Buying a Cat D 8V S3

[cammylambo]

So I'm looking into buying a S3 and one caught my eye. 2015, Sepang Blue with 47k miles. Has supersports seats and pan roof. Price is 17k.

It has a full service history but the dealer claims he doesn't knowwhat caused the accident but assures it has been fixed to "highest" standard. Just wanting an opinion, would you steer clear of this or get somewhere like RAC to carry out some checks?

 

[Adam14]

I'd personally steer clear of it, seems high risk. I seem to remember reading getting insurance on Cat D cars is more difficult, but may be misremembering.

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[cammylambo]

Yeah for the exact same spec non Cat D is 4k more, so not sure whether to save up for a bit longer just to avoid the risk.

 

[scobie140]

Get it checked over properly, If its been fixed up correctly then its just as good as any non Cat D. Insurance isn't that much more usually. There is some bargains to be had if you can get a well repaired Cat D as most people are scared off. Some cars can be written off for daft stuff like a new wing and lights, as an OEM light and wing repair would cost mega money when quoted from a dealers for repair. But these parts can be sourced much cheaper and fitted a lot cheaper than dealer rates.

 

[cammylambo]

Get it checked over properly, If its been fixed up correctly then its just as good as any non Cat D. Insurance isn't that much more usually. There is some bargains to be had if you can get a well repaired Cat D as most people are scared off. Some cars can be written off for daft stuff like a new wing and lights, as an OEM light and wing repair would cost mega money when quoted from a dealers for repair. But these parts can be sourced much cheaper and fitted a lot cheaper than dealer rates.

Interesting point you make. Would something like the AA checks or RAC checks for £200 be enough or do you think it would need more? Also the MOT on Jan 2018 had 45k miles and Jan 2019 had 46k miles. So I'm assuming sometime after the first MOT it was written off.

 

[scobie140]

Interesting point you make. Would something like the AA checks or RAC checks for £200 be enough or do you think it would need more? Also the MOT on Jan 2018 had 45k miles and Jan 2019 had 46k miles. So I'm assuming sometime after the first MOT it was written off.

I'd imagine for a cat d they checks would be suffice or if you have a trusted mechanic they could have a look. It sounds like its been shortly after its mot in 2018 going by the miles.
Do a few trial insurance quotes using its reg to give you a rough idea of what to expect.

 

[frazzeld]

You’ll get peanuts for it when you decide to sell.

 

[DJAlix]

Since becoming a VW authorised services provider and being able to perform advanced coding and security works I started to see a lot of “auction” cars which people buy in order to repair and flip. What I have seen over the part few years has put me off buying anything other than a brand new vechile every again!

 

[wab172uk]

So I'm looking into buying a S3 and one caught my eye. 2015, Sepang Blue with 47k miles. Has supersports seats and pan roof. Price is 17k.

It has a full service history but the dealer claims he doesn't knowwhat caused the accident but assures it has been fixed to "highest" standard. Just wanting an opinion, would you steer clear of this or get somewhere like RAC to carry out some checks?

I don't think the saving over a none Cat D car is that great a saving. I have a 2015 S3 Saloon in Sepang with about 30k miles. I wouldn't have thought it'd be worth more than £22k. Maybe £24k on a good day.

So are you saving `that much` to take the risk. Not the risk in the car, if it has been repaired properly. But the risk of being potentially stuck with the car once you want to move on from it. The pool of people willing to buy a Cat D car is very very small. You are obviously one of them, and don't mind. But in 3 years time when you come to sell. Most people will be put off buy seeing Cat D.

What you may save now, may cost you more in the future.

 

[Jud]

Before I bought my S3 saloon, I had given myself an unrealistically low budget, So was looking at Golf R's, CAT D Golf R's at that, I'd found a few for my short list, Even found a company that can inspect & maybe reclassify them - https://www.autolign.co.uk/ They don't remove the fact its been damaged, but reclassify it as - Vehicle Condition Alert Register Category S or N to Condition Inspected.

