What do I need to know about CAT N cars?

[i know nothing]

I'm seeing CAT N cars show up during my searches for a car for my wife.

I don't really understand what it means. Are these cars worth a look? What are the implications of buying one? More expensive insurance? Problems getting them through the MOT?

I'd love to learn more. All I seem to be able to work out is that they have had some sort of prang which was classed as non structural and have been repaired, is that correct?

Perhaps I should add that I'm looking for a small 4 door runabout for the wife. No more than 1.4 litre engine. Ideally an automatic (not essential), something you can stick 2 teenagers in. Something for school runs, shopping trips etc, not for long commutes and I would ideally spend no more than £4k on it.

 

[chroniclard]

They are as you describe. For a small run about I wouldn't worry too much. So long as its appropriately priced.

 

[Scania]

Can cost much more to insure than a non categorised example, some insurers won’t cover them at all, selling on will be difficult if your after a good price.

Personally I wouldn’t bother with anything with such a marker unless it was ridiculously cheap and then you’d have to ask yourself why....

 

[Howard]

Not worth the hassle IMO. There are plenty of decent small hatchbacks available for £4k. Yaris, Jazz, Fiesta etc.

 

[ezekial]

Yes the N denotes that there was no structural damage but it can be dubious sometimes. The best thing is to see if they have any pictures of the accident so that you can make a better judgement. It does make it more difficult in some cases to get insurance especially as it isn't a question that is asked on the price comparison websites. I got a quote there then called to confirm that it was ok to insure the Cat N. 1 insurer said they don't and then the second one I tried said they didn't care and I could just purchase the policy through the price comparison site.

For a car that is just a runabout and one you aren't worried about future values etc I don't see anything wrong with it as long as you can see that the damage was not unreasonable and it was well repaired.

 

[Tinders]

Ive bought Cat CDNS cars before, but only as pranged cars which ive repaired myself, I'd never buy a repaired one unless i could see what had been done to it. Too many bodgers out there. And its false economy to drop 4k on a crashed car, 4k gets you in to a car with a decent history.

Ive never had any issues getitng insurance though.

 

[i know nothing]

I appreciate the responses, thank you all.

I'm leaning towards avoiding them, purely out of caution. Saying that, I intend to visit a local garage which specialise in putting these CAT N's back on the road as I'm curious. Knowing what the initial prang looked like would certainly be of use, I'll ask them if they have photos etc.

 

[gc123]

Ive bought Cat CDNS cars before, but only as pranged cars which ive repaired myself, I'd never buy a repaired one unless i could see what had been done to it. Too many bodgers out there. And its false economy to drop 4k on a crashed car, 4k gets you in to a car with a decent history.

Ive never had any issues getitng insurance though.

same

 

[sovietspybob]

If you can get an amazing deal they can be worth a punt, a guy i worked with bought a CAT D Audi A3 2.0 TFSI quite a few years ago, he got it stupidly cheap, like 6 grand cheaper than a normal one so was worth it for him. He had pictures and all the documentation and receipts of all the bits repaired and replaced.

If you intend to run the vehicle in to the ground as well it can be easier as it's always a lot harder to sell a car with any markers on them, but you do need to have your eyes open. There are a lot which are badly repaired so you need to do your home work.

 

[Building Candy]

Can cost much more to insure than a non categorised example, some insurers won’t cover them at all, selling on will be difficult if your after a good price.

Personally I wouldn’t bother with anything with such a marker unless it was ridiculously cheap and then you’d have to ask yourself why....

This might have been true 20 years ago but its not true now. in the last 20 years the cost to repair cars with minimal damage has really gone through the roof. A few years back I spoke to 4 insurance companies when I was considering buying a cat N car, they all said they would insure it no problem so long as it had a current MOT, that was it, no increase in premium.

Nowadays you can write off pretty much anything with the smallest of knocks as soon as you get a body shop involved when they see its an insurance job they price everything on manufacturer prices. I had a small ding in my fiesta, a Yodel driver revered into it, and the costs were over £4k, when I saw the bill from the body shop one of the items was "black paint form ford £480"

 

[Semple]

Can cost much more to insure than a non categorised example, some insurers won’t cover them at all

This needs to be complained about to the insurance ombudsman.

The recent Top Gear episode covered the plight of lots of written off cars that can be had for cheap and not cost a great deal to repair to get it back to being roadworthy.

Afterall most Cat N cars will be structurally sound, but just have front bumper/grille/bonnet/rear bumper/light clusters that need costly repairs/replacements to get them back on the road. Afterall you're unlikely to buy a cat N car and then take it to a main dealer for replacing the bodywork, you'd go to the local scrappy and grab an intact bumper from another model that might be a different colour. Gets the car back to being in good condition albeit maybe looking a bit odd with different colours.

 

[Akagi]

No insurer charges more money for ex-write offs nor do they refuse to cover them. They don't even ask you if it is a write off, and you are no obliged to tell them.

Risk calculations are done based on vehicle codes, there is one code per specific sub-model (trim level, engine, transmission, body shape)

As far as I'm aware no insurer or broker quoting system cross references the vehicle reg with HPI's database when you are taking out a new policy.

I hear this a lot though so perhaps it was once the case. Not so anymore and hasn't been for some time.

As far as the level of damage a CAT D or N car may have sustained goes, it depends on the value of the car at the time the damage was incurred. It could have had a scratch, or it could have been quite mangled.

 

[paintguy]

As far as the level of damage a CAT D or N car may have sustained goes, it depends on the value of the car at the time the damage was incurred. It could have had a scratch, or it could have been quite mangled.

Indeed. I've even seen the cost of a replacement hire car push a bill over the edge and into write off territory.

Years ago we could haggle with the insurance companies and do a "trade repair" with the customers consent, if a car would otherwise be written off. That is, repair it with aftermarket (nearly-fit) or even second hand parts to get the costs down. Not sure if that kind of thing is still done these days as I've been out of the insurance repair scene for a long time.

 

[Mr Oblong]

I avoid them out of fear. I don't think I have the nous to determine whether a car was written off 'cheaply' or whether it's a bigger deal than the dealer is telling me.

 

[Akagi]

I avoid them out of fear. I don't think I have the nous to determine whether a car was written off 'cheaply' or whether it's a bigger deal than the dealer is telling me.

When it was written off will help you figure that out to an extent.

10 year old car written off in the last year, minor. Written off 9 years ago? Less minor.

 

[Mr Oblong]

When it was written off will help you figure that out to an extent.

10 year old car written off in the last year, minor. Written off 9 years ago? Less minor.

I guess the extremes are an okay rule of thumb, but it still feels like murky waters not meant for the naive!

 

[Akagi]

Just dont be like me. I've had three by accident. Cos I didnt HPI check them.

One was scrapyard fodder, one was questionable, and one was very good aside from slight difference in paint texture on the rear bumper and boot lid.