Buying Category S Vehicles
Information for Salvage Buyers
What does CAT S mean?
A Category S write-off (often abbreviated to CAT S) is a car, van, truck or indeed any other vehicle (except motorcycles) which has sustained damage deemed as structural. This could mean the chassis or other structural elements of the car have been damaged, or the structural integrity of the vehicle has been compromised. Read more below to learn, about how a vehicle's category is determined.
Reasons To Buy a Category S
At Copart, we are committed to providing our Members with an unbeatable auction experience.
If you have access to the right skills, tools, and facilities, buying a Category S may be an opportunity to purchase a high-value vehicle and put it back on the road after it has been repaired to the necessary UK road standards. Copart sells over 100,000 CAT S vehicles per year, from cheap hatchbacks to luxury saloons, so you’re sure to find something you’ll love.
As with all Copart vehicles, we advise visiting the Operations Centre that the vehicle is stored at before buying it. This will give you the best opportunity to assess any damage to the vehicle and the potential cost to repair it.
What is Category S Damage?
CAT S damage is damage that has deemed as structural. Generally, CAT S damage is more severe than CAT N damage.
What does structural damage mean?
The graphic to the left specifies which elements of a vehicle are defined as 'structural' If a vehicle has been categorised as such, it means that one or more of these components has been damaged.
Source: Extracted directly from the Code of Practice for the Categorisation of Motor Vehicles.
Category S Documentation
Once the vehicle has been purchased from Copart, the DVLA will re-issue a V5C, this document will have a literal depicting status of;
"This vehicle has been salvaged due to structural damage but after a technical evaluation it was declared suitable to repair."
Should the vehicle be repaired, the DVLA must be notified that it has been returned to the road and it must be able to pass an MOT. If these criteria are met, the vehicles could then be put back on UK roads.
How to buy Category S Vehicles
Like any Copart vehicle, to buy one from Copart you must first register as a Member. To become a Member, first, sign up on our website. After this Copart will need some documentation and Membership fee details of which can be found on our how to register with Copart section of our site. Once this has cleared you'll be free to bid on and buy any CAT S, CAT N, CAT U and CAT X vehicles on our site. Restrictions to CAT Bs apply.
Do I need licences to buy CAT S?
Unlike Category B, buyers of Category S do not need any specific licences to buy Category S vehicles, and as long as Copart has accepted your documentation, you'll be able to buy as many CAT S vehicles as you like. The vehicles we sell are to trade buyers who have read and accepted our trade terms and conditions.
Important Information
Category S, N, C, and D vehicles are damaged and are unlikely to be roadworthy, and most will not be able to be driven away from our Operations Centres. Winning bidders must arrange transportation vehicles or make use of our Nationwide Delivery Service. If you're buying three or more vehicles, find out about our Priority Loading Service.
Additionally, if a vehicle has been written off, it will remain as a write-off for the remainder of its life, regardless of whether it has been repaired or not. Therefore its write-off will appear in an HPI check and may affect insurance quotes.
Is CAT S the same as CAT C?
No, is the short answer. On the 1st October 2017, the old Category C and D write-off categories were retired, and they replaced with Category S and N.
The old system for determining a salvage category was thus; subjected to an evaluation from an Appropriately Qualified Person (AQP), if a vehicle’s cost to repair was more than the potential sale value of the vehicle, it would be categorised as a Category C, whereas if the repairs were deemed to be less than the value of the vehicle, it’d then be a Category D.
The new categories were introduced to make the classification of write-offs more reliable by checking the damage against a pre-set criteria. Although it is likely that CAT Cs will have structural damage, it is no guarantee and Members are advised to view vehicles at our Operations Centres before bidding.
Motorcycles
Due to the unique design of Motorcycles, there is no Category S categorisation, and therefore all motorcycles (and variants such as quadbikes) which have been written off will be sold as CAT N or CAT B.
Should the vehicle have sustained mild body damage it will be classed as a Category N, and anything with further damage will be classed as a Category B.
Category N Motorcycles will require some work to be returned to the road, whereas Category B vehicles cannot be returned to the road, but any undamaged parts can be recycled and used in other motorcycles.
View CAT S Vehicles
Copart has over 1500 Category S Vehicles in stock at any one time, view our full inventory below.
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