Mat Armstrong just entered the chat

Flood Damage - best to avoid as most cars will have suffer damage to electronics and that can be difficult to remedy. Cars are designed to resist rainwater but flood damage can be tricky to tell what has been affected.

*Buying a car that's been written off can be a perfect way to get the car of your dreams for a far more reasonable price. These days insurance companies will write off a car for the smallest things like a wing but for them its major because they've to buy the parts from the dealer were a normal person doesn't have to and can shop around for those parts write offs just have a bad stigma*

Crikey, some of those examples are astounding. I have bought older cars, like MB W124s that were Cat D, but the notional value was so low that even a new headlight and fitting from MB would write it off, whereas I would have bought a secondhand unit from Ebay. However, that Ferrari, jeepers...

Interesting piece. I have purchased 4 cat N cars and have never had problems insuring any of them on fully comp. In all 4 cases, the cars were damaged when I got them and they have all gone on to give good service. I have a Hyundai IX20 which I repaired and has been in my 'fleet' for 3 years and is an absolute gem. One thing that is an anomaly (in my view) is if I were to have a newish car that I damaged, there is a good chance that the insurer will have it repaired and it will not be categorised thus when it comes to resale, leaving those who are not in the know with a car which does have a past! The thing that does really annoy me is the requirement for insurers to fit all new parts following damage. My partners Astra was recently written off as cat N because they decided that to replace the tailgate would cost £5,500. We bought the car back and found a replacement tailgate in colour which was fitted for £350 - crazy!

Some years ago, my sister and her husband bought a Vauxhall that turned out to be two cars welded together. A history check would definitely have been wise. Three years ago, I bought a motorbike from a dealer that had been written off with cosmetic damage. I bought it at a great price, he even knocked a further £500 off without any prompting from me. A great dealership.

I've had a cat D car before... it had been keyed all down one side. estimate was probably to repaint the entire car from a high end bodyshop so it was an easy right off. The paint was perfect and I knew it was basically no worse than any car that had had some random scratch//stonechip repair so was a no brainer really.

At the right price and managing the expectations of resale value (if it’s not a forever car) you can get a right deal, using a decent vehicle history checker is key.

Nice video Matt. It would be a laugh to send the crash damage picture to the eBay seller and offer him half of what he was asking for it.

Great video as always Matt - always worth mentioning that uninsured cars (including high-end ones) are crashed and repaired all the time and won’t appear on ANY car history ‘checking’ website…..my advice, if you are spending more than say £8-£10k is to get the car professionally inspected….if the private seller or dealer resists this, walk away

I'll say one thing Matt, you truly are the most honest businessman (not just a car salesman) around. There's no fan fare, no bullshit, no "look at me I'm a KZfaqr", just an honest guy guy trying to make an honest living and using KZfaq to share your love of cars and your knowledge of the motor trade. . Rock on my son. 🤟💪😉👍

My low mileage MG TF was written off when I swerved into a ditch to avoid an idiot approaching on my side of the road. The insurance company gave me a fair price - £2000 - then after talking to their engineer I bought it back for £430 (delivered to my local garage) who charged a further £400 to repair it (new anti roll bar and minor scrapes and paint). The insurance company would not repair it as new parts are not available. As soon as it was repaired and passed a new MoT with no advisories, it was back on fully comp insurance. A very good insurance company - Direct Line.

Really been waiting for this topic to be covered. Thanks for taking the time to run through and share your wisdom.

Great advise, agree with all of what you said having bought several damaged cars at the start of my driving career. My first few cars I bought damaged and got local bodyshops to repair them, being in N.ireland labour is a bit cheaper than in England, and at one time you could put a car back on the road for less than half price but they always had niggly faults, quite often electrical. Now I'm spending a bit more on cars I tend to stay clear. Car vertical has saved me from a few mistakes though, so cheers Mat.

