New Member - On the hunt for a Phase II

[ElDiabloRosado]

Hi all,

Just became a club member - have to say the information on here is incredibly useful.
I'm a writer and photographer for a car website called The Mechanists, and I'm on the hunt for a Phase II.
My budget won't really stretch beyond £20k, but high mileage doesn't bother me as long as the car is well cared for and in reasonable condition.

Already found the V6 register highly useful in researching a few of the cars for sale.
Please tell me if you think this is unrealistic. There's currently a black Ph2 for sale on Car and Classic without a numbered plaque from what I've read elsewhere on the site, should I be wary?
Here's the link in case anyone is interested: https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1013958

Thanks and I look forward to being a part of this community!

 

[Pilleyc1978]

Hello
There is a nice Black Gold Phase 2 for a really good price on here


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ElDiabloRosado]

Hello
There is a nice Black Gold Phase 2 for a really good price on here


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello Pilley,

Thanks for the heads up! I've seen it, but I'm a little wary of the fact that it's a Cat D, waiting for a little more info from the owner.

 

[Duncan]

Welcome.

20k may appear unrealistic if you scan the classifieds, but should should be able to get a Cat-D or high mileage one if your lucky with timing.
Average condition cars tend to sell from mid 20’s at the moment, good cars 30k, the best are well north of 40k.

I wouldn’t be out of by the lack of plaque on the car you linked to in your original post. That car may of never had a UK plaque. It was originally a Renault company car. One weird thing is that the chassis number sticker in the window isn’t original, it looks homemade (I’ve seen the car up close before) I don’t know if anything untoward has happened in the past but it did look a little strange to me.

 

[ElDiabloRosado]

Welcome.

20k may appear unrealistic if you scan the classifieds, but should should be able to get a Cat-D or high mileage one if your lucky with timing.
Average condition cars tend to sell from mid 20’s at the moment, good cars 30k, the best are well north of 40k.

I wouldn’t be out of by the lack of plaque on the car you linked to in your original post. That car may of never had a UK plaque. It was originally a Renault company car. One weird thing is that the chassis number sticker in the window isn’t original, it looks homemade (I’ve seen the car up close before) I don’t know if anything untoward has happened in the past but it did look a little strange to me.

Hi Duncan,

That's encouraging thanks for the info! I contacted the owner of the one I mentioned earlier and apparently he's decided to keep it.
How wary should I be of Cat D's? With any other car I probably wouldn't consider it, but I realise that the cost of panel repair on Vees might make them an exception.

Thanks again!

 

[Jamesv6]

:welcome:

 

[Duncan]

How wary should I be of Cat D's? With any other car I probably wouldn't consider it, but I realise that the cost of panel repair on Vees might make them an exception.

Thanks again!

You should be as wary as you are with any other car, regardless of CAT status. Lots of these cars have been crashed, some have been crashed and repaired without going through insurance, so don't appear on the register. Personally it wouldn't put me off a car if its reflected in the price and the repair work was good, but would make me get it inspected by a specialist.

To be honest, there are way more CAT-D cars than there are high milers, so you more likely to be looking at one with your budget.

You should be able to get a straight phase one for your budget, that would be my recommendation!

My advise, don't worry about CAT status too much, but do your research on the car via our register, read previous owners posts, inspect closely, buy on condition (underneath as well as on top).

 

[DaveL485]

How wary should I be of Cat D's?

It wouldn't put me off at all, I have a CAT D 197 cup that I picked up for a steal due to that marker.

I would want to know what damage it had suffered (and on a Vee it can be as little as a broken bumper) so I could have a good nosey at the repair. If I couldnt tell beyond maybe a bit of fibreglass patching on the back of a panel then it wouldnt be a concern at all. Just bear in mind the stigma that comes with it though so you will always be about 15 to 20% below non-CAT market prices.

My biggest watch out would be broken or missing parts that are V6 specific, parts are hard to get now and cost a FORTUNE when they do come up - in my recent restoration is cost me a mere fifty quid for brand new OE fog light units (shared with Espace) and then quadruple that for second hand plastic backplates. Genuine headlights are a little over a hundred quid a pop, but a front wing would be 3 or four times that used. I also saw a front luggage liner being discussed at £750-odd I think, have a scan of the V6 parts on eBay to get an idea.

