Cat D writeoff's

[***Steve***]

I was wondering what I should look out for and what kind of questions I should ask a seller who's selling a cat D bike. I took a look at the the Vehicle Status Report and it's listed as... "Recorded by insurers as the subject of a total loss claim due to damage"

The damage seems mostly cosmetic to the panels and engine casing. If it's listed as cat D does that mean there is no structural damage and if so why would an insurance company write off a nearly new bike because of a few scuff marks?

[Saint Matt]

On a cat D there should be no frame or subframe damage, always worth checking though mate.

[***Steve***]

Are panels really expensive or something? It seems weird that an IC would write off an almost new bike rather than chuck on a couple of bits of body kit.

[Carsick]

Are panels really expensive or something?
Quite often.
Engine casings are pretty expensive, I think.

[Ward8124]

It's not my old SV red k5 by any chance? :D :?:

[***Steve***]

It's not my old SV red k5 by any chance? :D :?:

:D Not unless they resprayed it blue.

[kwak zzr]

my kwak zzr was a cat d purely cosmetic the plastics and a few other bits (bar end, gear lever, exhaust can, foot peg) was enuf to make it not economical to fix acc to the insurance company, it was a great bike but sadly worth aprox 50% less than book. still a great bike tho.

[Sudoxe]

Are panels really expensive or something? It seems weird that an IC would write off an almost new bike rather than chuck on a couple of bits of body kit.

They are not too bad, but in some cases the cost of the replacement + the cost of the other persons hire bike for another 2 weeks while the bike is being fixed etc adds up and its cheaper just to write it off.

You should get a **very** generious discount for a cat d write off since the owner has been paid out by the insurance company and he baught the machine back for "salvage" ;) (Cat D & C can go back on the road easily though, cat c needs a DLVA inspection of some sort CAT D does not)


Dan

[kwak zzr]

if you mention to your insurance that its a category they might want a independent engineers report on the bike, just dont mention it to them.

[***Steve***]

Well here's the bikein question. Any thoughts on the damage and price?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2005-SUZUKI-SV650-SV-650-SK5-BLUE_W0QQitemZ4629515457QQcategoryZ9808QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

[Peter Henry]

You aren't under the impression that if you buy that bike,fit the required bits that you will be then at some point be able to sell it at a gain are you? Does it work that way? Will it not now always be worth less than a "straight one"? :?

[Sudoxe]

Well here's the bikein question. Any thoughts on the damage and price?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2005-SUZUKI-SV650-SV-650-SK5-BLUE_W0QQitemZ4629515457QQcategoryZ9808QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

can't comment on the price, seems a little high to me, but i may be wrong.

Damage wise this is how it will add up


Insurers: Standard can - £500quid for a new system
Normal bike person: £90 - 300quid on an aftermarket can.

Engine caseing - thats a generator cover you'll be needing. Not too sure on the price. You might want to live what that though?

Rear plastics - either replace/respray or keep as is.
Front fairing - cant see any damage on it, but they useall get caught ont he outside when they go down the road.

So, it depends what your wanting to do with the bike I guess. But I would say its over priced since a new one is only 4k

Hope that helps
Dan

[***Steve***]

No. More like buy it, ride it, drop it, ride it somemore, fall off again then sell it for a stinking great loss :D

[***Steve***]

Well here's the bikein question. Any thoughts on the damage and price?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2005-SUZUKI-SV650-SV-650-SK5-BLUE_W0QQitemZ4629515457QQcategoryZ9808QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

can't comment on the price, seems a little high to me, but i may be wrong.

Damage wise this is how it will add up


Insurers: Standard can - £500quid for a new system
Normal bike person: £90 - 300quid on an aftermarket can.

Engine caseing - thats a generator cover you'll be needing. Not too sure on the price. You might want to live what that though?

Rear plastics - either replace/respray or keep as is.
Front fairing - cant see any damage on it, but they useall get caught ont he outside when they go down the road.

So, it depends what your wanting to do with the bike I guess. But I would say its over priced since a new one is only 4k

Hope that helps
Dan

Cheers, all I really want is a first bike to have fun on and commute. I'd prob leave it as is (apart from a new can which I would have brought anyway) as I'm bound to drop it at least once in my first couple of months anyway so i'm not worried about the odd scratch.

