Cat C, doesnt appear on V5, never had a VIC check?

[misterjake]

*Update*

HPI checked. Car comes up as Cat C in 2002. No record of a VIC check.

Called DVLA. Gave them the reg and chassis number, which line up with their historical data.

DVLA have NO record of it being declared Cat C.

They would never have issued a log book for a Cat C car with a pending/missing VIC.

Its had several owners since 2002 so I would of thought this may have come up. In 2002 this was probably still a £10k car and would no doubt have gone through the correct insurance channels.




Had my S14 up for swaps, pretty much agreed a swap with a buyer, he then sends me a pic of a HPI check showing Cat C status.
Obviously, he's pissed, im surprised, and very pissed.



Engine number and VIN match on the HPI and the log book - my car has a donor engine however, and i've yet to check the actual numbers on the chassis. (this has all happened in the last hour or so).

Cat C Insurance write off in April 2002 comes up on HPI check.

No VIC ever performed, according to the HPI check.

No mention of Cat C on log book, car has had 12 owners (including me) and I would of thought not having a VIC would of been a problem getting it back on the road, and getting a log book.

Never had an issue MOTing or insuring it either.



Can anyone shed any light on what the hell has gone on? The car looks to have had a wing at some point, but ive had the front down to the chassis rails and theres no major bending or damage, certainly nothing to suggest the kind of damage that would of caused a 7 year old car to be written off as Cat C.

Obviously this has royally ****ed my chances of selling the car for anywhere near its worth, so I will most likely end up breaking it for bits, which is a shame as the shell isnt twisted or anything and will easily live on. For a UK car, theres actually a surprising lack of rust!

[auz200sx]

Had my S14 up for swaps, pretty much agreed a swap with a buyer, he then sends me a pic of a HPI check showing Cat C status.
Obviously, he's pissed, im surprised, and very pissed.



Engine number and VIN match on the HPI and the log book - my car has a donor engine however, and i've yet to check the actual numbers on the chassis. (this has all happened in the last hour or so).

Cat C Insurance write off in April 2002 comes up on HPI check.

No VIC ever performed, according to the HPI check.

No mention of Cat C on log book, car has had 12 owners (including me) and I would of thought not having a VIC would of been a problem getting it back on the road, and getting a log book.

Never had an issue MOTing or insuring it either.



Can anyone shed any light on what the hell has gone on? The car looks to have had a wing at some point, but ive had the front down to the chassis rails and theres no major bending or damage, certainly nothing to suggest the kind of damage that would of caused a 7 year old car to be written off as Cat C.

Obviously this has royally ****ed my chances of selling the car for anywhere near its worth, so I will most likely end up breaking it for bits, which is a shame as the shell isnt twisted or anything and will easily live on. For a UK car, theres actually a surprising lack of rust!

Is it a cat C against the engine serial number? Had a similar thing on a supra once. Original owner didn't advise VOSA DVLA or something. So long ago I can't remember and this was like 15 years ago

[Mike41288]

Not suggesting this is a scam but I've heard of people trying to get cars cheap by showing fake HPI reports claiming the car is a Cat C.
If it was me, I'd get my own HPI check done first to confirm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[green_rs13]

^^this^^

DVLA wont issue a new logbook on a cat-C recorded car without first having a vic check.

just do a £3 text message HPI check for yourself. im confident you will get a clear result back.

(if it was your car at the time when it got written off you can still continue to use it as normal with the marker in place and without having a vic check, but then you sell the car, send the log book off in the post, and the new keeper would get a letter from the dvla stating that the car would require a vic check before a logbook is issued.)

[R3K1355]

Just a note, but there isn't any VIC check anymore.

but they only changed the rules a few months ago.

[autosri]

What's the chances that he said it was cat c but still offered to buy it but much chesper

[R3K1355]

HPI check is the way forward as well, and a proper one from https://hpicheck.com/

I've had cars that at some point had a private plate, a different car using the same plate had been written off and the plate transferred to my car, but as that plate had been on my car it showed a warning on a (cheap) HPI check.
Buying the full report showed the car that was written off was different to my car so no worries.

[misterjake]

In fairness to the potential buyer who spotted it, he sent me the HPI report and backed out of the sale, so I doubt hes trying to muck me around as we planned on straight swapping cars.

Updated post with new info:



HPI checked today. Car comes up as Cat C in 2002. No record of a VIC check.

Called DVLA. Gave them the reg and chassis number, which line up with their historical data (original matching from new).

DVLA have NO record of it being declared Cat C.

They would never have issued a log book for a Cat C car with a pending/missing VIC.

