Stolen recovered, what category?

[Lee H]

Looking at buying a 2000 W reg car at the moment and have just done one of the text check things to see if its all legitimate and the text has come back saying:

No colour changes
No stolen record
Not scrapped
W****** is a recovered vehicle. Loss date 29/10/2002.

I assume this means it was stolen recovered in 2002?

Doesn't mention anything about Cat C or D though so is it likely to be listed as a write off?

Would seem strange to write a 2 year old car off or could it have been quite badly damaged?

Cheers

[brainsnova]

i would just avoid it.

[hendrix]

I would say its been extensively repaired. Or could it mean its been a repo?

[Richie_B]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Car_Towing.jpg

[Jack]

Stolen/Recovered is usually a Cat D afaik? Sometimes C... It says "no stolen record" though, or does that mean currently?

[edit] It may not have been written off at all of course. Its perfectly legit for a nicked car to be recovered and returned to the road with minimal damage/repair, and I'd have thought a 2 year old (at the time) car would still have good enough value for it to be repaired without being written off.

[Graeme]

I also think it means Repo'd as it was only two years old and it says it was never stolen

[andy_017]

As Graeme said cold just be a finance repossession or could have been stolen with the keys and just returned to the owner with no damage :confused:

[Andy]

If it were a cat c or d it would say on the text as my mate bought a car and text that number and it sent 2 messages back with the info which said CAT C
If ya still in doubt run an HPi on it and see what that throws up.

[Nick J]

The car logbook should state category of damage Lee. A lot of Cat c/d cars are totally fine to repair and run again. You'd have to work out if its cheap enough for you to be happy to buy it. Dealerships that take them in px's offer half of their current market value regardless of condition. One thing you must be careful of is though..... If it was stolen/written off not so long back and quickly repaired and returned to the road then it may not have have been put onto the register yet. Hpi check should tell all. Another thing is a cat D would not need a Vic check to be returned to the road But a cat C does. You could possibly check if its had one with your local vosa centre. Links below.....

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/UsefulContactsByCategory/MotoringContacts/DG_069953


Nick.

[matthew172]

just buy it then chip it, bup talk bhp ftw

[Rick Draper]

just buy it then chip it, bup talk bhp ftw

Is Bup talk the new Pub talklol

[Ben]

Only CAT C will show on the logbook CAT D does not hence why they fetch a higher premium.

There are 09 cars which get written off fo tiny amounts of damage so disregard the 2 year old thing.

As stated if it was a CAT C/D it would state on the text checker, the not stolen parts means currently.

[matthew172]

Is Bup talk the new Pub talklol

shut it u turkey lover! lol

[Mike]

Ask to see the log book (if its possible) as it will detail on there to an extent of whats happened (NOT in depth detail)

TBH sounds like an ex finance repo car tho. Failure to pay car finance results in the vehicle being listed as stolen, if the finance firm arrive at its registered address an its not there anymore they dont chase to find it, they just registered it as a stolen motor.

[kent14sr]

iirc because it was recorded in 2002 it doesnt get recorded on logbook anyway?

Recovered last time I had this was flood damaged - stolen shows stolen/recovered usually

[Lee H]

Cheers for all the help.

Decided not to bother in the end due to distance (was in Coventry), the Nova lives to fight another day for now.

[Ben]

ONLY CAT C's GET RECORDED ON LOGBOOK

[Nick J]

ONLY CAT C's GET RECORDED ON LOGBOOK

I think you may find that is wrong Ben? Otherwise how would people know unless they Hpi'd every time they bought a car? The new logbooks do not state a damage category but do say something along the lines of "This vehicle has been substantially repaired etc" Iirc any vehicle that has had a total loss claim for whatever reason against it will have a note on the logbook. I repaired my missus ford ka last year after buying it back from the insurance company.... It had a cat D status on the hpi check and a message similar as above on the returned logbook. Any cat c/d should state something logbook wise, Cat A/B iirc correctly are the ones deemed too damaged to be returned to the road. I could be wrong but the above is how I understand it to work.

Nick.

[Ben]

No honestly mate it only says this car has been substantially repaired if it has had a VIC check and they only have a VIC check when they are a CAT C, Both mine and my Mrs's cars are D's and neither have anything on the logbook.

As previously stated this is why CAT D vehichles fetch a much higher fee at as salvage as unless you HPi it there is no way off knowing if it has been repaired.