[Peter Henry]

Steve...Just whip all of the plastics off it then and street fighter it go naked that chap! Rear platics hould be a reasoably easy fix.Less outlay on parts that way, also less flimsy bits to get hurt if you do have the odd knock. :wink:

[The Basket]

The bike looks pretty acceptable but £2,800 is plenty dough.

shop around and u can get a a bit better for that money. I would pass this one.

[Ward8124]

It's not my old SV red k5 by any chance? :D :?:

:D Not unless they resprayed it blue.

Insurers are sneaky buggers so i wudnt put it past them matey lol! :lol:

[instigator]

Walk away - £2800, not worth it at all, you're going to STRUGGLE to sell it unless its under £1500 afterwards. Write off's don't sell well but once you get to a certain point, they don't really depreciate as quickly.

Really - £2800, good god no.

[instigator]

The more I look on it, it'd maybe be worth buying at £2500 IF he/she had made the repairs already. Since the damage is already there, it makes it an even worse buy. Steer well clear, this seller is taking you for a ride!!

[***Steve***]

Steer well clear, this seller is taking you for a ride!!

Sweet, a pillion test ride :D

Yeah I've taken a look at what other K5's have gone for and reassesed the value of this one.

[GSXR Carlos]

looks too good to be true, if its just cosmetic damage it'd be worth buying

but not for £2,800 get them to drop the price, but i think the seller's telling porkies !

[Ceri JC]

Well here's the bikein question. Any thoughts on the damage and price?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2005-SUZUKI-SV650-SV-650-SK5-BLUE_W0QQitemZ4629515457QQcategoryZ9808QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

can't comment on the price, seems a little high to me, but i may be wrong.

Damage wise this is how it will add up


Insurers: Standard can - £500quid for a new system
Normal bike person: £90 - 300quid on an aftermarket can.

Engine caseing - thats a generator cover you'll be needing. Not too sure on the price. You might want to live what that though?

Rear plastics - either replace/respray or keep as is.
Front fairing - cant see any damage on it, but they useall get caught ont he outside when they go down the road.

So, it depends what your wanting to do with the bike I guess. But I would say its over priced since a new one is only 4k

Hope that helps
Dan

Agreed. Things are often written off because the insurers will quote on a repair in a garage that includes OE parts, labour and getting the bike almost exactly as it was before. If you DIY it, you can obviously avoid the labour costs, use 3rd party components for repairs (which aside from being cheaper, are often "upgrades"; full system akraprovic costs less than OE full system exhaust). You can also choose to pocket the cash and "make do" with slight scuffs that you will file/touch up/t-cut out as best as you can. I know the DIY repair bill for my bike after an off was in the region of £250, rather than the £1600 the garage quoted.

That one at £2800 is overpriced. You could get a K4 with 10K on the clock in mint condition with a FSH for that much and it'd be easier to sell on.

[haggis]

You've got to be careful with cat c/d stuff.

A guy I know bought (for about £4k) a Honda Deauville privately as his first bike. He hated it and decided to sell within 6 months. Nobody would take it as a trade in, and i mean NOBODY, because it was a Cat D, which he hadn't checked out. :roll:

In the end a dealer took it on the grounds he traded it for another Cat D, this time a Pan Euro. He got £1k trade-in price, a loss of £3K!!

He's quite happy with the PanEuro and intends to keep it longterm, so doesn't care about the forthcoming resale hassle.


From what the guys on here are saying, this one's well overpriced too.

[TSM]

If i was to sell mine, i would feel bad saying that is not a CAT D or C write off. Well its not but what its been through it realy should be put down.

[kwak zzr]

when you buy a bike privately the seller does not have to tell the buyer its a catorgory, but when buying form a shop the shop have to inform you(its the law)
this happend to me with my kwak, i purchased it from a friend who had owned it for some years again without checking it out (HPI) :roll: when it came to part exchange time the shop offer'd me 2.3k for it until they found out about its history then all they would give me was 1k :roll: !! i sold the bike privately to a guy in shrewsbury and informed him of its history, i couldnt NOT tell the buyer it wouldnt be right but the law states you dont have to inform them.

http://upload4.postimage.org/166439/DSCF0010Copy_3_.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/166439/photo_hosting.html)
it still was a great bike and the new owner got it at a great price.