Hi all, I traded in my v70 and bought an 07 reg freelander 2 in orange / gold, after less than a week I noticed a noise coming from the propshaft, rather than fixing it the dealer gave me a full refund, saying he will fix it and stick a couple of hundred on to the price and sell it on.

So here I am back at square one, any how, I saw a car advertised on a chaps driveway, its a cat d write off.

It had a low speed front end which damaged the bumper / headlamps etc and dented the bonnet.

Its a 2012 xs, with sat nav and part leather and full service history, I called the landrover dealer from the service booklet and they confirmed the service history is genuine. it has 9 months mot. Oh and it has the dreaded dpf. He is on holiday now and the car is locked away, so I have until next weekend to give him an answer.

The chap who is selling it says he needs the cash to do up his house, and I visited him at home and he is building an extension.
it drives 100% fine, he has replaced the front bumper, headlights fog lights but there is a slight dent in the leading edge of the bonnet.

I got him down to 5k, I based this on it being worth about 50% less than a car that wasnt a write off. Also a replacement bonnet with paint will be around £500, 200 for the bonnet and 250 for the paint. Or i could get one of those bonnet protector strips for £50 to cover the dent.

In a non franchised dealer I guess this would be between 10 + 12k, but they give warranties .

I feel that whatever car I buy I will not get back what I paid for it, but I have the use of it.

So would you buy this or go for an older one say 58 or 08 that isnt a write off but has done more miles . I aim to keep it for 5 years and i do about 10 k a year of which 6k is business and about 3-4k pleasure.

Mine is a cat d

hi do you know why it was written off, was it repaired when you bought it

I saw pictures of it before repair,I bought it with the intention of using it off road and knew another £1000 would be needed for tyres and guards so mileage was more important than immaculate condition.The one you mentioned seems like a steal at that money

For five grand I'd snatch his arm off! Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

Clementine sustained a rear end shunt 5 years ago - over 100k since then.
I took his insurance to task privately, they eventually paid out but unknown to me declared Clementine a Cat C

Would I do it again - hell yes.
She drives true, is as reliable as any other FL2 - a lot more reliable than some.

But, there's always a but, I did the mechanical and electrical repairs, only used genuine Land Rover spares, and can be VERY fastidious when it comes to my cars. You have to hope the repairer was as keen.

Downside, I got the car re-sprayed, the guy who did it did what looked like a good job, turns out no lacquer, paint has faded, and needs another re-spray. Then again I did drive THROUGH a hawthorn bush a week after the re-spray while playing off-road, and have done similar tricks many times since. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

It sounds like a bargain at 5K!

The FL2 is pretty strong so it should be fine, but there are a few things I'd check / ask:




A: Behind the bumper cover there's the bumper proper, which is what actually absorbs the impact. Was this damaged / replaced? If not replaced it could have been weakened.

B: Is there any sign of damage to this cross-bar? If there is, check its mounting points and anything which mounts to it.

C: Is there any sign of damage to the radiator?

D: Any sign of leaks from the washer system? Do the washers work?

Finally, does the horn work (iirc that's behind the bumper too)?

None of the above are serious, but may have cost implications.

Last edited by pab on 26th Aug 2016 9:13 am. Edited 1 time in total

What about airbags?

Hi, cannot comment on the DPF, but if everything pab mentions is OK and your happy with it then I recon it's worth buying at what sounds like a dam good price.
Dave DAVE.
I.A.M. F1rst Driver.
Gone 2003 Discovery TD5 Auto,
Gone 1986 Defender 90 Station Wagon
Gone 1984 Range Rover 3.5 Vogue Manual.
Gone 1970 Series 11A/3 SWB 3.5 V8 Hybrid
Gone 1964 Series 11A LWB Van
Gone 1966 Series 11A SWB Van
Gone 1964 Series 11A LWB Station Wagon,

hi, no airbag damage, no faults logged according to a i930 that i borrowed.

the guy who is selling it bought a bumper that was the same colour from a breakers so nothing has been painted, i am very dubious of cheap paint jobs. only damage that is visible now is to the leading edge of the bonnet, as he couldn't source a bonnet in the right colour.

there are no warning lights on the dash when its running, the 4 wheel drive functions looked ok, everything looked fine through the grill and the under tray is still fitted across the front.