I have dealt in salvage cars for the last 5 years and probably repaired a couple of hundred and NEVER has a CAT D needed a VIC or showed up on the logbook. If you like i will take a picture of my logbook and you can do a HPi to see that it is a CAT D with nothing written on there,

CAT A is crush only with nothing to be removed from the car
CAT B is break only meaning everything can be removed from the car and reused except the original chassis/shell

What is happening with the CAT B's though is the Polish buy them and export them out the country, register them in Poland, Repair them then import them back into the UK as a Import from Poland not an accident repaired. The DVLA/Insurance companies are trying to put a stop but at the moment its a massive loophole.

[Nick J]

No honestly mate it only says this car has been substantially repaired if it has had a VIC check and they only have a VIC check when they are a CAT C, Both mine and my Mrs's cars are D's and neither have anything on the logbook.

As previously stated this is why CAT D vehichles fetch a much higher fee at as salvage as unless you HPi it there is no way off knowing if it has been repaired.

I have dealt in salvage cars for the last 5 years and probably repaired a couple of hundred and NEVER has a CAT D needed a VIC or showed up on the logbook. If you like i will take a picture of my logbook and you can do a HPi to see that it is a CAT D with nothing written on there,

CAT A is crush only with nothing to be removed from the car
CAT B is break only meaning everything can be removed from the car and reused except the original chassis/shell

What is happening with the CAT B's though is the Polish buy them and export them out the country, register them in Poland, Repair them then import them back into the UK as a Import from Poland not an accident repaired. The DVLA/Insurance companies are trying to put a stop but at the moment its a massive loophole.

In that case I apologise fella,You learn something new everyday!....... seems like the poles are on to a winner! :)

[RJM25R]

Funny, I work at a car dealership and take lots of p/x's and I've NEVER seen a log book with cat c/d/anything on it EVER. The only way we find out is to do a HPI

[Ben]

No rick it wont say cat c or d, on a C it will just have this car has been subject to VIC check due to substanitally damaged chassis or words to that effect.

[RJM25R]

No rick it wont say cat c or d, on a C it will just have this car has been subject to VIC check due to substanitally damaged chassis or words to that effect.

I've never seen that either TBH, and I've taken a fair few cat c/d in p/x


VIC check ISN'T mandatory after a c/d, usually only if there has been a gap in taxing the car or it's been of the road for months.

:thumb:

[Ben]

A VIC is mandatory for all CAT C's

The statement is on the front page in the notes section where it states things like non transferable reg, import etc

[Ben]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/AdviceOnBuyingAndSellingAVehicle/DG_4022107


A VIC marker


The Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) scheme has been introduced as a deterrent to ringing. Insurers must notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of ALL cars ‘written off’ within salvage categories A, B or C. This notification will set a ‘VIC marker’ against the DVLA vehicle record. Whilst a VIC marker remains set, DVLA won’t issue a registration certificate V5C, or vehicle licence reminder V11. The VIC marker will only be removed, when the car passes a VIC.

[Ben]

Does registration document indicate if a vehicle has been written off or damaged? Yes. It will be noted as "Accident damaged and/or substantially repaired; identity checked on dd/mm/yy."

http://www.dvtani.gov.uk/vehicletesting/vicfaqs.asp#15

Should clear most of the argued points up, amazing what REAL facts you can find if you look!

[ant_tay]

i ran a scooby for 2 years taxing it without a problem and that was writen off as cat c and supposed to have a VIC check only reason i had the VIC done was to get the log book back and it came back saying this car was substanitally damaged and repaired blah blah blah and will be writen on the front page at the bottom section 3 special notes where it says declared new at first registration

[Ben]

i ran a scooby for 2 years taxing it without a problem and that was writen off as cat c and supposed to have a VIC check only reason i had the VIC done was to get the log book back and it came back saying this car was substanitally damaged and repaired blah blah blah and will be writen on the front page at the bottom section 3 special notes where it says declared new at first registration

How did you tax it without a V5?

[Mike]

If its had a VIC the logbook WILL say:

Special Notes

1. Declared new at first registration
2. Substantially repaired and/or accident damaged: identity checked on xx/xx/xxx

Regardless of wether it was actually stolen with keys or even been in a RTA & written off etc etc.

[Ben]

yeah we established that.