Might be worth actually checking yourself that the car you traded in is an insurance write-off. Don't do an HPI check, they are quite expensive, but you can do a text-based vehicle history check for just a couple of pounds. Google for it if interested.

They could just be spinning you a yarn!

Normally, HPI checks are done on anything being taken in as part exchange before it's accepted.

As SLO76 says, on a £1K car it will make very little difference to the dealer, anyway.

Out of curiosity, what did you buy and how much did you pay? May be a good opportunity to wriggle out of a bad deal...

£9,300 for a 2013 Seat Leon 1.6 TDI with 19k miles and the technology pack thing. Seemed comparable/favourable to other cars with the same spec on AutoTrader.

"£9,300 for a 2013 Seat Leon 1.6 TDI with 19k miles and the technology pack thing. Seemed comparable/favourable to other cars with the same spec on AutoTrader." Assuming it's a MK III and not a late MK II then the price is spot on. Nice car but make sure it's not been on some daft biannual service plan, modern turbo diesels need fresh oil every year and remember the timing belt is due every 4yrs or 5yrs on this engine. VW currently say 5, Skoda and Seat 4 as far as I can find. Worth asking the local Seat service dept to be sure and to get cost to do. If it's 4yrs I'd expect the garage to do it and don't let them fob you off because of the low mileage it's based on time also.

Yeah, it's a MK III.

Thanks for the info. It's been serviced annually.

In a recent post mention was made of WBAC not paying the figure first mentioned. This together with the experience of both my sister and a friend reminded me that dealers are in it for their benefit not the customer. Both of them were looking to replace old cars over a decade old with something less than three years old. They both found cars they liked, shook on the deals and got the paperwork. When my friend went to pick his new (for him) car up they said they had overvalued his old car and needed £200 more. Because his wife liked the colour and he could not face trying to find an identical car he took it on the chin. My sister had the same experience but is made of far sterner stuff. She told the salesman “That's not a problem providing you drop the asking price by the same amount otherwise it is no deal”. The salesman went to see his manager who complied with my sister’s request. In your case I think considering the value the Cat D is irrelevant. As previously said it may have been something as simple as a dented door where a s/h one has been fitted and sprayed – not something that materially affects the value an old car. My view is ask them to stick to the deal and if they will not accept no more than a £100 - £200 drop!

Whilst a car can easily become Cat D due to something minor once it is old and low value (something like a scratched bumper would do it) we do not know this is the case in this example.

It could have been written off when 18 months old with £10,000 worth of damage and had a shoddy repair to put it back on the road. All depends on when it was declared cat D which could well before even the current owner bought it.