Hi All,
I have recently opted out of my company are seem, and been thinking what car should I get, since I do around 25-35k miles PA.
I have been playing with the idea of a 3 year old Volvo, but looked at my local Auto Trader and found some really good salvage cars - stolen and recovered or cat D classification insurance Wight off's.
I can see there are massive saving to be had purchasing such a car, but I would like to know the pitfalls.
Is there any trade associations that I should look for, so I know am not buying a cut and shove.
Also if I wanted to get the car inspected who could I use?
Buying this type of car seems to be a really cheep way to buy a decent car, and hopefully I will not lose too much on depreciation.
Many thanks
Q
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I once went to see a car for sale with a 'light OSF' (light off side front bump). I thought it would just have a light unit out and a bit of body bending. When I saw it the car was more like a triangle. I haven't looked at any others, so you may be right that there are bargains.
Stolen and recovered could mean just a new lock set etc or it could mean need a new engine.
I don't look at that section of Autotrader anymore too tempting!
Tread carefully! Do you really want a suspect car to drive 25-30 thou a year?
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Glen,
Thanks for the input, I agree about having a reliable and safe car, but the amout off money you can loose on a car is terifing.
My prefered option is to buy a clean c70 2.4t around a v reg for with 25k miles 10-12k, but when I have paid of the loan in three years it would have done 100k+ and worth approx 4k.
I have seen a bmw 323 on a "y" for 5k with full leather with 20k miles, garague said they could repair the car including paint work for £750.00.
One idea i have had is to get the AA to inspect such a car.
Cheers
Q
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>and hopefully I will not lose too much on depreciation.
No you wont loose too much, you will never be able to sell it.
Read the FAQ about insurance wight off\'s. I personaly would not touch a stolen and recovered..... gawd knows how it was treated while under the care and protection of its temporary abuser.
Also - in my experience - repaired cars are not good long term prospects..They always seem to rust in or around the repaired areas eventualy.
My advice? steer clear.
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I always laugh 'cos the adverts always say 'excellent pre-accident condition' and 'easy repair'. In which case, why don't they just do it themselves and sell it for more money?
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I know exactly why they don't. It's cos not everyone can afford to do the repair.
My mate's car was recently written off, but it would make a damn good car for anyone. It's mechanically and structurally sound. It was written off due to the high insurance repair costs on an L reg car outstripping it's value.
Done independantly the car can be fixed to a perfectly safe condition for less than half the insurance cost. However, for now, my mate isn't even bothering to fix it as the car isn;t affected by the damage and the duct tape covering the hole in the bumper is doing it's job perfectly... No other car will come within a mile of his in case he crashes into them! :)
Blue
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I recently repaired my own car which was involved in a non-fault accident. The insurance company paid out (total loss) and also let me keep the car.
The insurance company estimated that the repairs would cost £1500. I bought all the parts (used) and sundries for just £95.The car looks perfect and i'm happy !
I dont think anyone outside the trade could make a big enough saving to make your idea work.The future value of the vehicle will be affected because of the VCAR register. I also believe that from April 2003 all insurance write-off's have to be independently inspected before they can put back all the road. Its called a VIC (vehicle identity check).The V5 will also be marked with 'insurance total loss'.
Why not by a ex-lease car from auction ? if you want to avoid the heavy depreciation then dont spend too much i.e no more than £7500. It might be worth considering buying and selling 3 cars over the 3 year period....
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