Almost buying a Category B Write off

inspecting a car under a microscope

This week I had a buyer who was a bit upset that he had wasted his money having a car inspected.
The car was a 2011 VW Passat estate, 2.0L with 60,000 miles on it. The buyer had driven from Dublin to Drogheda twice to view the car and had taken long test drives. He agreed a price with the seller and called me to check it out.
The car had a few minor faults but I also told the buyer the car was rough and most likely clocked. Further checks were done by me and I found the car had been a category B write off – as in “for breaking only” – even though it had a valid NCT. It also had a mileage discrepancy. The buyer was upset as I was the messenger of bad news. He thought he wasted his money, but in fact I saved him thousands.