TEll me About...

[ReLeNtLeSS]

Right, my mate is thinking of selling his Seat Ibiza, and im thinking about buying it.

Its a 52 plate Mk4 1.2 litre. It is noted as a Cat-D right-off, as he smashed the front end, but its all repaired and got the certs and that.

Anything i should know about them, and what to look out for?

P.S. For a 1st car :)

[MissChief]

As a first car it's not a bad deal. VW build quality wrapped in a Spanish package. only thing that worries me is the Cat D. Check up on prices for 'normal' prices as if you ever come to sell it (if you don't write it off before that :P) you'll have a hard time shiifting it. Cheap on road tax and fairly frugal too.

[mac124]

I think cat d write offs are basically cosmeticly damaged which the insurer deemed to be "too expensive" to repair using the "official" routes, so people tend to buy them back and repair them using second hand parts or whatever.

More info here.

http://www.autocheck.co.uk/write-off-categories.html#categories

It should be fine to drive etc but as mentioned when / if you decide to sell it you might have a problem as people tend to avoid "write offs" that said if you can get it cheap then why not as you know what the damage was, i assume, so nothing is being hidden from you.

[ScottiB]

if there was no damage to the chassis and the cosmetic damage has been repaired then it'll serve you well. Seat reliability is unquestionable thanks to the VW roots.

I had the 1.4l version and it was a good car

check under the bonnet, look under the wheel arches, check the welds for cracks/damage. Check the spacing between the bonnet and the panels, make sure they are straight and even, if they are not it may be a sign of a twisted chassis.

I crashed my last car and the insurance company had to get an independent safety inspection done on the chassis before authorising the repair. Had it failed they would have written it off.

I will say one thing though, don't pay much for it and plan to run it into the ground as it'll be worth next to nothing in another year or two.

[Skywalker]

Do you have a licence yet ?

[Jamie]

Cat D means it'll be cheap, but also means when you sell it, the price will have to reflect this.