Car Write off's verses Breakers

[Steve 155C]

Most people know that when you crash you car and it is written off by the insurance Co it is possible for it to end up back on the road , legally.

What I find unbelievable is how cars this badly damaged can be categorised to go back on the road , but your old volvo with a broken headlight gets destined for the breakers yard

I would never trust a HPI check. I have seen expensive cars that have been damaged go through salvage auctions uncategorised as damaged , and the only reason can be that the insurance Co want to claw back as much money as they can. (Unless they were third party claims - which I doubt on a £300,000 Porsche Carrera GT for example)

 

[Mark Cramond]

Nice Ferrari..................Nothing a bit of body fill and a paintbrush can't fix.
Might need a wheel allignment also.

 

[martin k]

i knew a bloke who used to buy cars off one breaker,they were never recorded,and some were in a proper mess,he would bodge them up,and the new owners never knew !! don't trust hpi checks fully,as some cars wont have gone through the system,befoe they are repaired and sold on! it's amazing what price some people pay for damaged cars.

 

[Mark Cramond]

Over here if a car is written off by the insurance company the chasis number is noted and the car can not be road registered. Alot of cars do get repaired but they can only be used as competition vehicles. This does not stop people buying two alike vehicles and doing a plate and paper job though.

 

[Matthew]

Here in OZ its the same a NZ.... and the swaps do happen behind closed doors!

 

[boycie]

the reverse is also true,i used to buy a few salvage cars with light damage/stolen recovered e.c.t. there was a mint mk1 fiesta with a broken window and 2 front seats missing,insurance company said it was to old, classed it as a write of and could not go back on the road,so it got stripped for parts,criminal,2 seats and a drivers window glass it would have been back on the road the same day.

 

[Steve 155C]

I know what you mean boycie - thats what I was refering to in my "volvo" example. I've seen plenty of cars that fall into this senario and are heading off to the crusher. The trouble if unless t you have a breakers / waste license joe public can't get their hands on them.

 

[Mark Cramond]

One of the big insurance companies over here has a yard that Joe Public can visit and view all the written off cars. They can then place a tender and take the car away if they win. Last time i was there i looked at a 2002 911 Porsche that had been stolen/recovered. I had damaged locks and steering column but no other damage. It had been written off because it had been dumped on a beach and flooded with salt water. Great base for a race car as from memory the tender was accepted at $21000 NZD.

 

[Rob]

In the UK 90% of salt water damaged cars are recorded as 'Cat B' Break only Ferrari or Fiesta. A good friend of mine has a large breakers yard and it is criminal to see the cars that are sold for parts only. The bodyshells have to remain at the yard to be crushed. Ive seen them break an Aston, Maserati and loads of Porsches. Some of the companies now sell the cars on ebay so the winning bidder can take all the parts he wants but leaves the bare shell behind.