surfboardfiller wrote:It is indeed a can of worms.
It looks like there is no actual legislation making it 'illegal' just a lot of peoples opinion implying it is illegal without being able to substantiate it.
The concern seems to be aimed at cars with monocoque chassis that are 'repaired' but these should not be Cat C/D but Cat B.
The plain and obvious fact is that a car can be crashed and not categorised as 'un economic repair' but be in the same condition of a car that can be repaired economically, as its based on the pre crash value minus the quote for repairing it. Its a category of economy not safety.
Cat C/D is a marker put on the car when it was damaged which is technically irrelevant after a repair.
If the car was damaged beyond safety it would be a Cat B which is illegal to sell as a road going vehicle because it is not legally permitted to go back on the road and should not be issued with a V5c by our friends at the DVLA.
I am drawing closer to the conclusion that it isn't illegal despite the fireworks.
Phil think you are right on every front. My understanding and its with some caution as i usually bow to Dave Pink in such matters is that if a dealer does not declare a car is a CAT D or C in an advert than that would fraudulent with the defence of not knowing would not wash as he would be expected to do a HPI check. The end result is either fraudulent or negligent with the same liability. In respect of a private seller then there no need for them to declare the car is a CAT C?D but they would have a duty to answer any question put by a potential purchaser truthfully.
Turning to the question of whether to purchase a CAT C or CAT D each to your own but Rambos comments are inaccurate and way off the mark.
According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), Category D write-offs are “repairable total-loss vehicles where repair costs including VAT do not exceed the vehicle's pre-accident value”. Cat C cars are those where the “repair costs including VAT exceed the vehicle's pre-accident value”.
As Phil says cars that cannot repaired safely do not fall into these categories. Also bear in mind that the repair cost will include items such as car hire etc. Composite bodied cars especially older ones i.e those with large expensive panels for example lotus style clams are often written off due the high cost or the unavailability of new replacement body panels.
Furthermore the scarcity of parts means that the salvage value of damaged cars is relatively high which is a factor.
For example a VX220 worth £7,000 pre crash with front clam light and head light damage and costing £4,000 to repair with a salvage value of £5,500 would be written off.(CAT D). A lotus Elise of the same age worth £12,000, with the same damage costing the same to repair with a salvage value of say £6,500 would be repaired.
When my Elan was rear ended, I managed to have it sent to specialist repairer with an Elan owning proprietor who helped out by keeping his cost to a minimum and advising not to take the hire car as this would lead to my car being written off. He was also prepared to use a secondhand rear light unit to keep cost down - well a bit!! So my car was repaired is not CAT D but had I chosen a hire car then it would have been a CAT D and even if repaired by the same guy would be considered by some as dangerous and untouchable.
As it only a question of economics I would be personally consider a correctly priced 10 year old well documented Cat D car , but would never buy say a CAT D 2 -5 year old Porsche Boxster with a value of over £20K, or indeed any modern expensive monocoque or even a modern lotus as if it is not economic to repair the damage must have been very extensive.
