Second hand car

[Jowsey]

How about a Volvo? Everyone always bangs on about the reliability of them.

The V50 would probably fit you. Or failing that try having a look for an ex cop v70. A lot of forces used the big diesels for motor patrol and you can be sure they've been looked after.

It's a little bit out there and no one has even mentioned them!

[Xlucine]

How old/big are you willing to go?

£3k will get you a Jag X-Type or S-Type at around 12 years/120k miles....

Or a not-bargain-bin beemer. There's a lot of saloons around for similar money to equal-vintage hatchbacks, and on the motorway you will feel the difference in the bigger car

[Disturbedguy]

So, I'm planning to spend an hour or two looking at cars and insurance quotes at some point today, but I had a question with regards to insurance / write off's and didn't want to start a new thread.

If my car is written off due to the cost to repair against the value of the car, what happens?
Do I have the option to keep the car as is (providing the cars drive-ability isn't effected and get the value of the car, or is it one or the other?

[kalniel]

They get the car and pay you a settlement figure (which you can negotiate). You can offer to buy back the car from them.

[Disturbedguy]

Ahh so if they want some stupid buy back amount, it could work out cheaper for me to take the money and buy something second hand?
Hmm choices

[kalniel]

Ahh so if they want some stupid buy back amount, it could work out cheaper for me to take the money and buy something second hand?
Hmm choices

They won't usually want a stupid buy back, because they'll be sitting on a cat C or D write off that they have to get rid of - and market prices for write offs are low. But yes, the idea is that the settlement should be enough for you to get a car in similar condition to yours before the accident.

[Disturbedguy]

They won't usually want a stupid buy back, because they'll be sitting on a cat C or D write off that they have to get rid of - and market prices for write offs are low. But yes, the idea is that the settlement should be enough for you to get a car in similar condition to yours before the accident.

Thanks for the prompt answers

[Ttaskmaster]

Ahh so if they want some stupid buy back amount, it could work out cheaper for me to take the money and buy something second hand?

Whatever they value it at, your buy-back will be a percentage of that amount, usually on a scale of valuations.
So if they value it below £1,000, you pay 10%, while at £1,500 it could be 20% and over £2,500 has you paying 35%, for example.
I can't recall the actual percentages from my incident, but it works something like that and they should be happy to explain the rates.

But yes, the idea is that the settlement should be enough for you to get a car in similar condition to yours before the accident.

Similar, according to the valuation they assign it... Usually using some BS* trade publication like Glass's.
However, you can get more if you can supply enough supporting evidence from completed sales pages - eBay bids/auctions and currently live adverts not admissible, but proof that a vehicle actually sold direct for a higher price is.


*Considered BS because that's what dealers merely say they bought and sold cars for. The values quoted, however, variously exclude/include a variety of extras that dramatically alter the figures from the real world. It's open to serious bending of truths and since they pull this book out as justification when dealing with people, it's just a bit of a scam... But it's how the industry works, so you have to put in the effort to get a fair price on your sale/purchase.

[Disturbedguy]

Whatever they value it at, your buy-back will be a percentage of that amount, usually on a scale of valuations.
So if they value it below £1,000, you pay 10%, while at £1,500 it could be 20% and over £2,500 has you paying 35%, for example.
I can't recall the actual percentages from my incident, but it works something like that and they should be happy to explain the rates.


Similar, according to the valuation they assign it... Usually using some BS* trade publication like Glass's.
However, you can get more if you can supply enough supporting evidence from completed sales pages - eBay bids/auctions and currently live adverts not admissible, but proof that a vehicle actually sold direct for a higher price is.


*Considered BS because that's what dealers merely say they bought and sold cars for. The values quoted, however, variously exclude/include a variety of extras that dramatically alter the figures from the real world. It's open to serious bending of truths and since they pull this book out as justification when dealing with people, it's just a bit of a scam... But it's how the industry works, so you have to put in the effort to get a fair price on your sale/purchase.

Thanks for the explanation.

I did some more quote checking but forgot to update this thread, so far the Jetta previously mentioned and Swift Sport have come in at the cheapest...

