I have a 2009 Vogue ( 2010 MY ) with 145,000 miles on the clock, someone went into the back off me and the insurance company have said its beyond economical repair ( CAT N ) as it needs a new bumper. To be honest the bumper isn't that bad and probably just needs a bit of readjusting. The car is perfectly drivable and still in good condition, I have serviced it myself for the last 5 years and it had a full history prior to that from an independent.

The insurance company have offered me £6,140 or I can buy it back for the salvage value of £1,903.40 and they will continue to insure it. I'm tempted to buy it back for the salvage and just keep running it and get the bumper repaired not replaced, I'm sure though that the insurance will go up next year when I go to renew.

Ive had a look on Autotrader and £6k would probably get me something similar to what I have already and less mileage, Ive had no serious issues with car in 5 years of ownership apart from a couple of suspension airbags and a strut plus general wear.

Anyone been in a similar position or any advice please ?

Experience of this - not with an RR but with a BMW 3 series

BMW is >10 years old…so insurers are quick to write off a car if repair cost is >50% car value
Was offered cash and amount to buy back car from insurer

So did this …went to an accident repair centre and very happy with the work done
Front bumper…side panels..lights…respray

Net net cost of repair and buy back was approx £2k less than amount insurer offered

Full no claims bonus is now lost…and there is now only a few years no claims bonus (i know…this is a curious thing the insurers do….you don’t lose all your no claims for just one claim)

The insurer should provide the log book back to you with a CAT N marking
https://www.whatcar.com/advice/buying/what...-off/n1103

Just remember what you are looking at is not a "bumper" it's a very thin plastic cover, the strong bit is the crash bar bolted to the rear of the monocoque. It could be badly damaged as well as the monocoque so you need to check this out, you can see some of it from inside the spare wheel well but damage can be subtle and difficult to identify...

If this is badly bent there is an outside possibility that it has caused the rear subframe to move, unlikely, but, again, worth checking...

It may be a good idea to take it to a repair shop and get them to quote for repairing ALL the damage and you should get an idea of how bad it is...

If it's OK, go for it, you will get cheap transport....

Picture stolen from the gallery

Thanks for the replies :

Ive had the damage accessed and there is no damage to the subframe, its basically a new bumper or repair the bumper. I cant see how the repair would cost more than the value of the car and can only guess its the price of a bumper plus brackets from landrover, respray and labour.

The insurance company have already confirmed my no claims wont be impacted as its a non fault accident and no excess.

I'm tempted to try and negotiate a lower buy back price as Id like to keep the car !

You'd probably be able to find a second hand bumper in the colour of your car and just throw it on and be done. V8 or else ...

This is the damage:

Click image to enlarge

Better the Devil you know, as they say. Keep it!

(and that’s from a suitably qualified person )

You might swap, and get a right Lemon. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” -where’s the fun in that?

So basically their offer is, £4,237 plus you can keep the car which will be Cat N and your NCD is unaffected?

I think taking into account the age of your car and the damage only being light, it's a no-brainer.

I wonder if you negotiated, say 5% extra on the value of your car, would they increase the salvage price? 2024 P550e Autobiography
2016MY TDV6 Autobiography - Gone
2011MY 5.0 SC Autobiography Black - Gone
2005 TD6 Vogue - Gone

damage looks superficial...

i'd take Pete's advice and then do what Mikey has done.....keep it..  ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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No expert here, but isn’t there an inspection thing you can have done after it’s repaired that will remove the CAT whatever status? Or is that only for more severe categories?

Sounds like you are best keeping it.

 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

No, was looking at that the other day. If it’s a structural repair then you can get it assessed for raodworthiness and put back on the road, but the cat always stsys with the car once it’s been written off. Even on cat N and cat S cars. 👍🏻

Personally it’s worth keeping and repairing for a few quids. Take the plastic off and have a look. A good bodyshop should be able to fix the bumper or as said I bet you can get one in the right colour and swap it over. If the crash bar is damaged then replace that too, IIRC they take the crash bar off anyway if it has a tow bar, so if yours has a towbar then it won’t have a crash bar as the tow structure acts as the crash bar.l and there is more space behind the plastic to deform into. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
KIA E-Niro 4+
2010 LR D4 Commercial 2.7 TDV6

That looks like the dark plastic trim will reseat into the painted section and you could leave it at that.

You may need to take the bumper off to do that, but before you buy anything I would have a check to see if thats all it needs. V8 or else ...

northernmonkeyjones wrote:

IIRC they take the crash bar off anyway if it has a tow bar, so if yours has a towbar then it won’t have a crash bar as the tow structure acts as the crash bar.l and there is more space behind the plastic to deform into.

If it's Cat N you just need to re-MOT it to put it back on the road...

If you ask for more money the salvage would go up as buy back it's based on a percentage of the payout...

Still best to ask for more money though...  Pete
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