I thought I'de start off a new thread and would like to share my journey with you all.

First of all I would like to thank everyone on this forum that has helped me over the last year. Last November I bought my first Cat D Fiat 500 1.2 Lounge, using this forum as a knowledge base I completed my first repair. I am now on car number 6.

I'm not making a fortune out of the cars, a few hundred pounds at best, but I am really enjoying doing it and seeing the shiny finished car back on the road is very satisfying.

So, my new purchase. A 2013 1.2 S. It's my first Cat C. I believe its only a Cat C as 5 airbags have deployed. Driver, passenger, knee, drivers curtain and drivers seat as well as both seat belt pre-tensioners. I have a small dent in the bonnet, bumper I thought would repair, but paint shop says it's too far gone, a large crease in the drivers door which continues into the quarter panel, broken mounts on headlight and DRL on the drivers side and after taking the bumper off, the slam panel and both bars have bent right in doing their job and protecting the engine and the occupants.

I have plugged in multiECU and have done a diagnostic on the airbags and the result is as you can see below. Unfortunately I believe the battery may be knackered too, as whilst doing the MultiECU scan, I heard a beep, looked at the dash and the "check power steering" message came up which we all know means the battery is knackered. I did see a warning on the MultyiECU about battery voltage too, but then the power all went off. I turned off the ignition, and back on again, it all came back on then faded away, so I think the battery has died. It's on charge now, so we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Anyway, just an introduction to the car so far with a couple of pictures. I will use this thread and update as I go along and hope that along the way, I can help others like others have helped me.

Until the next time.

Ridiculous that these sort of cars are being written off...

No wonder premiums are high.

Good luck, it's a nice colour.

typecastboy said:

I thought I'de start off a new thread and would like to share my journey with you all.

First of all I would like to thank everyone on this forum that has helped me over the last year. Last November I bought my first Cat D Fiat 500 1.2 Lounge, using this forum as a knowledge base I completed my first repair. I am now on car number 6.

I'm not making a fortune out of the cars, a few hundred pounds at best, but I am really enjoying doing it and seeing the shiny finished car back on the road is very satisfying.

So, my new purchase. A 2013 1.2 S. It's my first Cat C. I believe its only a Cat C as 5 airbags have deployed. Driver, passenger, knee, drivers curtain and drivers seat as well as both seat belt pre-tensioners. I have a small dent in the bonnet, bumper I thought would repair, but paint shop says it's too far gone, a large crease in the drivers door which continues into the quarter panel, broken mounts on headlight and DRL on the drivers side and after taking the bumper off, the slam panel and both bars have bent right in doing their job and protecting the engine and the occupants.

I have plugged in multiECU and have done a diagnostic on the airbags and the result is as you can see below. Unfortunately I believe the battery may be knackered too, as whilst doing the MultiECU scan, I heard a beep, looked at the dash and the "check power steering" message came up which we all know means the battery is knackered. I did see a warning on the MultyiECU about battery voltage too, but then the power all went off. I turned off the ignition, and back on again, it all came back on then faded away, so I think the battery has died. It's on charge now, so we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Anyway, just an introduction to the car so far with a couple of pictures. I will use this thread and update as I go along and hope that along the way, I can help others like others have helped me.

Until the next time.

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Good luck! Keep us up to date!
In Greece, I am very weary buying used cars as there is no real database to check writeoffs and most used cars here are brought from places like Germany all messed up, they put Greek plates on them, fix them and shift them on. Basically I dont trust them, and if i am buying a used car from a main dealer, well its so expensive you might as well put up a bit more and buy it new!

Left work early today as it was a training day so thought I'de take the slam panel off as the sun was shining.

The aircon compressor and radiator are fine, as is the washer bottle, so I have left them all connected and the compressor and radiator are now propped up in position on bricks. The last one I did had a broken plastic radiator expansion tank which is part of the radiator, so I had to renew the whole radiator, so I took the whole lot out together. Much easier this time.

I have to renew one of the subframe extenskon legs on the nearside which is a pain, but I believe it's only about 3 bolts, so should be easy enough. Just need to get off the wheel and take out the wheel arch liner to get to it.

I'm picking up genuine Fiat slam panel, subframe extension leg, top reinforcement bar tomorrow so will hopefully get those all installed with the lower reinforcement bar I've ordered online next week.

I've attached a picture of the car with the front off and a couple of pictures of the lower reinforcement bar, one of the untouched side of the car and the crash can on the left which as you can see has completely collapsed. That is what they are designed to do to absorb the energy of an impact. Certainly done it's job here.

I'd quite like to get one of these that's been written off, restore it and turn it into a track car or something mad.

Keep it up, this is looking exciting!

bluejohn125 said:

Ridiculous that these sort of cars are being written off...

No wonder premiums are high.

Good luck, it's a nice colour.

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No it isn't, its been written off as its uneconomical to repair.

Lead time on airbag parts etc (being new from manufacture) can be weeks or months, so add the cost of a courtesy car for this period of time at £30+ a day, and you've potentially already hit another few £k.

Added other niggles etc, and it soon mounts up!

Likewise if under a year old at the time it'll be covered by a new vehicle replacement cover on most policies, which most would want to invoke rather than having such extensive repairs done to such a new vehicle.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

No it isn't, its been written off as its uneconomical to repair.

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This example is Cat C, so technically it's been written off because the cost of repairs exceeds the value of the car.

typecastboy: out of interest, what parts of the interior are going to need replacing due to the airbags that have deployed?

jrkitching said:

This example is Cat C, so technically it's been written off because the cost of repairs exceeds the value of the car.

