Well thats not true, if your buying the car as a keeper and want a bit of fun then it should not be an issue, as long as all the repaires are done "professionally".

Why is welding on say a rear 1/4 skin any different to welding on the skin when it was made.

The only time it it is "no good" is if your after a mint car with clean history and want to buy the car as an investment.

You buy the car for less due to its history and simply sell it for "less" than hpi clear cars. It becomes all relative.

As said there is nothing wrong with the car, its just got an unfortuinate history. ideal if your after a cheap motor, but not ideal for me because i plan a full restoration to high standards! and it then becomes financially uneconomical!

Sadly the car i was looking at the chap still wanted good money, simply because the sum of the parts on the car. Ideally for him the car should be broken. If he was willing to lower the price buy about 30% from what he advertised before all this hpi stuff came up then i may well be tempted to buy it.