So I thought yeah why not, found this Golf R & the guy sent me before/after picures of it...... My god it was completely f**ked, every panel, glass, lights completely smashed from vandalism, roof jumped on & tyres slashed, OK I thought but if it's repaired properly it should be ok, Sat with a cup of tea having a think looking at the pictures he'd sent & just happened to zoom in on the tyres, since all 4 were slashed they had all been replaced with used, part worn non matching tyres which got me to thinking, if they can't even be bothered to make details you can see good, there not a lot of hope for the repairs you can't see to be done right.

At that point I abandoned the idea of buying a damaged vehicle, got my budget sorted & bought a proper car, don't regret it now & can't believe I was even considering the idea.

 

[Matt Titanium]

These are expensive cars so non-structural damage that makes them uneconomical to repair must be pretty bad. Having owned a CatD TVR 20 years ago, gradually finding all the bodges and never feeling it really drove 'right', I was pleased to get rid.
Buy an older car or spend more.

 

[Chris.D]

assures it has been fixed to "highest" standard.

If a salesman said this to me with no actual proof I’d be walking away rather quick.

Can only echo what others have said around resale too, may not be that easy.

 

[S32B]

Yeah for the exact same spec non Cat D is 4k more, so not sure whether to save up for a bit longer just to avoid the risk.

^^^ This.

If you are looking to sell it on in a few years the next potential buyer will be asking exactly the same question you are!!! BUT if you are looking to keep it for 10 years then go for it.

EDIT* Just found the car you are looking at, "great service history to back its low mileage" I wouldn't say 47,000 miles is low for a 4 years old car...average is 12k per year anyway! I sold my just under 3 year old S3 with 17,000 on...that's low mileage! Also not knowing the damage is worrying, a member on here has just been quoted £8,000 for a new gearbox!!! For all you know something could have been damaged in there.

 

[loftylad]

So I'm looking into buying a S3 and one caught my eye. 2015, Sepang Blue with 47k miles. Has supersports seats and pan roof. Price is 17k.

It has a full service history but the dealer claims he doesn't knowwhat caused the accident but assures it has been fixed to "highest" standard. Just wanting an opinion, would you steer clear of this or get somewhere like RAC to carry out some checks?

Run Forrest, run. !!!

Buy an older car, or save up a bit more.

 

[winrya]

Yea I’d run a mile. Fair enough take a punt on something worth a few k but £17k is big money and too much to risk

 

[BrummieLad]

Get it checked over by someone knowledgable and if all checks, might be worth grabbing. All depends on how it’s been repaired or if any corners have been cut. Easy for someone is n the trade to spot. Don’t let the Cat D market put you off. You would be surprised on the number of the so called “undamaged cars” have exactly been involved in heavy shunts, but there will be no record on HPI as the insurance co decided to repair it, rather than write it off. Yet you may have a recorded car that’s only needed say a few body panels or lights replacing. A friend and of mine had a brand new golf which was involved in a collision. The insurance company decided to repair it at a cost of £12000 at Halfords. It needed new airbags all round, 2 new doors and a wing, rear quarter repair. new bumper, new suspension headlights and rad pack. After the repair there was no mention of this on HPI and popped up as an approved used car at a be main dealer when she traded in a year later.
There are a number of factors involved in deciding to write off a car such as the individual engineer’s opinion, cost and availability of parts, cost of course car and so on....

 

[craigpanthercrystal]

How can he assure you of the highest standard repair if he isn’t sure where the damage was ?? I’d leave it until you can find the cash for a good one unless you know where the damage was with pics and get such a good price that you’d never have to worry about resale.

 

[natalie1817]

when I was looking for my s3 only ( only 6 weeks ago) I came across this... I had a 27k budget and this just above it. this was much cheaper than that other black editions. it had the keyless entry and all top spec...

