Is it worth it? Cat b td5?

A friend had his td5 110 cat b'd because of an interior fire (the front seats, dash and roof lining were damaged).
I am toying with the idea of a buy back as there are plenty of parts that could be used and potential for q plate rebuild (as I discussed on another thread).
The question is, what should the buy back £ be? He was paid out 7.5k and it hasn't been collected yet.
Is it worth it at any price?
Cheers.

You did not say what year it is or model, a shed on wheels or an estate, mileage or condition apart from the fire damage.
I cant tell you what it will be worth to buy it back damaged but the general rule of thumb is if a CAT D is repaired and put back on the road, once it is repaired and in comparable condition to an undamaged one a CAT D will be valued around 20% lower.
Ask the insurance company what they will take for it and then offer them less than that to save them the hassle of removing it.

Keycare said:

A friend had his td5 110 cat b'd because of an interior fire (the front seats, dash and roof lining were damaged).
I am toying with the idea of a buy back as there are plenty of parts that could be used and potential for q plate rebuild (as I discussed on another thread).
The question is, what should the buy back £ be? He was paid out 7.5k and it hasn't been collected yet.
Is it worth it at any price?
Cheers.

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It totally depends on the condition of the chassis, body panels, bulkhead and engine. If these are in good shape then it might be the right thing to buy back. If it is in good nick calculate all the parts you will have to buy to replace and any other costs involved to get it back on the road. Then find the same configuration of landy for sale elsewhere (not damged) and minus the costs you have calculated. Compare the costs to buy back and the value you have just calculated and make a decision. If you can, negotiate

Insurance companies will usually have a flat fixed fee for buyback, usually cat D buyback is 20-35% of the market value of the vehicle, so as your friend was paid out £7.5k I'd expect for them to ask for £1500 - 2600. If for some strange reason they ask you to put an offer in for it I'd start at 10% and just go from there. Chances are they will have a "non negotiable" price once you ask for the salvage back. Alternatively you can risk letting it go to auction and just buying it from the auction instead, if they will tell you or you can find out which auctioneers they use.

Edit: Misread that.. thought you put category D rather than B, damage must be fairly bad - never tried to buyback a B so no doubt the cost would be less than 5% market value.

As the other comments say, whether it is worth it is entirely down to your mechanical ability, state of the landy and how valuable your time is.

Cat B cannot be put back on the road

Yes it's a cat B - so not back on the road. Damage is just fire and smoke damage to interior, so would need to be stripped out and destroyed, The body (usual rot on doors) is good, chassis, mechanicals are good (120k on the engine) - just passed MOT a few days before the vandals got hold of it. It's a high spec county sw.

Would be great to maybe re-build and get a new ID for it, but I've found the DVLA/VOSA info confusing.

I'm in two minds because I'd like a 90 to convert to a soft-top as I already have an almost identical 110, but it would be such a shame to let this truck go to the crusher. The accessories alone would probably be worth it (I think).

Just ask them i'd say then, surely wont be more than £300-400 if it is a cat B

You could rebuild it and apply for a reg........you'll end up with a Q reg though .........and I cant see a way to do it without fitting a brand new chassis with receipt......or buy it and just try to apply for the V5 with its original vin number etc and see what happens..........you might just be lucky

Moron said:

You could rebuild it and apply for a reg........you'll end up with a Q reg though .........and I cant see a way to do it without fitting a brand new chassis with receipt......or buy it and just try to apply for the V5 with its original vin number etc and see what happens..........you might just be lucky

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Cat B is for parts only, body shell including chassis should be crushed & not to be put back on the road
id can not be applied for.

Just wondering if the op's mate has been offered this vehicle back as they usually go to a registered breaker.

Yes, he has been offered retention, but doesn't have the room or ability to do anything with the vehicle. Hence I'm exploring options.

If it's a no-go then so be it, it would be such a shame to lose such a quality vehicle.

I would be thinking of a new chassis anyway, but the VOSA documentation tends to reflect the fact that most body shells are not mecano sets. As I assume an auto recycle centre could remove the bonnet, doors etc from a standard shell and sell on if not damaged.

So when it says that the body shell must be crushed, with regard to a defender, what does that mean? Bulkhead, B-Pillars, Roof, the bits that attach directly to the chassis?

AFAIK the insurer wants evidence that the interior has been disposed of, they haven't said anything about the body and chassis.

Keycare said:

Yes, he has been offered retention, but doesn't have the room or ability to do anything with the vehicle. Hence I'm exploring options.

If it's a no-go then so be it, it would be such a shame to lose such a quality vehicle.

I would be thinking of a new chassis anyway, but the VOSA documentation tends to reflect the fact that most body shells are not mecano sets. As I assume an auto recycle centre could remove the bonnet, doors etc from a standard shell and sell on if not damaged.

So when it says that the body shell must be crushed, with regard to a defender, what does that mean? Bulkhead, B-Pillars, Roof, the bits that attach directly to the chassis?

AFAIK the insurer wants evidence that the interior has been disposed of, they haven't said anything about the body and chassis.

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Here's a link for some info skip to the cat b section ........................

Are you sure its not a cat D ??


https://www.affvs.com/news/accident-damaged-repairable-cars-a-definitive-guide

Surprised that a Defender like that has been listed as Cat B with that damage as they are easy to repair and parts are not expensive plus the values are high, unlike most old cars which are worth next to nothing.

That's a good guide, thanks. It was bewildering to us both to learn that the ins co slapped a cat B on it for just fire damage. The damage wasn't even that extensive, just drivers side seat, passenger seat charred, 1/3 roof lining gone and some plastic on the drivers side melted. Rear seats untouched, door cards untouched, even the cubby box between the front seats looks fine, all glass intact, just smoke damage. The vandals stole the centre console, ripped the instrument binnacle off but left it in the car and bent the steering column stalks. No further damage.

I had a 2.0T Vectra C cat B by my insurance company. They paid out £2.7K for it. Everything that could be upgraded to Irmscher, was, it had around £1K in upgrades. I asked to by it back, they said it’s a fixed price, non negotiable, £1.5K! I laughed at them and asked how that can be right? They said “company policy”. I don’t use that company anymore.

Personally I wouldn’t bother with it. How much smoke damage is there? What can be used “legally” from a cat B?