Originally Posted by vaughant

Not quite true I'm afraid,it all depends on a huge number of factors and a lot of it's down to the insurance companies and even who you know in them.I've seen cars that look like they've fallen out of an aeroplane on a cat d and the same car with a scratched door could be cat c,it's all down to the individuals involved.Cat c as correctly stated requires a vic check or vehicle identity check and it is just that,it has absolutley nothing to do with repairs at all,I'm in the body trade and we vic check cars all the time,fucking joke takes ten minutes and you give the government £40 effectively!!to answer your original question your buying a car,regardless of whether it's been involved in a crash or not it's the CAR that your buying,I've had this argument a million times before.what if it's been keyed all over by a jealous ex and had all the glass smashed?could well be a write off cat d or c but are you really getting a shit car when it's probably then had a full repaint and all new glass?if it's been done nice it's not a problem....and therein the problem lies,it's only as good as the guy who repaired it.a car can be totally mangled,chassis kinked etc but if it's repaired correctly then you'll never have a problem with it,but if some muppets repaired it badly then you're in shit street.personally I'd want to know the reason why it was cat d,as i said it could be keyed or paintstrippered and repaired nice but it could have had a major front end and been on the brink of being scrapped but someone asked for it to be saved.when u buy a damaged unless your in the trade or it's stupidly cheap it's hard to make money on,all the little things start to add up so a lot of people cut corners,I see it everyday.a lot of people think that bodyworks a piece of piss and if it's bolting on an identical coloured wing,door etc your right but to get it dimensionally correct,shut lines perfect,rustproofed etc takes a lot of work and it's surprising on cars how much things like plastic underguards,bumper covers,sound deadning pads etc can hide stuff.a guy who used to work for me did a hobble for one of the boys before he started with me. He redrilled an entire wing to get it to fit as none of the holes lined up,he then filled the bonnet to match up with the gaps,it didn't look too bad tbh but the car kept tracking to one side and just generally driving shit.he took it too his mate who jigs cars to find it was 2" back!!!it cost him a bloody fortune to put right so as said in the above post,beware!!