Category S means structural damage that was repairable. The car can be legally repaired, registered and driven — and it carries the marker permanently.
Your registration is all we need to start.
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An insurer decided the structural repair cost more than the vehicle was worth to them. The categories are defined in the ABI Salvage Code of Practice. That is an economic judgement, not a verdict on the repair that followed.
A properly repaired Cat S car with documented work can be perfectly sound. An undocumented one is a gamble, and buyers price gambles conservatively.
Expect a meaningful reduction against an equivalent unrecorded car — the exact figure varies widely by model, age and the quality of the evidence you can show.
The variation between buyers is the point. A specialist who retails recorded vehicles every week will pay considerably more than a franchised dealer who will not put one on the forecourt at all.
The marker is on the vehicle record and any buyer will find it. Declaring it up front gets it priced into the offer. Leaving it to be discovered guarantees a reduction and may void the sale entirely.
Questions
Yes, once repaired and re-registered as required. The marker remains on the record permanently.
Substantially, and the range between buyers is wide. Specialists pay considerably more than general buyers who avoid recorded cars.
It indicates structural damage rather than cosmetic or mechanical, so it generally carries a larger reduction.
Yes. It is on the vehicle record and non-disclosure will unwind the sale.
Keep looking
Tell us about it once. We check the market and come back with the strongest price we can confirm.
Takes a couple of minutes.
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