Noob Needs Urgent Advice!

June 19, 2011

hi guys,

i've seen a toyota avensis mpv 7 seater for a decent price today in my local ads. The ad also mentioned that the year the car was manufactured, its first owner had some insurance flood disaster - carpet+floor, which got repaired by him in four years ago. Even with this, I was very excited as it seemed a good bargain for 53 plate. That was until I rang the owner up. He didn't mention that the flood claim meant it was written off in 2004 and is now a CAT C. I only found this out using HPI check via AA website. It shows as "ACCIDENT DAMAGE - CAT C- TOTAL LOSS".

I still want this vehicle as the owner does sound genuine and didn't actually hide anything other than its a CAT C, but need to clarify that i'm not heading for a big problem. I don't mind a damage-repaired vehicle as long as its legally okay and its mechanically sound.

He said he got the work done when he bought the vehicle about four years ago, but yet he has no paperwork to show this - is this normal?

What checks can i do to make sure the work that has been carried out is of high standard?

Is it normal for a report to say ACCIDENT DAMAGE even if its flood damage? I mean should it not say FLOOD DAMAGE?

June 19, 2011

Cat-C means it was uneconomic to repair. And a new set of carpets would cause a one year old car to be scrapped. You can be fairly sure other damage also occured. Also remember a damaged repaired Cat-C car is always worth a lot less despite its condition.

My advice is to walk away.:)

June 20, 2011

Cat-C means it was uneconomic to repair. And a new set of carpets would cause a one year old car to be scrapped. You can be fairly sure other damage also occured. Also remember a damaged repaired Cat-C car is always worth a lot less despite its condition.
My advice is to walk away.:)

As above, unless of course you are getting the car at a real bargain price. Check out the value of a non cat C on http://www.parkers.co.uk/. I really don't know how cheap it would need to be to make it worthwhile, but obviously a LOT less than the Parkers valuation.