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My girlfriend's car, well I say car, it's a Mitsubishi L200 so truck is closer, got side swiped by a big contractors lorry at work recently.
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4233/35027035992_7bcc6881ff_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4233/35027035992_7bcc6881ff_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/VndHtE ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/79912681@N06/ ]Kayak23[/url], on Flickr
She's pretty upset about it as she loves her truck.
Anyway, the drivers insurance are sorting it, she's had a courtesy car two weeks but they've finally made a decision and written it off.
They've said they'll give her £3.5k if she scraps it, which is about the market value I think, or, she can have it back along with £3k.
To me, it seems worth having back and selling it on as a damaged but running vehicle?
The other option is she continues to drive it, we repair the rear light cluster.
We have to get it inspected in order to drive it again right? Is this all quite straightforward? Anyone bought back their write-off?
What category write off is it? Cat D just means uneconomical to repair and no further tests needed.
Cat C needs repairing then testing.
Anything above that take the money.
Bearing in mind it being a even a cat d will have a significant impact of the resale value I'd take the cash...
Have it back, DIY the repairs, keep the truck and the 3K.
I had a car written off and kept it twice, this was over 20 years ago so the rules may have changed but I didn't get any special inspection done.
[edit]
Reading the post above I suspect mine was a cat D write off, as I said so long ago that I don't remember much about it other than having a free car
They have a proper chassis don't they? I bet you could get a new load bed from a scrapper and change it over with plenty of your 3k left. If that's the limit of the damage and she still likes it, I'd definitely be keeping it. Personally I'd get a local bodyshop, (i.e. not insurance loaded prices) to make it as nice as they can and just run it.
muppetWrangler - Member
Have it back, DIY the repairs, keep the truck and the 3K.
and look at getting a reasonable repair done locally.
Surely thats a win,win
It's a truck. That's just character. Buy it. Drive it. And if gets more character don't worry about it.
Even if it's a cat C it's only an identity check that is required to ensure it's the right vehicle. It can be the worst repair job ever and pass.
£3000 in pocket and continue driving truck with a dent on it. Why is she even thinking about it?
It's a truck. Cover up any bare metal with black hammerite. Repair light. Enjoy bigger bank balance.
I wish someone would dent my van and give me £3k!
^ 😀
People above kinda have it right, but if the vehicle is a Cat C there is no longer a VIC check to get the vehicle back on the road, it just had to go through next MOT. VIC check was abolished 2015.
http://www.trents.co.uk/VIC-scheme-abolished
As salvage value was only £500 i'd definitely look to retain the vehicle
Is there more damage than the obvious dents in that photo?
As above - it now has added character, no way would I be thinking about getting rid of it in her situation!
A rear light cluster will be about £20 off ebay. Keep the remaining £2980 and carry on driving.
If that's all the damage then keep it and the £3k, run it till it dies and scrap it.
It'll not be worth much with being a write-off in it's history but it's worth more to you as a vehicle so keep the £3k as a starter for the fund for the next one.
Somebody pulled out on a roundabout in front of my son on Christmas eve. He was paid out less £100 for the cost of his mini which I repaired 🙂
He has been driving it since. He is not bothered about the damaged bonnet but I got an engineers report and an MOT to be sure but it was all cosmetic damage.
I would love to get an offer like that, if she likes the truck then it's hard to see any reason not to really, unless there's hidden damage- but that doesn't seem that likely. Sure, being a writeoff knocks the resale value but when the numbers are this clear...
how old & what is/ was the exit strategy? drive for 3,5, 10 years? until death?