I had the funds in place and was torn with the 3 door spec I have now and this 5dr. the keyless entry concerned me -however I went ahead and asked for the reg details for the finance company and also then to arrange viewing the next day...

my other half for some random reason entered the reg details on google ( this is something I would do but as yet hasn't got myself of eBay and auto trader still on my s3 search)!

anyhow the car came up at a salvage auction.. at a 28k price tag and no mention of the history I rang the dealer who claimed to know nothing! I backed out! that amount of money is no way write off money. needless to say the dealer later listed it as stolen recovered and 2k cheaper!

someone would have bought that ..Yes.. it was showing as accident clear.. however from looking at the salvage images it had more than a joyride!

imo save a bit more you will never know the true facts of a repaired vehicle.

 

[BrummieLad]

How can he assure you of the highest standard repair if he isn’t sure where the damage was ?? I’d leave it until you can find the cash for a good one unless you know where the damage was with pics and get such a good price that you’d never have to worry about resale.

There are tell tale signs on the car that give away that it’s been repaired. These could be panel alignment, over spray, missing screws/covers, panel difference etc... not one for the untrained eye. Going by your statement it’s better to go just buy unrecorded car, as it’s never been in an accident, hence you don’t need to worry about the quality any potential repairs.
However this is not the case as you are likely to come across loads of damaged repaired cars that are unrecorded due to them either being repaired through insurance or privately after a shunt. How would you go about inspecting these as a potential purchase ? Going By your logic you’d consider it as a potential buy, therefore would be oblivious to its history just because HPI says it was never damaged.
In the example I gave above, my friend traded her damaged repaired Golf at a VW main dealer which then appeared on the forecourt as an approved used car. Of course someone like yourself would never dream to think that very car has had a whole new set of airbags and several body panels changed, as it was on a main dealer’s forecourt and of course HPI cane back clear.

 

[DJAlix]

when I was looking for my s3 only ( only 6 weeks ago) I came across this... I had a 27k budget and this just above it. this was much cheaper than that other black editions. it had the keyless entry and all top spec...

I had the funds in place and was torn with the 3 door spec I have now and this 5dr. the keyless entry concerned me -however I went ahead and asked for the reg details for the finance company and also then to arrange viewing the next day...

my other half for some random reason entered the reg details on google ( this is something I would do but as yet hasn't got myself of eBay and auto trader still on my s3 search)!

anyhow the car came up at a salvage auction.. at a 28k price tag and no mention of the history I rang the dealer who claimed to know nothing! I backed out! that amount of money is no way write off money. needless to say the dealer later listed it as stolen recovered and 2k cheaper!

someone would have bought that ..Yes.. it was showing as accident clear.. however from looking at the salvage images it had more than a joyride!

imo save a bit more you will never know the true facts of a repaired vehicle. View attachment 175871
View attachment 175872

I know people that make a living out of buying at auction, repairing (term used very loosely), then dump the cars on We Buy Any Car and alike.

 

[Terminator x]

So I'm looking into buying a S3 and one caught my eye. 2015, Sepang Blue with 47k miles. Has supersports seats and pan roof. Price is 17k.

It has a full service history but the dealer claims he doesn't knowwhat caused the accident but assures it has been fixed to "highest" standard. Just wanting an opinion, would you steer clear of this or get somewhere like RAC to carry out some checks?

Imho a Cat D car should be 33% less than a regular car so is that car worth £25k if it wasn't Cat D? Plus think of the damage that there must have been to write off a £25k car eg it won't be a "light scratch" that sellers always say of course

TX.

 

[BrummieLad]

Imho a Cat D car should be 33% less than a regular car so is that car worth £25k if it wasn't Cat D? Plus think of the damage that there must have been to write off a £25k car eg it won't be a "light scratch" that sellers always say of course

TX.

Normally they are priced at around between 15-25% off their retail value, which is of course dependant in a number of factors such as age, conditions, desireability of the model etc....

With the price of salvage so high these day there is no chance of 33% off a repaired car off unless it’s a pile of crap. 15-20 years ago when salvage was much then maybe. You only have to look at some of these salvage auctions to see what these cars go for. They are fetching a ridiculous amount of money.