 

[ElDiabloRosado]

How wary should I be of Cat D's?

It wouldn't put me off at all, I have a CAT D 197 cup that I picked up for a steal due to that marker.

I would want to know what damage it had suffered (and on a Vee it can be as little as a broken bumper) so I could have a good nosey at the repair. If I couldnt tell beyond maybe a bit of fibreglass patching on the back of a panel then it wouldnt be a concern at all. Just bear in mind the stigma that comes with it though so you will always be about 15 to 20% below non-CAT market prices.

My biggest watch out would be broken or missing parts that are V6 specific, parts are hard to get now and cost a FORTUNE when they do come up - in my recent restoration is cost me a mere fifty quid for brand new OE fog light units (shared with Espace) and then quadruple that for second hand plastic backplates. Genuine headlights are a little over a hundred quid a pop, but a front wing would be 3 or four times that used. I also saw a front luggage liner being discussed at £750-odd I think, have a scan of the V6 parts on eBay to get an idea.

Hi Dave,

That's very interesting, thank you!
The Black Cat D Vee II currently for sale has been in some sort of accident, but the owner doesn't seem to know what happened so I think a proper inspection would be in order.
It's good to hear foglights are cheap, a few of the Vee's I've seen have issues with foglights so I'm glad that won't be a costly repair.
Of course, part of the reason I'm looking for a cheaper car is that I intend to keep it for a while and I want to leave a fair bit to the side for those sorts of repairs.

Thanks for all the responses, everyone!

 

[rustedandrotten]

How wary should I be of Cat D's?

It wouldn't put me off at all, I have a CAT D 197 cup that I picked up for a steal due to that marker.

I would want to know what damage it had suffered (and on a Vee it can be as little as a broken bumper) so I could have a good nosey at the repair. If I couldnt tell beyond maybe a bit of fibreglass patching on the back of a panel then it wouldnt be a concern at all. Just bear in mind the stigma that comes with it though so you will always be about 15 to 20% below non-CAT market prices.

My biggest watch out would be broken or missing parts that are V6 specific, parts are hard to get now and cost a FORTUNE when they do come up - in my recent restoration is cost me a mere fifty quid for brand new OE fog light units (shared with Espace) and then quadruple that for second hand plastic backplates. Genuine headlights are a little over a hundred quid a pop, but a front wing would be 3 or four times that used. I also saw a front luggage liner being discussed at £750-odd I think, have a scan of the V6 parts on eBay to get an idea.

Hi Dave,

That's very interesting, thank you!
The Black Cat D Vee II currently for sale has been in some sort of accident, but the owner doesn't seem to know what happened so I think a proper inspection would be in order.
It's good to hear foglights are cheap, a few of the Vee's I've seen have issues with foglights so I'm glad that won't be a costly repair.
Of course, part of the reason I'm looking for a cheaper car is that I intend to keep it for a while and I want to leave a fair bit to the side for those sorts of repairs.

Thanks for all the responses, everyone!

The Black Gold in Kent is well under market now due the owner having to sell. the important and costly bits that are vee specific have been done, particularly the expensive belts service. Also a rebuilt 'box with new diff is good news as this is am inherently weak component, likewise a new flywheel as the dual mass ones on the phase 2 tend to drop to bits and cause problems. This is a car just begging to be bought and used, Duncan seems to think that the prang was not a major shunt but a fender bender. At that price it can only go up even if you were to spend a few quid on tidying up and general bits and bobs. I would strongly recommend a 4 wheel alignment check just to be sure that everything is pretty much straight before parting with cash however. :approve:

 

[ElDiabloRosado]

How wary should I be of Cat D's?

It wouldn't put me off at all, I have a CAT D 197 cup that I picked up for a steal due to that marker.

I would want to know what damage it had suffered (and on a Vee it can be as little as a broken bumper) so I could have a good nosey at the repair. If I couldnt tell beyond maybe a bit of fibreglass patching on the back of a panel then it wouldnt be a concern at all. Just bear in mind the stigma that comes with it though so you will always be about 15 to 20% below non-CAT market prices.

