I have just been looking at a Roadster imported in 2007. There is a Note in the Log Book as follows:-
“Substantially repaired and/or accident damaged, identity checked on 2/3/10”
Second question - How do I check that a car being sold from the side of the road is not stolen or under a finance agreement? The last registered keeper in the Log Book is not the person now selling it (a mobile mechanic that “does a bit of buying and selling on the side”) and has only owned the car for a few weeks.
Third question - Should I proceed with extreme caution? !!!
I would proceed with as much caution as a guy wearing a Ranger’s shirt walking through downtown Glasgow on a Saturday night!!! Go away there are better bets!
Whilst I am inclined to run away as fast as a Rangers fan in downtown Glasgow on a Saturday night, this car just happens to be a 2000 RS Ltd Edition, with Mazdaspeed bodykit and wheels, and is for sale at £1895. Confusingly, it has a VVT engine which wasn’t released (as far as I am aware) until 2002 and with a Mk2.5 interior. It’s a real bitza but drives nicely (100mph @ 6500 rpm in 4th gear, with two more gears to go ) without obvious adverse damage affect.
the car has been in an accident and will be classed as a cat “c” or “d”, a cat “c” has sustained a fair amount of damage and a cat “d” has sustained a lesser amount of damage, the cat “C” has to be taken to a local D.V.L.A centre to have it’s identity checked before a log book is issued. This would have been done already to gain a log book, a cat “d” does not need a vic check( vehicle identity check).
A must would be to make sure you have a HPI check or similar, anything from £5.00 to £30.00, this will check for accident damage through an insurance company and also whether the vehicle has been stolen or subject to any outstanding finance.
It is normal for a car being offered for sale by a trader not to have it in their name, nothing wrong in that, perfectly normal and above board. It saves having another owner on the log book.
You must check out the vehicle history, it’s very important.
You have to make sure that at the end of the day (after all the checks) that you are happy with the car, use an expert to look at it and ask questions. Damaged cars are not the end of the world, many cars have been subject to bad accident damage and never go as far as the insurance company to assess and repair, these are the one’s to avoid ! Most of the leading insurance companies use reputable companies for repairs and in most cases are done to exacting standards using original parts.
You should expect to pay a fair bit less for an accident repaired vehicle around 15-20% less.
It’s a Cat C as D don’t need inspecting, having said that I had a Cat C Roadster and saw the pics before, after. It needed a bonnet, headlight and bumper, but was written off cat C. Same damage at 5 years old would have attracted no attention or stigma, so why the big deal??
but drives nicely (100mph @ 6500 rpm in 4th gear, with two more gears to go 
) without obvious adverse damage affect.