by Buying a rebuilt vehicle can save you a great deal of money, but it can equally prove to be a costly mistake. Therefore, before you even consider buying and financing a previously damaged car, you need to know a few things.
Understand the accident codes
The four life cycle status codes for a motor vehicle on eNaTiS are:
- Code 1 – New motor vehicles delivered by a dealer to the first owner.
- Code 2 – Second hand used motor vehicles with one or more previous owners.
- Code 3 – Built up/permanently unfit for use. Code 3 motor vehicles are Code 1 or 2 motor vehicles involved in an incident, and subsequently being declared unfit for use as a motor vehicle until they are repaired.
- Code 4 – Permanently demolished cars.
Know where to learn about the car’s history
You’re not going to marry someone unless you know a little bit about their relationship history. The same goes for a car purchase. The best place to find out about your car’s history is to insist upon seeing the vehicle registration certificate according to Auto Advice. This certificate will also allow you to check the vehicle code.
This is not the same as the license receipt which we all receive annually when we renew our license disks. The registration certificate carries the words: Respect of Registration of Motor Vehicle. Always insist on seeing the original green cheque-book paper document before you buy a code 2 or 3 vehicle.
People are often misled into thinking the car is newer than it really is. Therefore, ensure that the seller is being upfront about the number of previous owners by looking for the last few registration numbers in the middle of the page. Three listed numbers means three previous owners.
Financing the vehicle
Ideally, you don’t want to take out a personal loan or finance the car on a credit card. If you decided to go for a code 3 vehicle and arrange rebuilding it yourself, you’ll have the option to bid for the vehicle in an auction. In other words, you are going to need to have the cash in your budget readily available.
Some loan companies specialise in finance for older vehicles but these might incur loan-shark-like high interest. Therefore, it is best to find out from the larger banks what their particular policy is on motor finance. Many will finance a large part of a vehicle of up to 8 year’s old. They will probably require a deposit.
It is never easy buying a car with a history. But if you know what you are doing, it could save you a great deal of money.
