deal maker. This kind of damage would not deter me selling a car and most people would be OK about it. 

[Kido 4]

Good to hear TML , maybe your in the market to move on a few ! Lol

What does cat D knock of the price of the car in anyone's experience here?

[Kido 4]

I've written magazine articles on Cat D Porsches. Generally they are worth 20% less than equivalent non-recorded cars and can be a great buy. 

 

Philip could you share some of the articles on cat D Porsches you have written , me be post a link ?

If possible !

[Tom 164]

Good to hear TML , maybe your in the market to move on a few ! Lol

What does cat D knock of the price of the car in anyone's experience here?

Yes I would if the price was right. 

Price wise from my experience 25% Cat D | 50% Cat C

[umesh 336]

CAT D or C Cars I will not sell them - simple - reputation to maintain. Personally when I've had to value them for P/X I've said 'half book value' that's IF I can get some one to take them off me. I know of few customers who've actually bought them as they think they represent good value for money. I guess its all down to what the car is and HOW good a repair job is or what the damage was!

 

But looking as some of the comments on here there might be a business for someone who's up front and advertises them for what they are especially if you have photographic evidence of damage/repairs! Good luck

[umesh 336]

PS - Just spotted this article : http://www.lawgistics.co.uk/read-news/574  Ref CAT D & Claims against dealer. ( Thought it may be of interest !)

[Andy Entwistle 96]

TSI are starting to clamp down on this. Cars are getting written off more often due to the cost of repairing to manufacturer standard, and more are finding their way back to the road.

 

This is hurting all of us, as punters get carried away with the low cost, taking business away from us. Its important that we all help the industry clamp down on these been sold. In the USA all consumers know to HPI a car as standard, regardless of where it comes from.

 

Do you think that if we could educate the general public over here, it would only work for all of us?

[Kido 4]

Andy ,

What is the TS clamping down on , people fixing cars ? Lol

What if a cat D or C was to be classed as a cat B not to be returned to the road .

Insurance premiums would double as the insurance company's recope half their losses selling Ds & Cs .

What would that do for the car industry ?

Think the real problem lies more with the main dealers not just charging excessive labour rates and mark up on parts and not having the trained staff to fix the likes of parking sensors and air bag replacement .

So a car with light frontal damage that has parking sensors that the main dealers can't fix and give a warranty now has to be classed as a cat D .

Main dealer also takes forever to fix the simplest problem cause the insurance company is paying for a hired car that the dealer is again charging three time regular rental rates .

So the guy with the know how to replace air bags sensors is the target of TS .

Don't think the TS will never stop the insurance company's selling Ds & Cs to be returned to the road or ever stop some one fixing a car

Did you know that soon a lot more cars that have damage as classed as a cat d today will be unrecorded .

In fact this is already the case .

Q And who passed this ?

A TS

Insurance company's are banks , banks are big and get what they want think they have proved that to the tune of 85 billion of our money .

So don't think TS will stop them being part of cat Ds or cat Cs returning back on the road it would cost them money and bankers like money .

And beside that , I doubt many main dealers could tell what a cat D or C is before or after fixed .

Could he tell why it is a cat D not a C .

You cant tell 60% of cat Ds after being fixed not unless you go in to the bar codes of the new parts to tell that they are newer than the car .the other 40% may have had panel damage and bad paint job would be the tell tail . There has never been a case where there has been a criminal injury case caused by a cat D or cat C car sold to any one .

So what do that tell you , it is all down to money .

If your in the market for a cat D that my forte.

[Kido 4]

Do you think that if we could educate the general public over here, it would only work for all of us?

Andy , me be the general public are educate over here , Most punters here see the value in a damaged repaired insurance wright off .the only thing they don't understand is dealers don't . But when that is fully explained to them they fully do .

Just briefly ; "dealers don't have the know how are management skills to repair these cars so rubbish them and devalue them as dealers like to buy a clean car from a repression auction and mark up 2 grand on it, fixing a perfectly good car would sound like to much work to them and their not in the business of giving the public the chance to drive a young low mileage car that they other would not afford . And if could afford would have to pay 30% more of the dealer " .

Where you are also getting mixed up cars in the states are not made wright off to to small damage value of here .

cause the dealers are not as greedy and have trained staff in the US of A .

And as for HPI I have bought many a well damaged car that not been recorded .

[Andy Entwistle 96]

Hi Kido

 

Its not repairing and selling them. Its trying to hide this fact that I think is bad for the industry. Our customers should know what they are buying, people misleading them gives us all a bad name.

 

Providing cars are repaired properly and advertised openly, they can be a great way for consumers to grab a bargain, providing they know what they are buying.

 

However, surely a small kerbside trader, cheaply repairing small cars and selling them onto a young innocent driver without divulging the history is bad for all of us in the industry, never mind the potential dangers for the end buyer?

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

Unless I'm wrong before you can get a V5 for a CAT C or D doesn't the car have to undergo an MOT? Could it be made law that these cars have to undergo a far more indepth examination carried out like an MOT test but by VOSA say. It may have to cost £300 but it could help prove these cars are safe. Good for the buyer and good for the seller. If the repair it done properly CAT D & C repaired cars should be some of the safest on road with everything set up correct, new compontants etc. Lets remember there are lots of unsafe, badly repairs cars on the road which haven't been part of an insurance claim.

 

If the customer is informed (vital) and a traceable repair history can be shown lets remove the stigma and embrace another part of our diverse industry.