Comments on: Bargain of the Week – StreetKa 1.6i Luxury

By: Mark Robbins

Mark Robbins — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:35:52 +0000

Probably the worst thing Serman could, and indeed did say, was “He would do it again” but this time for a bigger profit !!!

No wonder there are sparks flying and so much viterol about this article, (although it makes for good reading!) a simple, “wont be doing that again” would have gone some way to appease his readers.

Just a thought.

By: Cameron

Cameron — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:12:37 +0000

This is such an interesting thread and well done for MTI for having the courage to publish the story! There are many crash repaired cars on our roads many are absolutely fine. There are of course different categories depending on the extent of the damage.
Cat D is generally light damage whereas the opposite is a Cat A which means that the car has to be crushed by law-not even any components can be used. Cat D and C are generally repairable and most of them are, the difficulty comes when the isurers get the Category wrong. Its very difficult for the assessor on some cars that have sustained major damage to ascertain the extent of damage. Sometimes without stripping down its difficult to see hidden damage as has been demonstrated on the above story. So there are many vehicles that have been categorised by the insurers as Cat C or D when really they should have been Cat B (unrepairable) or worse Cat A (for the crusher only). This is one of the main risks of buying crash repaired cars.
My advice is unless you know the extent of the damage sustained, don’t buy one. The best way to buy one of these cars is a Cat D, buy it damaged and get your own garage to repair.
As Ben rightly points out a car such as a StreetKa which was flimsy when new, will never be the same after a 90mph terminal speed impact. Barge pole indeed!!

By: Ben Boffin

Ben Boffin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:56:13 +0000

Great! Enjoying the fruits of his sinister activities, whilst I’m here late at night trying to work out my Vat. Its not passion MTI just anger and frustration. There is no defence he can give as his told us the full story already, I’m sure he’ll have some old tosh about how good quality the work was and that he only sells the odd car here and there-all stuff we have to listen to but can’t proven. ‘Serman’ should leave this trade well alone. A good site by the way.

By: admin

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:35:35 +0000

That’s a fair comment Ben. The writer of these articles is an occasional contributor who does not work directly in the trade. His remit is to write some interesting articles related to the trade from a private buyers perspective. The “bargain of the week” title has always been a bit loosely applied (if you’ve looked back through the articles you’ll know why!) and these articles we usually publish for a bit of fun at the weekend. On reflection it might have been worth bringing the finer details of the work done to the writer’s attention as our publishing of the article looks as if it carries our endorsement of the actions involved. We’re sure that as soon as the writer returns from holiday he will respond to all the comments himself and it will certainly be interesting to hear what he has to say. From MTI’s point of view it is definitely a debate worth having as we all know this goes on whether we like it or not. It has obviously stirred up some passion and we’re grateful for your contribution. MTI

By: Ben Boffin

Ben Boffin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:47:11 +0000

Sorry admin don’t want to sound like a killjoy but these things annoy me! Looking back this guy has been regularly buying cars and selling them on for profit, what part of that isn’t a motor trading? If he’s selling cars ‘privately’ then he is breaking a quite serious misrepresentation law. I note too no mention of Vat being levied on his marginn which would have stripped him of any profit taking into account his recon. Should a site such as this that claims to be ‘your friend’ in the trade be endorsing such activites? One can only assume that if he is a regular insider/contributor he must be on your payroll and yet he displays a totally amateur approach to the business and appears to have no conscience.

By: Mark Robbins

Mark Robbins — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:38:32 +0000

There are many accident damaged repaired vehicles that are far from unsafe, insurance companies will often write a vehicle off on labour or parts repair costs alone and this in turn sees some very lightly and slightly older cars returned to the road, often with little more than a new bonnet, bumper, maybe a couple of headlights paintwork etc: these are commonly known as Catergory D vehicles, and lets face it, if the roof blew off your house you wouldnt pull it down would you?

No, the argument here is that when a vehicle has sustained this sort of serious damage especially when we start talking about twisted chassis’s and both airbags deployed, suspension struts etc it is clear this was no minor accident and in turn should NEVER be sold on at a profit no matter how small, not even in the interests of research.

True, the words “Caveat Emptor” spring to mind, but if we in the industry dont protect the public from such practices, we will never break the cycle of constant distrust that pervades this industry at all levels.

Its time these sort of damaged vehicles were legislated against, after all would you want your wife or children in such a car?

By: admin

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:35:59 +0000

Fair point Mark…it’s pehaps maybe stretching the word “bargain” to the absolute limits of it’s definition! But it was a private sale and is certainly an interesting debate. Would I buy one?…hmmm..now where did I put my barge pole…..

By: Mark Robbins

Mark Robbins — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:26:17 +0000

Crash damaged cars for profit? EXACTLY the sort of thing that gets this trade a terrible name ! surprised you ran this article MTI and more fool you serman for telling everyone.

Look in Auto Trader this week, KA Sport for 3,995 with 54,000 miles and F.S.H. AND its not been in a crash, BOTW? not your one thats for sure.

By: Becky B

Becky B — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:23:44 +0000

Its quite a good reminder to everyone, these idiots are out there buying half a car and making a whole one. Do your homework before rushing into a sale. 90mph!!! poor woman, I do hope she doesn’t do the school run in it.

By: Terry Evans

Terry Evans — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:43:06 +0000

I agree with Ben there’s no good reason to repair such a badly damaged car unless it’s to blatantly profit from someone else’s lack of knowledge. The buyer might be happy with it now but six months down the line, and it’s no better than a clown car, she’ll feel pretty dumb and pretty bitter.