Salvage car of the week – BMW Z4 3.0i Sport

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2007 BMW Z4 3.0i Si

Damage:
Light frontal, bumper, lights & front panel, airbag.
CAT D

£10,750.00

ebay auction – BMW Z4 3.0i

ebay auction – BMW Z4 3.0i

Follow us on Twitter

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Well, we’ve succomb to the twitter pressure and signed up for an accout.

Details of how you can follow us are below.

Follow us on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/wrecks2riches

Insuring a damaged repaired car

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This is a question I@m frequently asked.

“Will I be able to get insurance on my car if its a cat D or C?”

I’m simple terms, Yes. It shouldn’t be any different than insuring any other car. However you should definitely make it clear to your insurer that it is a damaged repaired car, as this would affect any pay-out if something happened. Likewise the overall value of the car will be affected, so if involved in an accident the insurers would not pay-out full book value for the car.

Another frequently asked question about insurance and salvaged cars is.

“Do I have to tell my insurer when insuring a Cat X or U car?”

With Category X & U cars, there isn’t the need to tell your insurance company unless you would specifically like to. These cars are not insurance write-offs therefore once repaired the overall book value of the car is un-altered. Additionally, damaged on cat X an U cars is usually only cosmetic, and not structural therefore the insurance company wouldn’t be concerned there either.

If you are ever worried make sure you have a chat with your insurer as they will be able to clarify all the above for you.

Aside from the above you shouldn’t have any problems insuring a damaged repaired car.

Advertising Opportunities for Salvage

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I’m sure you will all appreciate running a website isn’t cheap, so to help keep developing wrecks2riches.co.uk into the best salvage site on the web, and to ensure we always have the best content, hints and tips available, we are offering various advertising opportunities.

The advertising slots are available to anyone and everyone, be it a Salvage Yard, a bodyshop, dealer, repairer or anyone else who would like to advertise on an up and coming site which is now receiving hundreds of visits per day!

The following are the rates for advertising:

Graphical Ads:
125 x 125 animated or static ad – at the top of the menu on the right, this will appear on every page of the site. Your company will also get an introductory post, featuring a review, and list of your services on the front page welcoming you as new sponsors. Price £20 per month.

768 x 60 animated or static banner ad at the top of the page under the header, this appears on every page of the blog giving you excellent exposure. You will also get an introductory blog post introducing your company. Price £50 per month. 1/1 available

Text Links:
Link on salvage websites directory page – I already list all the main salvage websites, but for this your site will be in bold, and will be accompanied by text detailing your services and telephone number. £5 a month.

All websites wanting text links must be related to salvage and wrecks2riches.co.uk reserves the right to reject requests that is inappropriate. Payment via paypal is required before any advertisements are put live.

I’m sure you are asking yourself what will be done with the money from advertising. Here are the key points I’m hoping to achieve.

1) Site redesign, more pages and more useful content with hints and tips on repairs, and the best places to source salvage and parts.

2) Directory – a detailed directory digging into the best salvage sites, repairers, and dealers. There will also be the opportunity for YOU to contribute and add your comments and reviews.

3) A guide of buying, repairing and selling a salvaged car, with a real life example, detailed step by step on the site. Purchased, repaired, and then sold.

Buying a salvage car from e-bay

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e-Bay often have lots of quality damaged repairable cars for sale, many from reputable UK salvage yards. However, when buying from e-bay there are a few basic rules to which you should stick. Ive had some experience, and these have always helped me bag a bargain. Hope you also find them useful.

1. The basics first, check the sellers feedback score. Although e-bay have recently banned anybody leaving negative feedback, its still a good indication on whether the seller is genuine, and describes items accurately and truthfully.

2. Check the location of the car or parts before bidding. There is nothing worse than bidding on a car and finding its 500 miles away, and that you cant view before buying.

3. I wouldn’t ever recommend buying without viewing the car first! Buying a non-damaged car off e-bay is risky at the best of times, as you are trusting the seller to describe the car 100% accurately. With a damaged car its very hard to fully describe/show the true extent of the damage in a few paragraphs & pictures, so always make sure toy view before bidding.

4. If you do still want to go ahead and buy a car you cant inspect, make sure you know a local expert who can insect the car for you. Some local mechanics or bodyshop may help you out for a small fee. (Mechanics or bodyshop owners, if you would like to list your inspection services and associated fee’s on wrecks2riches.co.uk please leave a comment on this post and I will happily start a regional directory)

5. This is more related to parts than anything else, but think very seriously before sending money overseas for car parts! If there really is no other option (which is often the case for more exotic cars). I would suggest you place a deposit, and pay remainder on receipt of the goods. I would never advocate sending full payment for parts overseas, the risk of parts not turning up, or for them being damaged in transit is just too big.

6. Do your homework on how much the car will be worth once repaired. Often once you have factored in parts and labour it will be almost as much as buying an un-damaged example.

7. Don’t get carried away in the bidding process. Its really easy to set your heart on a dream car. Set yourself a ceiling price, and make sure you stick to it. Its so easy to get carried away and overpay for a damaged car, before you know it any potential profit you may have made is quickly eroded.

