Do you know this car? ST56 HCF - AVANT CAT D

[Shinobi675]

Think that's a good plan mate. I bought a cat d bike years ago because it was cheap. But when I went to part ex it for a CBR they didn't want to touch it. The did in the end take it for half the book price. So Id say if you did change your mind it's never more than half book price (~£10k as said earlier).

But I think you've made the right decision if you're not doing it for a personal project that really money doesn't really matter as much.

[jimmy gee]

don't be put off with buying a cat d,i bought a cat d in Daytona grey avant with 45000 miles on the clock,one owner car some gitt had stolen the seats out it,ive had the car for 8 months now only had to fit a set of front pads,i did get the car detailed don't think it ever seen a lick of polish in its life just keep looking hope this helps

[Shinobi675]

I loved my r1, it was selling it that stopped me ever buying a car d again

[lengster1]

My bmw s1000rr is a cat D,someone drove into the back of it 1 week old,it was replaced by a new one as many policies do on vehicles under 1 yr old,it was 1500 cheaper than anything else and a price I was comfortable with putting it on the track,it will always maintain it's slightly lower value but less so as it gets older and I keep it I top condition.Were you have to be carefull is the stuff that's been bent,I've seen shocking repairs by real amateurs,I would always consider a cat c or d if the repair/money was right,most guys will be driving cars that have had paint/repairs that they don't know about.Ive seen a fair few RS4s on copart recently whilst looking for a chap quattro for a mate.

[Steve Barrett]

Any car have a problem round the corner to give your wallet a hammering whether it's been damaged or not.

2 scenarios..

A - I drive my car down the road in my car and crash damaging the car and as I'm fully comp I go through the insurance and the car is written off as a cat C or D, it's then bought as salvage and repaired.

B - I drive my car down the road in my car and crash damaging the car and decide to get the car repaired myself at a proper repair garage that do insurance work.

Car A for sale (fully repaired) with a cat marker against it £15000
Car B for sale (fully repaired) with no cat marker £20000

Which 1 would you buy???


Steve

[lengster1]

C: A completely straight one for 20k

[Shinobi675]

Just be warned about selling it, it was £5k cheaper when you bought it and I'll still be £5k cheap when you sell it.

[geordie jay]

exactly!!! 20k car every day...its not about buying it coz you getting a bargain..its about making sure its been fixed to a high standard and the main reason is it will be harder to sell and it wont keep its value like a straight car...

[Shinobi675]

It makes absolutely no difference about fix or what ever. A cat d is very hard to sell on. Dealers are terrified off em and there's only about 20% of the public that would even consider it. You can get a bargin car if you want a track car or you have no intentions of selling for a while. But... Just be aware that they're hard to get rid of.

[docurley]

All good points but if you are the 20% and you buy £5k cheaper the £5k or if kept a long while a lot less is irrelevant other than it will take longer to sell or not.

I bought my CAT D (seats, steering wheel and gear knob removed, these parts were all replaced when I bought her) for £12,750 with 49k miles on the clock. I did a lot of homework on the car and checked out its history (Audi gave me a full printout for nothing) and it checked out. Also if the seller will give you the logbook number you can go on DVLA website and check out the millage for free too which help me confirm everything looked good.

I have owned several CAT C & D cars and providing you do your homework all should be good.

Bear in mind a £20k car can give you issue regardless how well its looked after as can a CAT D all because parts break. All I have done to mine and she does need a bit more TLC later but currently I have serviced her, replaced front brake pads and did a AUX rad delete after the driver's side started to leak and did these all myself. Servicing was easier than my old B6 A4 1.8T S-line which was a nice surprise, brakes were no different than any other brakes to do and the AUX rad was easy after reading a how to on here. You learn how to remove a bumper quite easy after a couple of goes as near on all bulb work will mean removing the bumper.

I would also like to note my car is a very highly specked car with only heated rear seats and sunroof missing from what I can work out from all the possible upgrades offered on the B7 RS4 at the time of production.

Here's mine