I've been completely shafted recently. My Ford Focus was written off after hitting a deer on a country road back in March. I was under pressure to get a replacement so I did my due diligence and did the VCheck thing and paid £6K cash for a Ford C-Max. I noticed that the cam-belt hadn't been done (75K and 10 years) so got the Dealer to do that (we agreed 50/50 split on costs) before I would drive it away. Within a fortnight of picking it up and with the brief advent of warmer weather, I noticed the aircon didn't work. The Dealer booked it into a local garage. Warranty wouldn't cover it and Dealer wouldn't pay out even though it wasn't fit for purpose (needed new condenser plus re-gas) further £260.00 shelled out by your's truly. About 3 weeks ago I was hoovering the car out prior to what was going to be a few days down in Devon and on lifting the driver's mat noticed it was completely sodden underneath. I booked it into my garage this time for a check over. Transpired the heating management system had been completely bodged with jubilee clips etc and coolant was seeping into the car. Again warranty wouldn't cover it and Dealer refused to pay. Tried to get hold of Trading Standards but you have to go through Citizens Advice. They said I might have a case but it would take a long time to sort out. In the end I traded in the C-Max for a Peugeot 2008 (2018 plate) from my trusted local garage. It would have cost me near enough £1k to repair the C-Max. I have lost about £3K in this deal. My garage have given me 6 months warranty but told me quite honestly that I have been treated appallingly by the other local dealer. They said anything goes wrong and we'll just sort it whether the warranty covers it or not because our reputation matters. This is why some people have good experiences and others don't and I don't know what I could have done other than been without a car for months while I went through a legal process to recoup the costs. The C-Max I traded in they will put to auction because they just wouldn't sell it to one of their customers. Has left a pretty sour taste in my mouth, especially as I opted to use a local dealer rather than one of the larger more impersonal car warehouses. Interested to know your take on my sad and sorry saga Matt....should I have got the Ford Focus repaired first and then traded it or would I have been better to have gone more upmarket and taken a loan in the first place to negate the bad experience with the C-Max?

Thanks Matt, great vid and lots of detail. Personally anything involved in a significant collision, even if it were cheap I would avoid. As you rightly say, cheap is different to value, and just because something is cheap doesn’t mean it’s good.

Great video and very informative, as usual. I recently bought a car from a franchised dealer (who were part of a larger car group) and decided to use car vertical. Was pleasantly as the depth of detail on the report, it found no issues found but just had an extra piece of mind when finalising the deal.

Good video Matt. The key for me is how well the repair has been done.. and you’ll seldom have the answer to that. Behind the paint where have corners been cut? As you said unless very very light damage then avoid BUT how many cars are not recorded on the register, eg third party or no claim made and they’re even more worrying!

What a great video Matt, clear, logical and really informative. Thank you!!

Thanks for giving a clear opinion. It's always tempting to get more car for your money, however the price is set for a reason.

Hey Matt, This was an informative video,Like you say it’s worth doing a Car History Check and personally dash cams have saved my no claims and kept me in pocket over many years. For me they’re a vital tool in protecting yourself legally too. I would not drive without one and for the last decade I’ve always had two fitted front and back.

Fantastic Q&A Matt another excellent video. Keep them coming. I love your honesty and knowledge of your subject..

It's a strangely satisfying process, you get the satisfaction of fixing a good car. You search for 2nd hand panels get them sprayed and away you go. Don't go near a car that's been structurely hit unless you know your way around a jig. Plenty of back street garages that fix bent chassis legs without going anywhere near a jig. I used to fix cat C cars just for a hobby years ago. Recently bought a Merc C class wagon C250 cgi amg spec, 43k miles, light front corner panel damage for 2 grand, cost me a grand in parts and paint. Drives lovely for a fraction of the price!

This is essentially a 16 minute car vertical advert

Fantastic public information Matt, your experience and knowledge is priceless! Best Car Review KZfaqr by far! Helped me make a decision today

I remember, one day, maybe in 1987. First snow in Oslo, I was driving a 123 series 300D. A woman crashed into my car. I was able to drive slowly to the repair shop. It was a Friday, very late, and they let me in. The car was really damaged, but it was drivably. Two hours later, it had a new wing, new lights, and it could go for the weekend duties.

I have had a few written off vehicles over the years both car and motorcycle,and like you said it comes down to price,it also helps if you are handy with the spanners to do the necessary repairs

Take a paint thickness gauge it will give you a good idea if it’s been painted and if it’s also had filler. Saved me a few times.