My biggest watch out would be broken or missing parts that are V6 specific, parts are hard to get now and cost a FORTUNE when they do come up - in my recent restoration is cost me a mere fifty quid for brand new OE fog light units (shared with Espace) and then quadruple that for second hand plastic backplates. Genuine headlights are a little over a hundred quid a pop, but a front wing would be 3 or four times that used. I also saw a front luggage liner being discussed at £750-odd I think, have a scan of the V6 parts on eBay to get an idea.

Hi Dave,

That's very interesting, thank you!
The Black Cat D Vee II currently for sale has been in some sort of accident, but the owner doesn't seem to know what happened so I think a proper inspection would be in order.
It's good to hear foglights are cheap, a few of the Vee's I've seen have issues with foglights so I'm glad that won't be a costly repair.
Of course, part of the reason I'm looking for a cheaper car is that I intend to keep it for a while and I want to leave a fair bit to the side for those sorts of repairs.

Thanks for all the responses, everyone!

The Black Gold in Kent is well under market now due the owner having to sell. the important and costly bits that are vee specific have been done, particularly the expensive belts service. Also a rebuilt 'box with new diff is good news as this is am inherently weak component, likewise a new flywheel as the dual mass ones on the phase 2 tend to drop to bits and cause problems. This is a car just begging to be bought and used, Duncan seems to think that the prang was not a major shunt but a fender bender. At that price it can only go up even if you were to spend a few quid on tidying up and general bits and bobs. I would strongly recommend a 4 wheel alignment check just to be sure that everything is pretty much straight before parting with cash however. :approve:

Thanks, Rusted!

Gotta say, that Black Gold is looking very enticing! Also good advice about the wheel alignment check.
Still haven't had a response from the owner though - hopefully, no one else has snapped it up!

 

[Lankan]

Indeed, given the level of interest on the 'for sale' thread I would be surprised if it hasn't already been snapped up, especially at the reduced price......

 

[ElDiabloRosado]

Welcome.

20k may appear unrealistic if you scan the classifieds, but should should be able to get a Cat-D or high mileage one if your lucky with timing.
Average condition cars tend to sell from mid 20’s at the moment, good cars 30k, the best are well north of 40k.

I wouldn’t be out of by the lack of plaque on the car you linked to in your original post. That car may of never had a UK plaque. It was originally a Renault company car. One weird thing is that the chassis number sticker in the window isn’t original, it looks homemade (I’ve seen the car up close before) I don’t know if anything untoward has happened in the past but it did look a little strange to me.

Hi Duncan,
Owner claims car is HPI clear, assuming this is true does that mean there is no cause for concern?
Thanks for your help!

 

[Duncan]

Hi Duncan,
Owner claims car is HPI clear, assuming this is true does that mean there is no cause for concern?
Thanks for your help!

HPI clear just means nothing recorded, doesnt mean nothings happened.

nothing may of happened, it just seemed odd to me why you would replace a factory fitted chassis number identifier with a homemade one.

 

[ElDiabloRosado]

Hi Duncan,
Owner claims car is HPI clear, assuming this is true does that mean there is no cause for concern?
Thanks for your help!

HPI clear just means nothing recorded, doesnt mean nothings happened.

nothing may of happened, it just seemed odd to me why you would replace a factory fitted chassis number identifier with a homemade one.

It's located on one of the windows right? Maybe the window was broken?

 

[ElDiabloRosado]

Hi Duncan,
Owner claims car is HPI clear, assuming this is true does that mean there is no cause for concern?
Thanks for your help!

HPI clear just means nothing recorded, doesnt mean nothings happened.

nothing may of happened, it just seemed odd to me why you would replace a factory fitted chassis number identifier with a homemade one.

I've contacted the owner, interested to see what he says.

 

[Duncan]

It's located on one of the windows right? Maybe the window was broken?

No it’s between the dash and the windscreen, but i guess it may be as simple as someone fitted a new new part and lost the original sticker. It’s been that way for years so the current owner may not know/of noticed.

 

[Jamesv6]

Are the windows etched?
Picture of VIN number under the seat?

 

[HaventgotaClio]

Are the windows etched?
Picture of VIN number under the seat?

Yes and yes. There's a VIN under the small lift up tab in the carpet on the cross member under the driver side seat. And one on the bottom of the windshield passenger side.