Buying Category S Vehicles 

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 below graphic 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

Should I buy a written-off car to repair? 

Thousands of buyers successfully purchase written-off vehicles every year for repair projects and for parts.  We believe that the decision to buy any vehicle should come after completing as much background research about a vehicle as possible. That way you can make a more informed purchase decision. 

In the case of a Category S vehicle, it will depend on what you plan to do with the vehicle. If you intend to repair, you will need to factor in the cost of the vehicle along with the skills required to carry out such repairs.

Reasons to buy a Category S

Due to its damage, a Category S vehicle will most likely be cheaper than a CAT N, CAT X, and CAT U, and when factoring in the cost of licences, could even be cheaper than a Category B.  ***** not sure if we can say****

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.

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. 

Please note: If the 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. 

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.

Please Note: 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.

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.

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.

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 combat this issue, and damage would be checked against a pre-determined set of criteria to ascertain whether the damage would be structural (CAT S) and non-structural (CAT N), with the aim that these new categories would be more reliable.
Copart still sells some vehicles that were categorised before 1st October 2017, so these are still sold as CAT C and D vehicles, it is usually (but not always) the case that CAT C vehicles will have structural damage and that CAT D vehicles will not.
Although CAT Cs are likely to have structural damage, this is not a guarantee, and we advise visiting our Operations Centres in person to view vehicles before bidding. 

Looking For Parts?

If you have recently bought a Category S or C vehicle from Copart, and are looking for genuine parts to complete your repair, Copart may have the perfect solution for you in BreakerBid4U.

BreakerBid4U is a service which allows non-CAT B licence holders to request that Copart bids on Category B vehicles on your behalf, cutting out the need for any expensive licences and certificates.

We then allow you to break your vehicle at one of  our six specialist Copart Operations Centres across the UK. It could be a great way to get your hands on an entire car's worth of parts for a great price. 

*We crush to vehicles shell to ensure it never makes it back on the roads*

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