8. Ask as many question as you need to be satisfied of the history of the car, and try to get as many pictures of the damage as possible. Not only do these help you gauge the extent of the repairs required. They also prove very handy when selling the car, as they show any potential buyer the state of the damage prior to repair.

If you stick to these few golden rules, you should be able to find many a good damaged repairable car on e-bay.

Salvage Q & A’s

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Here are a few Salvage Q & A’s we have received since starting the site. As we go along, this will be updated. Please don’t be afraid to ask any questions, if I don’t know the answer I will get hold of an expert who does and they will write a personal response… If you do have a question you would like answered just add a comment to this post.

Question
Cat C cars do not have a logbook (V5 document). When the repair is done it will need a Vehicle Identity Check – after I have had this done how do I get hold of a V5 and how long does it take to get it?

Answer:
You can apply for a log book after you have had the VIC test Once completed they will give you a form and it will cost you a small fee (from recollection this is£29.00 but please don’t quote me on that!)
As with most things involving the DVLA obtaining the log book may take up to a couple of weeks, however it is a fairly simple process.

Question
Are the places to get a VIC done all over the country?

Answer:
All the VIC test locations are available on the VOSA website.. here

Question
Surely without a VIC I can’t insure the car, get an MOT or tax. How do I get it there? Does it have to be towed or trailered or is it a bit like an MOT in that it is fine as long as it is pre-arranged?

Answer:
Ideally yes it should be trailered, as mentioned the car wont have a valid MOT, or Tax or Insurance, and should therefore not be driven on the road.

Question
If there is no service history with the car is it possible to track it down? A lot of cars don’t come with aV5 so I wont know who the previous owner is. The car is immaculate from the doors forward and has clearly been loved and cared for up until the moment of the impact. I know you could argue it may not have any service history at all but it looks pretty unlikely.

Answer:
Once you have the v5 you can contact the previous owner, sometimes the supplying garage is on the no plates you could ring them and see if they have history on computer records and may do a print out, you can also get a new service book and keep it stamped from your ownership onwards.
This will require some clever hunting, and some persistence on the phone and Internet, but should eventually be able to track the service history down, and in many cases receive duplicates.

Question
When I come to insure it will I have problems? Will a Cat C car be more expensive to insure or does it make no difference? I don’t ever remember being asked that question when taking out a policy before but I guess the number plate tells them what they need to know?

Answer:
Not necessarily, it may even be cheaper as the overall value of the car is likely to be less, being that the car has essentially already been written off. At worst you should not be expected to pay any extra because you car has been a CAT D or C. Likewise, remember all Cat X car’s wont have been recorded so the insurance company wont know about any damage.

Cat X Salvage – Buying brand new damaged repairable cars

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A quick insight into buying unrecorded brand new cars.

Category X or unrecorded damaged cars are a buyers dream, once repaired there is no record of the damage and cars are not recorded on the HPI register. Also this means no need for a VIC.

Typically Cat X car will be sourced direct from manufacturers or from the likes of rental companies who are either not able to re-sell the car as ‘new’ or are not willing to progress the insurance claim.

New cars direct from the manufacturer are often referred to as ‘MOT’ Cars (Don’t ask my why) These cars are not registered and cannot be sold as new as they have damage to multiple panels. Although the damage is likely to be very light and easily repairable. Often occurring from careless driving when being PDI’ed (pre delivery inspection) or whilst being held in a manufacturers or dealers compound.

Pro’s of buying a brand new Cat X damaged repairable car.

• You can register yourself cheaply and easily, and it will be on the newest registration plate i.e 58 plate
• Damage is likely to be light so its an easy repair

Cons of buying a new Cat X

• Parts can be harder to source on new cars, especially if its a new model. Second hand parts may also be a no-go. On a new car always try to replace with new OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture) parts.
• Little profit to be made, once you have bought and repaired, and factored in depreciation. Remember – A new car looses 10 – 25% of its value as soon as you drive away from a dealers, its the same situation here.
• Check the spec of the car closely, and make sure you don’t end up with a dodgy spec car nobody wants to buy.

Stick to these golden rules and you should be fine.

Here is a good example of a car currently for sale at South West Salvage

Picture courtesy of South West Salvage

NEW CAR. Very high spec inc parking plus (camera) Navigation, heated elect memory seats, paddle shift, full leather, cruise, xenons, telephone, prep, auto dim mirror etc. Scratch on o/s/f wing, needs bonnet & screen from dents

Damaged Repairable essentials – Part 1 – Dent Removal

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This is part one of a series of helpful tips which will aid you in repairing your chosen car salvage.

When buying a damaged repairable or salvage car there are more than likely to be quite a few dents over some panels.When your looking to sell, don’t under estimate the impact dents & dings have on the final sale value. A mint car with straight panels, is always going to sell for more than a ropey example. If your are spraying panels anyway, it makes complete sense to have all dents removed.