Its had several owners since 2002 so I would of thought this may have come up sooner. In 2002 this was probably still a £10k car and would no doubt have gone through the correct insurance channels.

[R3K1355]

It's definitely not something from a previous plate or engine number then?

[misterjake]

As far as the DVLA have told me, thats the plate it was registered with. As for engine number, the one on the log book and HPI match, and I assume are the original engine, so the new donor engine shouldnt affect it.

[Actual_Ben_Taylor]

As far as the DVLA have told me, thats the plate it was registered with. As for engine number, the one on the log book and HPI match, and I assume are the original engine, so the new donor engine shouldnt affect it.

It's already been mentioned, but if the car was on a private plate then this plate could have ended up on a car that was written off and the details are still tagged to your vehicle.

Just pay for your own full HPI chack and you'll be able to see where then Cat C is listed.

[misterjake]

It's already been mentioned, but if the car was on a private plate then this plate could have ended up on a car that was written off and the details are still tagged to your vehicle.

Just pay for your own full HPI chack and you'll be able to see where then Cat C is listed.

I have done. Paid for full HPI check, waste of time - told me just what the cheap £1.99 one did.

License plate recorded by insurers as a 'total loss' write off.
License plate not recorded as a repaired insurance 'total loss'.

Recorded against: Licence plate
Description: NISSAN 200
Date: 17/04/2002
Category C - Vehicle extensively damaged but repairable - the insurer decided not to repair


Maybe it had a private plate, the original went to another 200sx, which subsequently crashed and got scrapped? Then, seller takes private plate off, and hey presto original numberplate?

Bit of a long shot that haha, I doubt it

[R3K1355]

HPI check should say if it's had any different plates though, I don't think you can remove a plate and leave a car without a plate??

[misterjake]

No number plate changes recorded :/

[R3K1355]

Looks like it is what it is

S14's are doing well in value though, even a Cat-C can still command a decent price.
Should only need to knock off 10% or so really.

[gooly]

Tbh unless it was a mint standard one I really dont think Cat C status knocks much off the value. Considering the amount of S14s that sell for good money after taking hard knocks and having major repairs done Cat C doesnt really mean much in the grand scheme of things. If you were selling a dealer standard 1 owner completely stock minter then sure, but on a modified S14 the value is down to the parts and the quality of the car in front of you, not it's insurance history from years ago. Stick it back up for sale, knock a bit off the price and mention the circumstances and you will be fine. Would be a waste to break a good car over this. Id also check every VIN number you can and make sure it's not a ringer of some kind.

[misterjake]

What ive really got is the worst of both, a Cat C car that hasnt been VIC checked so technically shouldnt exist...

Plus, DVLA have advised me to open a case with HPI, as a Cat C car should of had a VIC, and if its hasnt, or its slipped through the net, so to speak - thats the insurer at fault.

The HPI people have said they can open a case about it, but if its found to be Cat C with no VIC, its unknown what will happen to the car - seeing as VIC is no longer around.

[gooly]

Whilst that is really odd, it wouldnt cause an issue now unless it turns out that it was a ringer. Odd that it wasnt repaired through insurance either. There is definitely something amiss there. Have you checked boot floor and chassis rails for signs of distortion or repair?

[misterjake]

Tbh unless it was a mint standard one I really dont think Cat C status knocks much off the value. Considering the amount of S14s that sell for good money after taking hard knocks and having major repairs done Cat C doesnt really mean much in the grand scheme of things. If you were selling a dealer standard 1 owner completely stock minter then sure, but on a modified S14 the value is down to the parts and the quality of the car in front of you, not it's insurance history from years ago. Stick it back up for sale, knock a bit off the price and mention the circumstances and you will be fine. Would be a waste to break a good car over this. Id also check every VIN number you can and make sure it's not a ringer of some kind.

Yeah, what I have done is explained the situation and just said come look at it.

At least i'm upfront about it (good karma haha) instead of hiding it. The amount of cars that get bent at drift days and resold with no mention must account for about half the S-bodies for sale

[misterjake]

Whilst that is really odd, it wouldnt cause an issue now unless it turns out that it was a ringer. Odd that it wasnt repaired through insurance either. There is definitely something amiss there. Have you checked boot floor and chassis rails for signs of distortion or repair?

Ive had the front end down to the chassis rails when I rebuilt it, the boot floors good, when I resprayed it I didnt find any huge patches of filler masking stuff up etc.

It has had a front wing at some point but the slam panel seems straight, maybe took a swipe in a car park but surely not enough damage to write off a 7 year old car.