[Disturbedguy]

So heard back yesterday, car is a "Total Loss - Beyond Economical Repair" so waiting to here from insurers now..

[Ttaskmaster]

So heard back yesterday, car is a "Total Loss - Beyond Economical Repair" so waiting to here from insurers now..

They say you should never take the first offer, so expect to be offered something insultingly low.
Meanwhile, do some research and find some rough examples of just how much your car would have been worth based on model, trim, mileage, condition, age etc... Ignore the undervalued ones, though and get the best values you can find, obviously!

My bike was written off at £3,800 repairs, but valued at £900. I showed similar examples and got a professional valuation at £2,600, ending up with £1,800 cash after buying back the "wreckage" for about £360 in the end.
£160 for some 2nd hand parts and a new MoT to the insurers, and the bike was back on the road in a day. Has been awesome ever since - That was 4 years ago. So much for write-off!!

[Disturbedguy]

They say you should never take the first offer, so expect to be offered something insultingly low.
Meanwhile, do some research and find some rough examples of just how much your car would have been worth based on model, trim, mileage, condition, age etc... Ignore the undervalued ones, though and get the best values you can find, obviously!

My bike was written off at £3,800 repairs, but valued at £900. I showed similar examples and got a professional valuation at £2,600, ending up with £1,800 cash after buying back the "wreckage" for about £360 in the end.
£160 for some 2nd hand parts and a new MoT to the insurers, and the bike was back on the road in a day. Has been awesome ever since - That was 4 years ago. So much for write-off!!

I've been looking into this based on similar advice.
I've looked on Parkers where it advised the prices range from 3.5 - 6.5K
Have also looked on Autotrader where the prices seem to range from 2 to 7K

I'm going to aim for £4,000
If they come in at 4K (which I imagine they wouldn't) then I'll probably push for 4.5K

Then like you say, its a case of buying the car back and then MoT'ing it

Then decide what to do with what is left

[Ttaskmaster]

I've looked on Parkers where it advised the prices range from 3.5 - 6.5K

That's a good start.
I personally found Parkers not so good, as I recall... or it might have been the RAC one.
Basically there's a load of Free Valuation things online, where you plug in some basic info and they bounce back with values for private sale, dealer, trade-in and the like.
Cap.co.uk, Autotrader and so on.
I took all those that were in the same ballpark, added some Autotrader prices in and averaged them to get my "approximate market value" for the insurance. I'd think that'd help in this instance too.

Have also looked on Autotrader where the prices seem to range from 2 to 7K

The difficulty with that and eBay auctions, or even the Buy It Now ads is that's just what people are asking.
But if you can get some recently completed Buy It Now ads (not auctions) and past Autotrader/Gumtree ads, from say within 6 months, that show what prices the cars actually sold for outright, these will be very good evidence with which to argue their price up!!

The more the better, ideally ones that reflect the sort of money (or even higher) that you're looking for. They may find a few cheaper ones to try and argue it back down a bit, but it then comes down to details like condition, mileage, features, optional extras and anything more that yours had, including custom paint, aftermarket components or fancy accessories like satnav or sound system.

This is what my accident solicitor advised and it worked very well.

[Disturbedguy]

Well just spoke to the insurance company.

They came in with a valuation of £4900 which is way over what I expected, but I lose my £500 excess (which I can claim back) and then the salvage / scrappage fee is about £1100 so ill initially come out with about £3300.

Ive advised them that at the moment I need to decide if I am keeping the vehicle or not, while I see if I can find anything second hand that would be ideal if I keep the car, ill want to get the drivers door repair so it closes correctly and it is having fuel pump issues at the moment (will need a new fuel pump - 3rd time its had an issue)...

[i7Baby]

These guys - http://www.evanshalshaw.com/blog/bes...rs-under-3000/ reckon a Megane.

[GoNz0]

Or a not-bargain-bin beemer. There's a lot of saloons around for similar money to equal-vintage hatchbacks, and on the motorway you will feel the difference in the bigger car

All good if like me you're able to look after it and fix the majority of problems, otherwise running costs are high. My 97 328 is almost ready to. retire.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk