Been offered a very nice (on the face of it) 2013 HSE, CAT N
Thoughts?

Although a category N write-off will mean that the car is structurally safe, there could be non-structural faults with safety-related parts that mean that the car is unsafe to drive. Examples include damage to brakes or steering components.

I think you need a full engineering inspection, as cars these days are very complicated, and safety systems may have been triggered so may not work when needed. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Stolen, recovered. Apparently needed a new door & a new ECU & a polish

At least you know from CAT N that it's had no structural frame or chassis damage. Maybe you could ask for photos to confirm the extent of damage to the bodywork.

I guess it comes down to price. Residual value will be reduced, to sell will be more difficult and I believe insurance will be more expensive. driving on the right side

Just be prepared for a big hit on it when you sell it ££££££££ unless you are going to drive it into the ground then it could be a good buy 👍

My thoughts too
I took the prices of 4 cars currently for sale, same spec, same age, with no history of damage & worked out the average
Suggested that a fair price would be 60 to 80% of that price.

Hi,

it depends when it was damaged and the value of the car at that time and the cost of repairs

if its recent then a value of £8k still takes some repairs to add up to istr about70% to write it off and a salvage value of 25-30% so about £2k and then what repairs are needed
full dealer repair may have needed a half side respray but a repair later just had a matching door?

it will always be worth 30% less but if your buying at a good price the older it gets the less money 30% is

 .
my first ever FL2 and I did keep it longer than most other cars!
But its now gone way up Norf

I'll buy a can N if it's 30% of the current local price of a perfect condition equivalent vehicle.
Much more than 30% of the value, and it begins to make no sense, unless of course you're going to use it until you scrap it.

If you can get it for 30% of its current market value, then repair it and flip it, which is what I've done in the past. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Gone.
2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE. Gone.
Audi A5 convertible, my daily driver.
1972 Hillman Avenger GT, the project.

One of my sons recently accompanied a widowed relative to a dealer to negotiate a replacement for her car which her late husband had given her a few years back. He had been in the motor trade. The dealer looked at it for a Part Exch value and after some discussions in the back office asked if they could have a look at it in the workshop. It turns out that it had been a write off (I don't know the category) and they wouldn't touch it. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Its getting more & more likely that the best option is to keep looking!

Have a look at my post
https://www.freel2.com/forum/post413773.html#413773

You soon may need to prove that all systems have been checked by Manufactures Agent before getting insurance following a repair. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Vehicles are written off when the insurance deem them not economically viable to repair. This does not always mean the vehicle isn't an easy, cheap repair. There are other factors that also come in to play. For instance, if you live in London, the cost of the repair may be far greater than elsewhere in the country,add to that the recovery and storage costs which will then spiral ever upwards.

How many cars are running around that have been repaired by the insurance company, when, if they had been damaged elsewhere in the country would have not been repaired and would be written off ?
The damage to my Freelander 1 Td4 was purely cosmetic. Bolt off, bolt on. A wing, bumper and headlight - items I had anyway and luckily in the correct colour. An hour later and there was no indication it had ever been damaged. Cost me £2250 when the bottom book price was £7500. Sold it 10 years later for £3000 !
The difference was I wanted a facelifted Freelander 1 to turn in to a rally car. I could have paid at least £5000 for an ok base vehicle, then another £4000 for the safety equipment and fitting. But at sale time I would still have only gotten around the £3000 mark. So in 10 years I lost £3250 instead of £6000 had I bought a none written off car. Or £8500 had I bought my written off vehicle at book price !

Ask yourself how long you'll be keeping the vehicle. Then , how much you'll pay for it, and how much you would expect to sell it for in 5 years time.
Once it hits a certain age, it's resale price will bottom out anyway.
So , for arguments sake, let's just say a none recorded equivalent F2 is £10,000.
You get it for £7000, fully repaired.
You keep it 5 years .
The none recorded is now worth, say, £5000.
Yours would still sell for around £4000.
It's cost you £3000 over 5 years, or £5000 over 5 years for the none recorded.
You've had the same driving experience, nobody will be any the wiser it's been written off unless you tell them (obviously you would when it comes to reselling). So you're quids in !
BUT , it's all down to the standard of repair. I was lucky. But you really need to get an inspection done before you buy.

All my cars for the last 20 years have been category N and even S. I buy them direct from insurance salvage and have had some fantastic cars for a fraction of the retail cost . If you are quite handy and enjoy a challenge it’s really satisfying bringing a car back to life and saving a lot of money in the process , don’t get me wrong you do take a risk as sometimes there is unseen damage and faults but I’ve always took the approach that if I bought an absolute lemon I could always break it for parts to recoup the money .
I personally wouldn’t buy a car that someone else had repaired I only buy them in the untouched damaged condition then I know what I’m getting as there are lot of bad cars that might look great but you don’t know it’s damage history so best to buy damaged and repair yourself . My current two FL both cat N .

anglaslt wrote:

At least you know from CAT N that it's had no structural frame or chassis damage. Maybe you could ask for photos to confirm the extent of damage to the bodywork.

I guess it comes down to price. Residual value will be reduced, to sell will be more difficult and I believe insurance will be more expensive.

Looking very good
I was hoping they would call my Defender a CAT N, unlikely though