Hi all, any advice please? I’m looking at a couple of cat n nds. One in particular is lovely, good condition, excellent repairs. 2018, low mileage. Cat cars really seem to vary in price though, lowest I’ve seen was £7500 but cat s. Seemed super cheap.
How can I find out what cars are worth? And do they depreciate much over a year or two?
Thanks so much
Hey,
These are unusual times for used car prices, they seem sky high, especially for MX-5’s.
I don’t know if there’s any way to accurately value a cat car, as they are all individual cases.
But I would expect a 15 to 20% discount from an equivalent non cat car, at any stage of the car’s life.
In the end, it is down to how much a new buyer is willing to pay for the potential risk element. My car was a Cat C, and the discount on it was higher than 20%, so I took the plunge.
I’ve asked a friend in the used car business this question before, and he says that a newish, (less than 4 or 5 years old) mainstream car with a cat s marker the forecourt price should be c30% less than cap retail for the same car, however in this mental market they’re often selling at not much below usual retail prices. Often dealers try it on at a high price expecting to reduce it - the problem is they’re now selling at the high price.
Buyer beware eh.
Personally unless I had detailed evidence of the previous damage and subsequent repair I wouldn’t go near one.
Thanks so much guys. And how do I find out what the value is normally then, without the Cat reduction? Is there an online valuation site or is it comparing other like for like?
Appreciate your help!
PS, why is the market so mental ATM?
Cant really help with the valuation, could use something like WBAC and previously sold ebay listings to get an idea. Posting some details here might get some people to chip in with ball parkn figures.
Covid (and probably brexit) has caused logistic issues and more importantly a silicon/processor shortage. Without the processors manufacturers can’t make new cars, due to the shortage of new stock used cars are in higher demand. There’s probably a bit more to it than that but that’s a major driving factor.
Look for similar age and spec cars on Autotrader as a starting point.
If you do a quick Yahoo search for “free online used car valuation”, you should get a few sites. Autotrader is otherwise quite good indeed, as they sometimes show on their listings whether the price is low, fair, or high. I have however noticed some strange discrepancies between similar cars.
Your always gonna have a problem selling it on later down the line.
Also I’m not confident after a car has been crashed once how good is it if crashed again.
Not sure I’d want my kids in a cat car but each to their own.
Thanks for your help guys, treated myself, pleased. Now…can I actually afford to run it? 
Well done, we need pictures now 
Drives like.a.dream
Looks great!!
Whichever engine you got it shouldn’t use too much fuel at least.
Yes, hope so. There’s mpg info on screen isn’t there, that’ll be handy. The guy who had it before was getting something like 40 to the gallon which sounds very good, much better than my mk1, but he barely drove it so not sure much of a guide it is.
There are so many gadgets! I’ve never had a car with an airbag lol. And the traffic sensors are really handy, but I reckon you need a degree in NDs before you know the car really well.
What do you guys drive, and what’s your favourite gadget on it?
It’s the 2.0 Christophe. I would’ve been happy with the 1.5 though.
If considering a written off car, I strongly recommend VCHECK https://www.vcheck.uk/, it was set up against a lot of resistance from the trade by one of the guys on another forum I am on. It has been trawling salvage auctions for years pulling in salvage information including photos so you can see the pre repair condition of any car that went through a salvage auction. The service also covers the usual insurance, finance checks etc.
I have nothing to gain from plugging this, just that I have used it myself and am the very happy owner of a cat n mk3 that is as good as a ‘straight’ car, just cheaper, and I know the damage was very minor, was an easy repair, and I have the pictures to show any potential buyer should I sell sometime in the future.
Personally I would use the salvage pictures to choose what price I would pay, rather than a flat 10% (or whatever) below book price valuation for an unrecorded car.
Hey, I did already, seen detailed photos, so knew exactly what the damage was, very very important to know… Thanks a lot, useful.
