Porsche 911 (993) Cabriolet

Cat D.
1995 – N reg
white
55,000 miles

NO DAMAGE. Cat D light n/s side damage 10 years ago. Fully repaired, low mileage Full service history. Drive away.

www.s-w-s.co.uk

Porsche 911 (997 carerra 2s) Cabriolet

Cat C
2009- 09 reg
white
11,403 miles

Damage: NN/S DOOR, N/S QRT, GLASS, REAR AXLE, N/S MIRROR, BACK BUMPER, O/S DOOR, O/S WING AND INNER, O/S SILL, O/S STEERING AND SUSPENSION, O/S HEADLAMP, FRT PANELS, RAD, FRT BUMPER, BONNET, AIRBAGS, WHEEL, DENTS AND SCRATCHES, STARTED

www.bluecycle.com

Vauxhall Astra SRI

Cat U – unrecorded
2009- 59 reg
white
6,763 miles

£6,750

Damage: Light Front & Rear Damage, No Airbags or Suspension Damage, Drive Away, 2xKeys, V5 & Complete Service Pack.

www.ebay.co.uk

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“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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!