An uncertain future?

Keith Adams 

Rover Metro Diesel - what does the future hold?
Rover Metro Diesel - what does the future hold?

It’s a good job that the Saab 9000 is now back in commission, because the Scrappage Rover Metro Diesel we’ve been running all winter without missing a beat currently faces an uncertain future. I’d blogged a few weeks back how an inattentive chap kindly drove his Peugeot 206 into the back of it, causing minimal damage (see above for the impact wound on the nearside corner of the rear bumper). 

Well, it looks like I wasn’t quite in possession of all the facts when it came to what happens next to the little car. It seems that, although I can elect to keep the car, the Insurers insist that it will need to be recorded as a CAT C write-off and, as such, if it is to return to the road, it will need a full re-test via the DLVA which is expected to cost quite a bit of money. Not that the Metro isn’t worth it, of course… 

At the moment the claim is in limbo, with the car resting at my place, as I get my head around what to do next. My main issue here is that the car – although frayed around the edges – is really rather useful and, in these times of escalating fuel costs, just the ticket to counteract the damage the Rover SD1 is doing to my bank balance so I really would like to keep it, thank you very much. 

But at what cost? 

As always, your thoughts are welcomed…

Keith Adams

9 Comments

  1. Hi,
    A VIC check which is, of course, only to check that the car is not a “ringer” will only cost £41. Unfortunately, it is also recorded as a total loss on the V5 too as a Cat C… However, if the car is unlikely to be sold on this is not really an issue.

    The Insurer will also appropriate salvage value to the car and that was increased to a minimum of £80 (typically) only last week… Only one Insurer still makes ex-gratia payments to their insured or third parties – well done Fortis!

  2. I thought CAT C just required a £35 ish VIC check at the DVLA office? Keith, please let us know if this is not the case.

  3. If it’s less than £200 for the retest, it might well be worth it – assuming, of course, that the insurance costs don’t go up if it’s recorded as a CAT C.

  4. Without a precise idea of the total cost, it’s difficult to tell from here, Keith. Can you give us a breakdown (unwise choice of word…) of the costs involved?

    But then, it isn’t just about boring costs, is it? You seem to have a soft spot for the little thing – more than the Saab at the same stage of the decision-making process, it seems to me. Oh, go on, keep her and give her a bit of TLC.

  5. Keith, if it makes sense and you want to keep it then why not? You will have to replace it if you decide not to keep it and want something cheap to run.

    Better the devil you know…

  6. Are they definitely insisting on a Cat. C? Where are they valuing that? The car’s not that badly damaged and you really struggle to find decent Rover Metro/100 diesels with MoT for under £500, so uneconomical but not exceeding value of the car would surely cover a bumper.

    I would really argue the toss with that one, since the car is clearly not significantly damaged and it sounds like they’re talking rubbish.

    VIC includes an MoT Test as part of the overall requirements, but then you have a full MoT.

    Fix it, though. Don’t scrap it. My comment about my friend’s Micra and her fondness for Metros remains – I am sure she’d fork out for a VIC and MoT.

    Insurance costs for recorded write-offs don’t increase (on the whole – however, there will always be one, surely) but the settlement figures following an accident/theft generally reflect lower market values though.

  7. If you choose the bureaucratic option, check that the insurance policy remains valid to drive to and from the inspection. I’ve heard of a similar case where the insurers paid out, then regarded the policy as terminated for the same reasons as a life assurance policy when a human is written off. The Cat C status then prevented the car being insured again – and consequently taxed – until it passed the inspection. In that case trailer hire then needed to be added to the bill.

    Isn’t a used bumper and a pull cheaper and quicker?

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