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This is the nub of it.

The COST of the repairs.

The insurance people look at the cost with respect to what it would cost at a professional body shop paying full price for the parts and full price for the labour.

Someone doing the work in a local garage or doing it DIY is a different thing entirely.

Cheers,
Mick.

I've done a 61 plate cat d with barely any damage, it is a mystery sometimes why they write them off.

This one has lots of work so is uneconomical through insurance.

Interior wise, item needed are dash, drivers, passenger, knee, seat and one curtain airbag, seat belts and pre tensioners and a door card as the seat airbag damaged it. Lovely sports interior which the drivers seat needs to be restitched once ive replaced the airbag.

typecastboy said:

I've done a 61 plate cat d with barely any damage, it is a mystery sometimes why they write them off.

This one has lots of work so is uneconomical through insurance.

Interior wise, item needed are dash, drivers, passenger, knee, seat and one curtain airbag, seat belts and pre tensioners and a door card as the seat airbag damaged it. Lovely sports interior which the drivers seat needs to be restitched once ive replaced the airbag.

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With the dashboard, that's the only trouble with putting the airbag behind a strategically weakened area rather than a separate panel. Where the curtain airbag has deployed, what happened with the roof lining and windscreen pillar trim?

puntofan01 said:

With the dashboard, that's the only trouble with putting the airbag behind a strategically weakened area rather than a separate panel. Where the curtain airbag has deployed, what happened with the roof lining and windscreen pillar trim?

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Nothing it seems. I was expecting to have to replace the headlining but it's completely intact. I haven't taken the remains of the old one out yet, but at the moment it looks fine.

typecastboy said:

Nothing it seems. I was expecting to have to replace the headlining but it's completely intact. I haven't taken the remains of the old one out yet, but at the moment it looks fine.

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That's a bit of luck then! What is the difference between a cat c and cat d write off?

puntofan01 said:

That's a bit of luck then! What is the difference between a cat c and cat d write off?

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This is worth a read.
http://www.rac.co.uk/community/blog/rac-blog/september-2011/what-is-an-insurance-write-off

Mick.

That's slightly out of date, Mick - the VIC scheme closed on 1st October. No Vehicle Identity Check is needed for Cat C vehicles after 26th October 2015 (and it closes a loophole which previously allowed Cat A & Cat B cars back on the road with a VIC).

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-vehicle-identity-check-vic

http://www.trents.co.uk/VIC-scheme-abolished

jrkitching said:

That's slightly out of date, Mick - the VIC scheme closed on 1st October. No Vehicle Identity Check is needed for Cat C vehicles after 26th October 2015 (and it closes a loophole which previously allowed Cat A & Cat B cars back on the road with a VIC).

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-vehicle-identity-check-vic

http://www.trents.co.uk/VIC-scheme-abolished

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Really? That's a result, saves me £41 as well . Thanks for that! I love this forum, which is exactly why I started this thread, to give something back

I know Sunday should be a day of rest and I've resisted all day doing anything to the car.

I've picked some beans in the garden, peeled the spuds and chopped the carrots, but then I saw the car out of the window and it got the better of me. Only been out there half an hour, but I've managed to change the seat airbag for the new one and take out the curtain airbag, so I make sure I order the right one.

Had to drop the headlining down a bit so released it all the way along one side. The headlining is creased slightly in a couple of places, but nothing much and certainly not worth replacing it for. It was a bit tricky getting the old one out. It's secured by three 8mm bolts and a Hex screw, then it just lifts out.

The seat belt bag I scratched my head a little bit first. I looked at the new one and saw that it has two bolts attached to it, but they are at the back, so you hav to pulls the cushioning back a bit and it reveals the two bolts coming through the metal side of the seat, one with an earth cable on it. Release the two 10mm bolts and the module just pulls away, unclip the power cable and fit thew new one.

Hasten to add, I disconnected the earth lead before going anywhere near them. I know the ECU probably isn't even active with the crash data stored in it, but I wasn't taking any chances and I was a bit nervous once I'de done it when I pushed the earth strap back on. Phew, so far so good.

I'll be a lot more nervous when I re-connect it after doing all the dashboard airbags.

I've managed to source a Black Sport dash and airbag kit along with seat-belt pretensioners and using an online breakers, I've managed to find a used bumper for £120 delivered, so I'll be ordering that tomorrow along with the curtain airbag.

Thursday will be the day for putting the front of the car back on now I have my new (second hand original part) slam panel.

Here's a couple of photos of the old seat airbag out and the new one installed.

More to follow.

The drivers side chassis leg looks like it's a bit shorter than it should be ?

Also looks like a aircon condenser and service will be needed

AndyRKett said:

The drivers side chassis leg looks like it's a bit shorter than it should be ?

Also looks like a aircon condenser and service will be needed

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Yeah it is, have got a new one, will be fitting on Thursday. I tried the aircon before I took everything off and it's working fine. Took a bit of a bash but still intact.

typecastboy said:

I've done a 61 plate cat d with barely any damage, it is a mystery sometimes why they write them off.

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Not really, I've explained why in my previous post ;

typecastboy said:

Hasten to add, I disconnected the earth lead before going anywhere near them. I know the ECU probably isn't even active with the crash data stored in it, but I wasn't taking any chances and I was a bit nervous once I'de done it when I pushed the earth strap back on. Phew, so far so good.

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Crash data aside, the front airbags are multi stage, so may still contain a live detonation even though deployed, so be very careful!