[PipKelpy]

Not sure where to post!

This is turning out to be a hell of a year!

Bloody woman not look where she was going ran into me and insurance company have given me 2 options, scrap or salvage. We have no other car and it is drivable, but now with big ding and lots of scratches and wheel imprint on drivers door!

Have any of you kept a cat n car and if so, how did you part with it? I ask as I have been told it will be impossible to part exchange against a replacement  in the future so we don't know what to do.

[Rupert the bear]

Keep, tidy it up to make safe, run in to ground then scrap it.
Did that with a van that some idiot ran into.

[Anke]

Keep, tidy it up to make safe, run in to ground then scrap it.

That's what I would do - even secondhand cars are currently ridiculously expensive... I would drive it and save up for a new one in the meantime. Right now you can get new cars for the same price (or less!) as secondhand ones, simply by being prepared to wait for a few months!

[arobwk]

It's very, very many years since I was in your situation [member=194324]PipKelpy[/member] but I kept it and drove it for years (until I found the Citroen DS23 I'd been hankering after - close-example pic attached):  it was almost like having a car for free for a few years !  It's a great option if you don't mind being seen in "scap-metal" and if it can pass at least a few more MOTs.   

I could fill quite a few more inches with stories relating to my retained "scrap" vehicle and of those of other folk - some quite amusing - but I'm dithering .... um .... and naah, I won't bore you !


(I was into B&W film photography during my DS23 years and, I have to say, finding a similar-colour pic of this lovely machine almost brings a tear.)

[Q]

echo the above comments but you will probably have to sell it privately rather than trade it in (we buy any car would offer significantly less for a cat N)

5 years ago my insurance paid out £4500 for my damaged Mercedes - i bought it back for £750 and spent £1200 having it repaired ( steering and front suspension damage ) - I still have it and no intention of selling it. Its because its the mercedes I always wanted and replacing it even today would cost at least £3000.

[PipKelpy]

Keep, tidy it up to make safe, run in to ground then scrap it.

I would drive it and save up for a new one in the meantime. Right now you can get new cars for the same price (or less!) as secondhand ones, simply by being prepared to wait for a few months!

That's the problem we have found! When we got car 4 years ago it had taken us weeks to find the right one and though I've googled for same model but younger, (have even looked at same age) there aren't any in our price range. Those that are, either have no tow bar (£500+ we checked!) or more seriously the MOT advisories on these cars is like reading our Discovery several years ago and all expire this month! Our car passed its MOT week before this happened with minor advisories.

I have spoke to insurance company and if we take salvage claim premium goes up £7 a month for full coverage (otherwise 3rd party only) and she must pass another MOT, so mechanic we use is going to see when he can get her in.

Also, spoke to someone who lives in area where it happened, apparently his lady friends car was spun round and written off just up from where I was hit. She didn't have dashcam but the garage did and that caught the other driver. My dashcam didn't see the impact but it recorded the hit sound and the conversation. Now going to buy another for the rear window, but not a pod, a proper one!

[PipKelpy]

Keep, tidy it up to make safe, run in to ground then scrap it.

I would drive it and save up for a new one in the meantime. Right now you can get new cars for the same price (or less!) as secondhand ones, simply by being prepared to wait for a few months!

That's the problem we have found! When we got car 4 years ago it had taken us weeks to find the right one and though I've googled for same model but younger, (have even looked at same age) there aren't any in our price range. Those that are, either have no tow bar (£500+ we checked!) or more seriously the MOT advisories on these cars is like reading our Discovery several years ago and all expire this month! Our car passed its MOT week before this happened with minor advisories.

I have spoke to insurance company and if we take salvage claim premium goes up £7 a month for full coverage (otherwise 3rd party only) and she must pass another MOT, so mechanic we use is going to see when he can get her in.

Also, spoke to someone who lives in area where it happened, apparently his lady friends car was spun round and written off just up from where I was hit. She didn't have dashcam but the garage did and that caught the other driver. My dashcam didn't see the impact but it recorded the hit sound and the conversation. Now going to buy another for the rear window, but not a pod, a proper one!

We took the salvage money, less the excess, she STILL won't claim responsibility, so going to legal. We're not going to do any scratch/dent repairs, cant justify it. Still drives ok. Someone has come and looked at car and said if he was buying it, it wouldnt bother him. She's passed the MOT again so he agrees with us, just use as we normally do. There was a problem with the car a couple of weeks ago when I really needed it, garage suggested cam belt, I wanted to pull my hair out as I needed to get a poorly dog to the vet and I couldn't get her there, but fortunately it turned out to be a battery only (don't ask, all checks were done to start with!) As per usual, take each day as it comes!