 | Home > Off Topic > First car understanding Cat s and cat n |
 
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| rallysteve Member Since: 10 Feb 2014 Location: Cumbria Posts: 2222   
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I bought a Cat S Volvo about 18months ago knowing very little about it like you. Rang around a few insurance companies before i bought it to see what the implications would be.
To my surprise they didnt care. As long as it had an MOT that was all they were interested in. No additional premium, just a lower value in the event of a claim. I ran a full vehicle check through totalcarcheck which is my go to (not too expensive) which highlighted the insurance writeoff and even provided a link to the salvage auction it was sold at with all the photos. As i bough it already repaired then this was great to have an idea on the extent of the damage and areas to have a close look at when i viewed it. Steve 02' 110 TD5 Double Cab Rebuild Thread |
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30th Oct 2022 1:16pm |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365 
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This is a helpful guide to the categories. https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-ho...write-off/
For the more serious structural repairs, knowing who did the repair and whether they are a reputable garage will be very important before you buy anything. Make sure you can see the full repair bill otherwise I'd stay well clear. |
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30th Oct 2022 2:17pm |
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| barbel jim Member Since: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Northants Posts: 1413 
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Thanks for the information. And a better understanding. Just shows what a throw away society we have become…… 60% of the cars value, and uneconomical to repair
 and then we have the glue ourselves to the Road brigade  |
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1st Nov 2022 8:55pm |
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| Dave12345 Member Since: 04 Jun 2022 Location: North West Posts: 87 
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Hi,
Be careful of the old adage of being written off for a panel, this is only if it’s written off whilst very old and worthless really, where the hire car costs + repair would exceed the value of the car. Those cars might be old and worthless now perhaps but they weren’t always. My old ST took a huge sideswipe, £7k of damage, and didn’t even get a Cat N marker as it was worth about £10k at the time and hire car costs were covered by the third party (who ran the red light because he was late picking up the MIL from the station!). I’ve had a colleague aquaplane their almost new merc on the motorway and fold it in half around the barrier, the insurance company wanted to effectively rebody the car before writing it off, as it was still new and worth enough. It was eventually declared a cat S after a long dispute and will likely now be back on the road somehow. An older car would never have been sold off to be repaired in that state. Should have been a Cat B but it was worth too much. This wouldn’t totally put me off a Category car but I’d want to see photos of the damage (despite rarely being indicative of the true extent of the damage unfortunately) and/or the engineers report, know who repaired it, and it would have to be hugely cheaper to cover for the lost value and difficulty to sell when sold on. The last bit is most significant to me probably. I’d recommend sticking the car reg into V-check. If it’s been written off it’s likely to have been through a salvage auction and the photos of it pre-repair should appear on V-check. Dave |
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2nd Nov 2022 8:01pm |
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| barbel jim Member Since: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Northants Posts: 1413
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Don’t worry, my head still says stay clear
Its staggering how many there are. I’d never really herd of it before, and needed to get my head around it as much as anything. I’m looking for my daughter, so a high value commodity I wouldn’t choose an accident damaged car knowingly, but was curious as to what all the classifications were and why so many. |
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3rd Nov 2022 9:40pm |
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| Dave12345 Member Since: 04 Jun 2022 Location: North West Posts: 87
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Yeah it’s a minefield.
In reality the N/S markers mean very little. The lack of a marker means even less! It’s simply a ratio of cost:value that determines whether a crashed car gets a marker. Crazy to think how many people have bought previously damaged cars without realising. Not an issue if repaired properly of course but how can you ever be sure? |
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3rd Nov 2022 9:45pm |
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| spudfan Member Since: 10 Sep 2007 Location: Co Donegal Posts: 4615 
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What age is your daughteR? We bought our daughter her first car three years when she was 26 years old. We bought her a 300 tdi Land Rover 90. She lives in Northern Ireland so a U.K. address. She had a provisional licence and she could only get insurance quotes on a station wagon vehicle, i.e. windows and seats. She could not get a quote for a hard top 90. As far as I know her insurance and tax is about £1000 per year. It was dearer for her first insurance on the provisional licence. Anyway she tows a horse box and loads up the back with all types of stuff but like I said she could not get quotes on a hard top 90. It's her every day transport, work, college, horsey stuff....
She sent these photos the other day.  Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge 1982 88" 2.25 diesel 1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali 2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu 2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai |
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5th Nov 2022 5:08pm |
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| Procta Member Since: 04 Dec 2016 Location: Sunderland Posts: 5068
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Best thing to do is look at larger cars like the astra, because those could be cheaper to insure than the corsa. I found this out with a Rover metro 1.1c to a peugeot 306 Dturbo. ( Peugeot was 200 quid cheaper) Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it! |
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6th Nov 2022 2:06am |
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| Perry C. Seo Member Since: 14 Sep 2024 Location: Florida Posts: 2 
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I looked into cat s vs cat n cars for my daughter’s first car too. While they are cheaper upfront, insurance can be a bit more complicated, especially for a new driver. Some insurance companies will either charge a higher premium or not cover Cat S cars due to the structural damage.
Last edited by Perry C. Seo on 17th Sep 2024 1:27pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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15th Sep 2024 2:00pm |
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| s55shh Member Since: 30 Dec 2019 Location: staffs Posts: 192
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I buy a few salvage cars and some of the current fleet are recorded.
Skoda Citigo Cat N needed front bumper, bonnet grille and airbags/dash. It had done 1800 miles and that was 5 years ago. Skoda Yeti Cat N needed a repair to front wing. Honestly not had to buy any parts apart from a spare key. Alfa Giulia Cat N needed two bumpers, tail lamp and a headlamp, since done 15000 miles in it and its been great. 2015 Defender USW 110 Cat S because it had rolled over off roading. Needed a roof, wing and drivers door and a windscreen frame. The side step has left the tiniest dent in the chassis rail (hence Cat S) but it doesn't warrant repair. I prefer to buy them damaged so I know that they haven't been bodged and I like a bargain. Saved approx £30k on the purchase price of the above list by buying salvage and I tend to keep my cars for long enough that depreciation makes more of a difference than Cat N or S. Click image to enlarge |
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15th Sep 2024 3:51pm |
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| GAT Member Since: 20 Apr 2013 Location: Kent Posts: 96
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I bought my Daughter her first car as seen below as a CAT S. It only had 800 miles on the clock and was almost brand new. Had it repaired locally and cost a fraction of the price of a new one.
I’ve had loads of Cat C/D and now CAT S/N. They are tin boxes with replaceable parts and panels so I don’t see the issue at all. I’ve never had any issues regarding insurance either but just bear in mind that if you were to be paid out it would obviously be at a lower price. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge First Edition 90 in Pangea Green. (Gone) P400 110 in Tasman Blue. |
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15th Sep 2024 5:56pm |
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