Always depends upon who you buy it from - I watch a channel called salvage rebuilds uk, and I would not hesitate to buy a damage repaired car from them.

Great video - learned loads. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Quick answer: If you are savvy with cars in general, go for it with careful inspection. If not, it is a pure gamble.

I'm in the accident repair industry Matt. And you're spot on 👍

I crashed a brand new at the time VW Polo into the towbar on the back of a Freelander. Due to the age of the car it was fully repaired. Needed a lot of front end repairs including a radiator, intercooler, horn, bumper and maybe some engine work. Ran its reg and its still being used by a new owner. I recently bought a cat S. E92 335d. Poorly repaired and quite neglected. But i have been restoring it to its former glory and will keep forever.

Very interesting video, I never realised a private buyer didn't have to disclose a previous CAT designation.

My uncle used to buy and repair these, his specialty was sewing backs and fronts from 2 cars together. I’ll never forget his Citroen BX, when you started it the air suspension used to bring up each corner one after the other, a low rider years before they became fashionable 😃

I run a Cat D car. I saw photos of it after its accident. The repairer showed me his shop and the certifications of his body work team. It had 13,000 miles on it and its now done 67,000 miles after five years and is maintained as if it were a new car. Have there been any glitches that I could put down to the bash it had and the repair. The honest answer is one or two for definite, but nothing insurmountable or super critical. As a car it's been great. Has it washed it's face financially ? Well I think so.....just. The longer I run it the closer the residual becomes to an unwritten off car, so if I keep it eight years the relative values won't be that different. It had a new sill, a new B pillar and front and rear doors. Critically the roof was undamaged so the shell integrity was good enough to repair. Did I have misgivings..yes. Has it been a good car..yes.

Really Interesting. I've 🐝'n looking at both cars & bike's recently to replace our elderly non ABS 206 for something with more safety systems. Thank you for sharing with us all.

8:40 I used to know someone who imported brand new pick-ups to the UK with a rear passenger bench and sold them. One of them was stolen, joy-ridden and trashed. They repaired the truck and sold it as new. Apparently it's legal, but it was a real eye-opener for me.

Great video! I totally get it why people are tempted for the lower price, horses for courses. I doubt loan companies would lend on CAT vehicles?

Very useful . My RCZ was damaged a few weeks ago whilst parked. The most minor of scrapes to the front bumper , things could easily have been much worse. Luckily the driver of the other vehicle owned up. The local body shop quoted about £600 to remove / prepare /paint / refit the whole front bumper panel . That quote nearly doubled when insurers got involved. To my amazement the other driver’s insurers accepted the higher quote even though they had seen the cheaper quote . I’ll be interested to do a car vertical check on my car to see what comes up. And,unlike me , don’t forget to check your dash cam if your car is hit.

Thanks Matt..Great video and really informative. I was wondering about the implications when you come to insure it and you provided the answer! I'm only looking to spend about £4000 on something so will consider a cheaper better value car. Many thanks.

Thank you for your videos, I really enjoy them, they are very useful and interesting.

Where i work we used to do bodywork for Fiat main dealer and we used to get tons of brand new cars with less than 50 miles on the clock in for paint like dents on wings ,bumpers and doors, most still had foam blocks on the doors and plastic everywhere, so even buying new from dealer you never know. I've owned a few damaged cars in the past but I have never had a problem getting insurance on any of them, one of my first cars was a cat C fiesta when i was 20 and the insurance was like £2500 but that was also the same price as a none damaged version of the car. Really enjoyed this video.

This is a very good video. I would never touch a cat S car but it's interesting and horrifying to see the damage some cars have received. Maybe a cat N with light damage will be a best option for a cheap everyday car that you will keep until it doesn't go on anymore

This is excellent advice. My Audi SQ5 was stolen and crashed. The damage was front o/s wing, suspension smashed as was the alloy wheel. The insurance company were in two minds whether to repair it but I persuaded them to write it off and I got the full value of the vehicle back. Although I did love my Audi I had to be sensible. When the time came to move it on I would have been badly stung….

Very interesting video. Thanks. Very valuable and much appreciated information which will be very helpful in future.