All of the electrical connections to the lights etc all look normal, the coolant level looked fine, no mayonnaise in the oil

the horn works as do all of the other electricals including the central locking, the headlamp washers aren't painted they work but they are an aftermarket copy.


there is no uneven tyre wear, the guy bought it and repaired it in march of this year and has done about 3k in it since then.

we took it for a decent test drive much longer than when you buy one from a non franchised dealer, along a roads at 70 , bumpy local roads, and reversing etc on a industrial estate. its got decent tyres - pirelli scorpions and they all match.

downsides, its a cat d, its only got one key, it has the joke emergency can puncture repair kit so i will need a secondhand spare wheel. to me the clutch feels high, but there is no slipping or the dreaded clip clop from a knackered dmf. it will need a bonnet unless i get one of those bug strips for the leading edge, the mot from june had advisories for new discs on the front.

road tax is low i guess thats because of the dpf, i knocked him down 500 because of the clutch.

But good call on the reinforcing bar behind the plastic cover, i will ask him if he can take the underbody tray off so i can take a good look underneath.

hi good call on the bumper protector, he said it only suffered light damage but it was written off after the ins co took into account things like the cost of a hire car. sounds like a load of bull but he hasn't changed the wings, and they look fine.

It's sounding more and more like a good buy.

Cat D typically means that the car is easily repairable, but the cost of repair (including all the extras like hire cars) would be more than around 50-75% of the car's value. In that case it's cheaper for the insurance company to write off, pay out and sell the car to someone who will repair it and sell it on. Cat Ds can be good buys if you plan to keep them for a while.

hi pal, if the wings had been replace and there was a mismatch in the colour i wouldn't even consider the car , unlike a lot of people i do tend to buy cars privately which i know is a gamble, but i do inspect and test drive the car, as well as doing a hpi check and even ring any garages that have stamped the service book just to make sure.

bit nervous about this one as i have been reading loads of stories about damaged dies and problems with the haled unit.

this one drives really nice, there is no clanking or noises when doing tight slow turns in forward or reverse, the 4 wheel drive option select with no errors. hopefully collect it next saturday

My Freelander 1 is a cat-C. Owner left the sunroof open when they went away on holiday, the interior got wet and stunk to high heaven. As it was being bought to convert into an off roader with roll cage and bucket seats , the interior condition was of no consequence as it would be removed anyway. Paid around 4K less than market value which was around the 7K mark at the time. I did however look at Cat-D cars but they were all front end shunts needing serious metalwork repairs.
My friends own a Motorcycle breakers yard, they buy and sell all sorts of motorbikes as well as being qualified mechanics. Years ago had a virtually new Suzuki 1200 Bandit from salvage actions that have fallen off it's side stand and been classed Cat B - break only, even though damage was only a few scuffs, a clutch lever and a foot peg - parts they had in stock !. They also had a Honda Blackbird that had been involved in a major RTA that basically was just a lump of metal, the only salvageable parts being the engine internals - that was a Cat C and as such could potentially after repair could go back on the road !
I questioned this with an assessor who was up my mates yard who was assessing (well he would be wouldn't he !) a bike that my mates recovered (yes my mates do that too- bikes only mind). He explained to me when I asked him why my car was Cat-C when I'd seen Cat-D's that had , in my opinion, serious damage. He said that it depends just as much on location as to category the vehicle is on, just as much as damage.
He said that if a car was in a bump in London and suffered minor accident damage such as front bumper/headlight only. it was more likely to be written off and placed on a category than be repaired by an insurance company due to the high costs of recovery, storage and repairs in London, than in areas where these costs are lower.
Also, how many cars are on the road that have been in a shunt and have subsequently been repaired by the insurance company and sold on by the owner to an unsuspecting new owner who will not be told anything of the accident or repair.
Then how many of these cars would actually have been a Cat-c/d write off had their location been different.
What's the difference between a vehicle bought as a cat D that then gets professionally repaired, and the car fixed by the insurance company in the first place. Only the fact one's been paid out on and recorded on the V5 . In real terms they are exactly the same..

My advice- if you plan on keeping the car for at least 3+ years, then I see no problem buying either a Cat-C or D.
It's also a very cheap way of motoring as long as the repairs are done properly and to standard. After all, who is going to know that new shiny car on your drive only cost you £X instead of £Y, or whether it's been subjected to an insurance claim.
Remember, once a vehicle is a certain age, these things become less relevant anyway. Prices will only ever go so low anyway.
I reckon you'd still get around £6K in a couple of years time, so you may make a profit ! If you bought the car from a trader as a Cat-D, given what you've said about the car, I'd still expect to be paying around the 9K mark.
Personally I wish I could find one that cheap !

hi, off to manchester airport this am doing a favour for my sister hence the early start,

thanks for the input, i guess as i have had time to think doubts start creeping in, but looking around at the autotrader etc the agreed price seems fair.

i would have thought that if it had been in a heavy collision that it would have damaged the wings or the panel that the bonnet or the front slam panel, but it all looked good and original.