If you don’t have a dent pulling kit, be sure to borrow or purchase a dent pulling kit (e-bay is a good source for kits, and training DVD’s, but be warned kits can pricey £200 – £400)

There are 7 steps to removing a dent…. (please note this is not paintless dent removal – I’m assuming you will be respraying panels anyway – for paintless dent removal try one of the specialists)

1. Locate the centre of the dent, and drill a hole in the dent with a 1/8″ drill bit. Alternatively, you can use a hot glue gun to glue a plastic adapter to the centre of the dent. These plastic adapters and glue guns are included in many dent removal kits.

2. Thread the dent pulling tool into the newly drilled hole, or attach the dent pulling tool to the plastic circle that is glued on the dent. After the dent pulling tool is in place, pull on it to flatten the dent or pull it out.

3. Carefully hammer the front of the dent using the metalworking hammer, while at the same time holding the dolly firmly against the back of the dent. It may be necessary to go underneath the car, or to open the boot or hood of the car, in order to reach the back of the dent. (Often this can be the trickiest part – remember with the removal of access panels body trim that it all needs to be put back properly, as otherwise you wont end up with the professional finish that you are after.

4. Use a medium grit disk mounted on a drill to grind the paint down to the bare metal, extending the area out at least one inch around the dent itself. Then fill the entire area with a good quality body filler.

5. Allow the body filler to dry completely, then carefully sand the area with sandpaper which has been wrapped around a block of wood. When sanding, begin with a 36-grit sandpaper and work up to a 120-grit sandpaper.

6. Use a spray primer to prime the area, being sure to use a primer specially designed for automotive use. (If you are not confident at spraying take to a reputable bodyshop – see links on left for some good examples) Six coats of primer should be used, allowing each coat of primer to dry completely before applying the next coat.

7. Sand the primer using a 600-grit wet and dry sandpaper. This will help to remove any scratches. The area should then be touched up with a matching paint. If the paint is not smooth, re-sand and re-paint the area until you have a smooth surface.

Hopefully by the end of this you should have a dent free panel, then just repeat for all other panels.
I cant stress enough how important a good paint is here, if you are not 110% confident, leave at stage 5 and take the car to a reputable bodyshop.

If you have any more specific dent related queries, please post a comment and I will get one of our specialists to post you a reply ASAP.

Hope you found this useful, more Salvage essentials to follow soon!

Help support Wrecks to Riches .co.uk

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This site is intented as an online resource for anyone looking to buy, repair and sell crash damaged cars.

As time goes on we will be adding expert posts and hints and tips on how best too source the best auto salvage and also get it repaired as best and cheaply as possible.

However, in order for us to be able to continue and be able to become the best salvage website on the web, we need your support, here are something you can do to help support wrecks to riches .co.uk

• Dont be a lurker – If you have read a post which is of interest to you, or you have a comment or opinion, dont just leave the site, post a comment or reply! In doing so your helping others who read these posts, which ultimately is the core goal of the site!

• Click on any links that may be of interest – by doing so your helping support this site – It takes money to run a website, and building content doest come for free! By clickin our sponsors links, it helps keep the site up and running.

• Are you an expert salvage repairer, bodyshop, or salvage yard? Would you like to get some free traffic to your website from wreckstoriches.co.uk – In exchange for a useful hint / tip, or post that would be of use to our readers I will add your site link.

• Advertising opportunities on wrecks to riches .co.uk, if you would like to drive some serious quality traffic to your salvage related website, we have advertising opportunities available, at very reasonable rates. Post reply to this thread and I will be in contact.

Thanks for all your help and support in keeping wrecks to riches .co.uk running. Our base of avid readers is growing all the time, and I’m sure it wont be long till we are the biggest auto salvage resource online!

Vehicle Identity check – VIC Required for all Cat C Cars

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Following on from previous posts on auto salvage categories, I thought it would be useful to dig into Vehicle identity checks in more detail.

Any cat C or B car (if and when repaired) will require a VOSA Vehicle check. This essentially ensures that the vehicle is indeed genuine and is the car which it actually is. I.e. Not been a cut and shut, or had its identity changed for that of another car.

The VIC scheme was introduced in 2003. In any instance where a car is written off the insurer will notify the DVLA – this will apply for salvage categories A, B or C.

The car is then flagged at the DVLA and will be given a ‘VIC marker’ against the DVLA vehicle record. Whilst a VIC marker is set against a car the DVLA will not issue a V5 registration document. One will only be issued once the car has passed a VIC.

The VIC check is carried about in about 20 or so minutes, and costs around £36. Its important to note the VIC check purely assess the car’s identity and by no means gives and steer on the quality of the repair work carried out – Just that repairs have been carried out to a satisfactory standard, and that the car is considered road worthy.
So if you are buying a car which was previously a CAT C make sure you thoroughly check all repairs.

Personally if I were to buy a car to repair and sell, I’d try and avoid Cat C cars which require a VIC, not only are these cars usually significantly more damaged than a Cat D car. There is the added hassle of a VIC check, and the subsequent resale value is that much less.

More detailed information on VIC checks are available here at direct.gov.uk