Great point about the price point Matt, I 100% agree 👍

A couple of other things to factor in when looking at damage repaired cars, quite often you find they don’t come with any service history, and they only have one key, this is because they get taken away after an accident and just come with whatever was with the car at the time.

Many years ago a friend rolled his Mk1 Cortina. The whole roof had been bogged,in places nearly an inch thick. The passenger door was mostly bog backed with chicken wire and rolled up newspaper and yet it had actually looked pretty good when he bought it. After that I always took a magnet when I was looking to buy second hand.

I run my own car body repair and paint business and it wouldn't put me off buying a car for my self. I bought a Vauxhall Vectra SRI that was a cat D and had a damaged bumper and busted headlight. Fixed it with a bumper and light off ebay and I kept it for about 5 years

Excellent video. Very interesting & informative. Thanks!

Interesting stuff, and sound logic. Thanks for doing that.

I think this channel is truly amazing (where were you 6 years ago) it is channels like these i have the utmost thanks and respect for the content creator. I have some money coming from being made redundant but have been sceptical about buying another BMW i have a BMW 320D M Sport on a 2007 plate but i was royally ripped off due to my lack of knowledge at the time the issues and the ploys of some garages luckily i did take insurance out on the car and it was under warranty when the timing chain snapped the garage owned never provided service history £13,000 pounds later after the warranty ran out a list of repairs for what failed at 97,000 miles the (failings) are due to the car not being properly maintained and the dealership not mentioning the subframe was almost rotten through I have only done 20k miles and to get the car right i need to spend another £3000 on the subframe and all bushings, then i need a new DPF, new shocks on all sides, i would say listen to High Peak Autos and do your homework.

Hey Matt me again, my dad has 2 Renault 19 16v cabriolets one is for parts and one is working in good condition with 105k miles on the odometer. I remember as a kid me and dad used to go speeding through chase town. It had the same engine found in the mk1 Clio. Like your channel as always and thanks for the ❤️ on my comment have a nice week

Just bought a Mini Cooper on a 64 plate with 37k miles for £3900. Non Cat D is 9 to 10k with the same miles. (As of today). Well happy. It's been looked after full mini service history. Keeping it for 2y then just auction it. Or scrap. Thanks Matt. Your advice is gold as always.

Thanks for this informative video.....really struggled on salvaged cars

Very informative Matt. Thanks for that!

Many years ago a friend of a friend ran a body shop. We were there having a brew and a chin wag when a transporter turned up bearing new vehicles from a main manufacturer. A couple of cars were rolled off into the workshop for body repairs before they went to the dealer’s showroom for sale to the unsuspecting public. Apparently a regular source of business for the body shop. It happened back then and I’d be very surprised if it doesn’t still go on today.

A warning to all. Excellent video. Just shows how careful you have to be.

Great advice, thanks very much Matt.

Great video. Well explained and I learnt a lot 👍

Couldn’t agree more! Took me ages to find my R8 gen 2 V10+. Did the usual checks, I.e. Carvertical, PPI and checked out the seller as well who luckily has a reputable business 😎

Great content and very informative 👍👍

Agree with all your points. Exactly how I’d look at it too 👍🏻

I would if Salvage Rebuilds repaired it, those guys are true gents!

I own/run a car salvage yard you would be surprised at some of the car that come in that are written off, absolutely nothing wrong with them and most parts are readily available so bolt parts on especially with same colour you're onto a winner!

Yes 👍 if you know what your looking for though. I bought a cat D in 2017 fiesta st 2013 63 plate. Had pictures to prove just a cracked rear bumper and smashed rear light. Car was brilliant no problems at all, Only thing is selling them on.

Brilliant video Matt, thanks.

Another great presentation. Well done Matt

Have you every watched Matt Armstrong's channel? This is what he does and creates a lot of content from the restoration process. With most of his projects, he cleverly raffles them off. I guess he makes a good money from this and has none of the issues moving them on. its interesting to watch, but I'd wouldn't put my family in anything thats been put back on the road this way. Anyways... All good stuff Matt.

Thanks buddy another great video!

Thanks for the insightful review of such purchases. I was very much interested but now know the threshold to let go on such bargains.

