Stolen car gets a cat C status?

[quattrodragon]

Looking at a car recently.. 3 owners, the current owner has disclosed it was a cat C in 2008 but not due to any damage but because the car was stolen, insurance paid out fully hence the car had to be written off. Was found later with no accident damage and put back on the road though it had already be written off therefore a cat C. I imagine there may be been window damage or starter switch/steering column damage due to the theft. Full service history except from 2008-2009 when it was stolen.

Is there any truth to this is this possible? Maybe insurance fraud potential too? I've ran an HPI check and it agrees with what I've been told though it's possible to find out what reason the car was branded a cat C back in 2008 already since it's not the previous owner but during the 1st ownership

Car has gone through 2 inspections at official Audi dealerships and they cannot find anything that disagrees either the age or mileage of the car. Says it's an honest car. Car is in Scotland

Any thoughts guys?

[Grandadg90]

It could be a cat c due to cost of hire car whilst the RS4 was missing. Total cost may have been so high that they wrote it off as a cat c. May have been stolen and they have possibly tried to steal the seats. Does it have the bucket seats?

What is the asking price for the car?

[rs user]

i was in the market for an rs4 and just purchased one-the amount of cars at huge prices on cat c/d out there is incredible,vendors trying to say it doesnt matter,it was only the seats etc...lots have had pretty heavy damage. i didnt want a c/d but for a normal runabout wouldnt rule one out at the right money,trouble is worse than even a normal used car cat c/d almost always have a story,hidden issues that arent financially viable to deal with etc

[quattrodragon]

yes it has the bucket seats well specced etc actually

around 30% discount to a regular car. I'm speaking to the owner privately so it's not a dealer. He's shown me his check of the car 1 year ago and also when he purchased the car in 2011. Dealer has a report says it's perfectly well and I've also had it checked separately and its come up very clean too.

Just wanted to know whether the car can be marked as cat C for getting stolen and no damage at all. I always thought cat c/d stuff was for non trivial damage.

So it's possible the car can be a mint but just getting stolen and either insurance paid out the car or provided a long enough rental, it can be written off as a cat C?

[audi_do_dat_den]

There has to be a better reason, i mean if it was written off and paid out because it was stolen and disappeared for a year, then recovered undamaged, im not sure if the owner can buy it back.
That sort of opens up an encouraging means of defrauding an insurance company, and making decent dough out of effectively making more than the cars actual value.
If it was written off on a CAT C, then that sticks forever i think... maybe im speaking <beep>... but this is what i read -

"Vehicles written off after an accident, a flood, or fire damage are often classified as Cat C. In its simplest form, it means that although the car is repairable, the cost of the parts, labour and potentially an expensive hire car would significantly exceed the value of the vehicle."

Worth a lot of googling to find the true meaning i suppose....

[audi_do_dat_den]

....its also quite possible that the car is perfect physically and had minimal damage when recovered etc.... and then auctioned.
However, its also possible that it was 'ragged' for a year by some uncaring anus.... so you just cant tell.
The CAT C lives with it forever, sadly but if its the right price and your happy, go for it.
But resale price is going to be poor.... no dramas if you get your money back though.

[mikep99]

Check your insurance as well as I've heard so companies aren't keen on insuring them if they've been written off for whatever reason...

[jaysrs4]

....its also quite possible that the car is perfect physically and had minimal damage when recovered etc.... and then auctioned.
However, its also possible that it was 'ragged' for a year by some uncaring anus.... so you just cant tell.
The CAT C lives with it forever, sadly but if its the right price and your happy, go for it.
But resale price is going to be poor.... no dramas if you get your money back though.

Not just resale price though, it's physically shifting it if you ever need to - most people would rather touch hot sh1t!

[quattrodragon]

totally agree it smells fish definitely fish

but if 3 or maybe i'll get a 4th specialist to look at it, and they said it looks totally honest and straight, what's there to fault it vs. a normal car that has accident but repaired privately rather than by insurance i dunno...

[Shinobi675]

....its also quite possible that the car is perfect physically and had minimal damage when recovered etc.... and then auctioned.
However, its also possible that it was 'ragged' for a year by some uncaring anus.... so you just cant tell.
The CAT C lives with it forever, sadly but if its the right price and your happy, go for it.
But resale price is going to be poor.... no dramas if you get your money back though.

Not just resale price though, it's physically shifting it if you ever need to - most people would rather touch hot sh1t!

+1 I had a cat d r1. I ended up trading it for about 50% of the non car value. The dealer himself didn't want to touch it! It was only because I was so close to signing a new cbr.

So it's the resale I'd see an issue with. Takes ages and get rubbish money (but you did pay a lot less for it)

[RichieRS]

totally agree it smells fish definitely fish

but if 3 or maybe i'll get a 4th specialist to look at it, and they said it looks totally honest and straight, what's there to fault it vs. a normal car that has accident but repaired privately rather than by insurance i dunno...

Exactly that. Everything is done at risk so the more history the better!!.

I bought mine as a cat d but with the damage documented and repair receipts. It had a full Audi service history, low mileage and was in physically and mechanically excellent shape. Paid a lot less than the equivialant none categoried car and so far, getting in for 2 years in, it's not skipped a beat!!.

Note though. The deciding factor was that I had evidence of the category with repair bills to support. Without that I wouldn't have bought it. But that's just me. If you've had some independent checks and they are fine then go for it. Just know that if and when you go to sell it on, you might struggle!! Alternatively, if you advertise it for a great price, it might give someone with a low budget the opertunity to get in to an RS4.

[weekenny]

Trouble with repaired cars is they may look good in the moment of buying but how good the body Shop repair has actually been will only come out in the long term. I'm in the market and automatically discounting cat registered examples. These cars are already expensive given their age and the registered ones even more so.

[RichieRS]

Trouble with repaired cars is they may look good in the moment of buying but how good the body shop repair has actually been will only come out in the long term. I'm in the market and automatically discounting cat registered examples. These cars are already expensive given their age and the registered ones even more so.

That's why having a fully documented repair is crucial. Mine was purely cosmetic and that showed in the pictures and replaced parts list from Audi!!.

As said before. There will be a few cars that may have been damaged and not gone through an insurance claim?!!. That's when stuff like service history, receipts for work done and pretty much as much traceability as possible will demand a premium to ensure that it is straight and true.

For me. Buying a car with a great history, excellent condition with a very good history but registered as a cat d come up trumps over a car that had higher miles, patchy history, and slightly inferior on condition but still a higher purchase price.

Also as said before. You pay less for them so expect to sell them for less. Although the good service, mileage and condition will certainly help convince any one that has apprehensions on buying a cat d to perhaps take a good look!!.