Written Off Bikes!!!! are you scared?

Hi
This is a subject that very few people ever want to talk about,
HAving a bike written off!
for those that have bought a cat d or c bike, you know that you can usually get a bargin if you are planning on keeping it for a long time and
have the knowledge to repair it!
For thoses that have had one written off, you know that if its registered d or c you can purchase it back from the insurance very cheap indeed!
..... but would YOU buy a cat c or d bike (cat B & A arnt allowed back on the road btw)

I am only asing this as i, (young and nieve) purchased my sv650s froma reptuble company in december 2002, fully repaired and sprayed glouriously in telephonica, i knew it had been in an accident but was un aware it had been tottaled!
Any way, to cut a long post short,
Previously when ppl have called regarding me selling it, as soon as i mention its been a cat c they run! all of them!

Now it maybee me, but how many ppl on here have dropped a bike badly enpough to probably warant it being tottaled if it goes through the insurance, quite a few,
now how many have been repaired off the insurance? the same amnt im geussing!
Now IMHO surley its better to (if you can afford it) not buy a damaged bike, but how do ou know its not been down the road before! you cant!
So y is it, as soon as your honest ppl run of, scared that it might kill them, have a relapse and suddenly throw them down the road.
Whats more when you come to sell it, its not worth any thing!

So the point of this is really, would you buy a cat c or d bike repaired if it was a good bike in good nick and the seller had been honest??

cheers for your thoughts
Alex

[Viney]

Remid me, A catD is cosmetic only? Whats a CatC?

Eiteher way, it wouldnt bother me, as long as it was upfront, and the price reflected it. The words write off do scare a lot of people, but then so does high milage! Strange us Humans.

[timwilky]

to have any vehicle written off, simply means it is beyond economical repair.

There is no such classification as "dangerous to repair" etc. Where I and people run is when something is not repaired back to the original pre accidental condition such as twists to frames etc which may not be immediately obvious and unless you test rode at the limit you are highly likely to miss.

Having since my early teens rebuilt many write offs (> 50) I have no problem with riding/driving them, BUT only if I have done the work.

I have no problem with financial write offs. I would prefere to do the work myself though. (purely down to cost reasons).

Originally Posted by timwilky

to have any vehicle written off, simply means it is beyond economical repair.

There is no such classification as "dangerous to repair" etc.

Actually I thought that is what CAT A (Must be scrapped) and Cat B (Must be broken by a commercial vehicle breaker were all about.

I am happy with CAT C/D but like many would prefer to have done the work myself. Since we all want to rebuild them you should expect thqat the market value for a write off is significantly less than for a non history bike even if it has a fancy paint job.

The write off "discount" I would expect (for a repaired write off) is basically around a third of the non write off price so a bike worth 3k would only be worth about 2k if it has a history. This gives a depreciation curve eg

6K/4K 5K/3.3K 4K/2.6K 3K/2 1K/600

As can be seen if you buy a CAT C/D at the right price your depreciation will in fact be slightly less than the depreciation on a non history bike but if you paid over the odds then a problem for you.

On the other hand if you buy a writeoff at the time of release from the insurance company then a profit can be made (but not much) eg.

Friend on the VFR Club site had his bike "run over" by a neighbour. Trade value 4500 (VReg Yellow) Damage Parts (Honda New £2400) Labour 1000. this basically equates to a write off and he has a buy back price of £1000 for the damaged bike. Given selective shopping and respraying used panels the repairs can be effected for about 500 for the parts and 600 for a respray no labour if done by self so bike would be on the road for 2.1K but could sell for 2.6K+ given the model above

All figures are generalisations by the way

[timwilky]

The category indicator on the vcar register is an indicator of what should happen to the bike/car etc. i.e the extent of the damage and therefore the likely end of the vehicle.

CAT A or crush material is for instance fire damage where there is no salvagable parts.

CAT B would be breakable, therefore parts are likely to appear on other vehicles

CAT C is heavily damaged

CAT D is some damage but the insurer has decided not to repair

None of the above indicate it is dangerous to repair. for instance I have restored a number of vehicles that would be classed as CAT B. having used new structural components and donated parts from the original plus second hand components etc.

When assessing should a vehicle be written off, you have to start with the pre accidenttal value, should the labour, part/materials exceed this then it is a straight write off. Bring the salvage vaue into the equation and it can be a constructional write off. You then have write offs under the terms of any special conditions on specific policies such as costs excess 50% of cars value on a vehicle under 1 year old etc.

The writing off of a vehicle is pure econonmics. safety is not an issue. the category is just used to ring an alarm bell should that vehicle reappear. CAT A should never appear. CAT B could appear under exceptional circumstances, CAT C/D could appear using second hand parts etc

My bike has a history along these lines (not sure if it's C or D to be honest) but I bought it from a salvage dealer that specialises in repairing and selling such bikes. Their workshop was equiped with all sorts of fancy laser alignment jigs and the like, so I felt fairly safe buying it from them.

You'd simply never know it had been in an accident to ride, and you'd have to look closely to spot anything cosmetic. The tank has a dent in the side, but it's not even the original tank anyway. There are a few hairline cracks in the fairing near the indicator stalks, and that's it.

I've now put 6500 totally trouble free miles on it, and it's gone through two professional services with no gremlins cropping up, so I'm perfectly happy with it. I'm not planning on selling it any time soon so I'm not that worried about losing some re-sale value (especially vs what I saved when buying it).