You're a legend, mate! Keep making videos!

I've been following Salvage Rebuilds UK Channel since day one and these guys repair some right broke up auto's to an amazing standard . Your channel and theirs are my favourite you should try doing a video together it would be really interesting if you bought and sold a car from them just as an exercise be good content.

Good advice. In my opinion, Cat S cars can be tricky in that, even when seemingly well repaired, it is possible that there is underlying structural weakness that just won't be revealed except if the vehicle is involved in another shunt and you might not want to be onboard for that event. The Cat Ns are, at the right price point and if repaired by a good repairer, an excellent value proposition that allows you to seriously upgrade your car choice and is all but indistinguishable from a perfect excample.

Another entertaining and informative video Matt 👌🙏

Thank you. Just saved me 7k by checking with car vertical and found previous pictures. Amazed how that works

Great video, thanks man!

Interesting stuff. I`m much more cautious these days. Some 30 years ago I bought a VW Beetle from a dealer in Clayton, 9 months later when I took it in for an MOT it failed miserably as they said the whole floor pans front and back were fibreglass and even the seatbelt anchorages were mounted to this. The dealer was fined but it took 18 months to get him to court. I had to sell the car to a VW enthusiast who was going to re-build it with new floors, but I lost out after having to store the car for two years. So beware fibreglass floors and sills.

Very informative! Thank you.

I remember that BMW you tested my skills on that one plenty off pushing and pulling to get it straight , it turned out ok in the end and cheap car for your pal win win all round.

I bought a category N 3 series. I can't complain - 2/3 of the retail price plus a freshly painted front bumper and wing 😁 If you think about it, you're probably more likely to get a mechanically sound car if you buy one that's just been written off and repaired, because it wouldn't have been a case of the previous owner trading it in because things were starting to go wrong with it

Had a customer who was insurance assessor. Showed me his laptop. Every car with most common fixes and prices repair garages would get to fix it, fixed costs insurance would pay out.. I could see how easy they write off cars.

What an interesting video. Thanks for uploading.

Great level headed advice. Thanks Matt

Hi Matt, found it. Useful video, thank you.

Hi mat took your advice and got a 2010 jaguar xj portfolio cat-n rear bumper damage only 95k milage £6000 wow what a car,yes it makes me smile all the time driving it like in the review you done on one,thanks for your abvice mate was so helpfull

Good one, Matt - I've often thought about buying a written off car, but haven't had the courage... But, as you say, at around £5k, it could be worth it if I was going to run it into the ground in a few years... 👍

Sooooo thorough. Superb narration. BBC need to hire you like yesterday Matt.

Great video. Personally I wouldn’t touch a damaged car with a barge pole. Too much grief with insurance, in life problems and resale value. I would rather pay a premium and get one with no issues. As you say ‘buying on value’ not ‘on price’. I suspect a large portion of the write off / repair market operates on the basis of daft customers not doing vehicle checks and getting duped by the unscrupulous private and retail sellers. A very valuable video, you will no doubt save save some unsuspecting purchaser from getting stroked. 👍

Back in the 1970,s i was working next to Rovers Test track, i saw a 3,5 Rover crash, over the next week, it came out in various repairs, getting tested again and again, eventually it was fully repaired. I spoke to a mechanic, he said they do these repairs and it goes out as a new car.

Brilliant video thank you. 😀

Really helpful video. Thank u.

Great content 👍🏽

Great content, keep it coming Matt.

really helpful insights. thanks

Thanks Matt for your thoughts on this subject... ✅ I was thinking about spending 11k on a Volvo XC60, cat s, but i came to a similar conclusion as you.. Also after getting a RAC inspection, it showed the repair had been botched.. That's when alarms bells were ringing thinking if they've botched the repair, just to sell on quickly. What else is not done correctly... Pity, the actually damage was quite miner and located around the tow bar. If they had done the job correctly and had good documentation, i think I'd have gone for it. They repaired like a 20 year Escort, which is just sacrilegious in my book. Good sturdy car, with good life span. But bought by Dell and Rodney...

Another excellent video 👏🏼👏🏼

Great advice thanks!

Great information. Thank you. Subscribed