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Not Mk1 related but anyway.. Many years ago I sold my 1991 Cooper and immediately regretted it. Five or six years ago I tried to find out about the car and was saddened to find out that it had been written off stolen/recovered as a Cat B. There was however never a certificate of destruction issued for it and the car wasn't apparently scrapped.

Today, following the thread about the abolition of tax discs I went to the DVLA site to have a look at my own dialy drive (a V5 Golf..) and I noticed that it now shows your MOT expiry date along with your Tax.. So, I typed in J242 HMF.. and..


Vehicle enquiry
Registration number: J242 HMF
✗ Untaxed
Expired: 01 January 2009
✔ MOT
Expires: 21 August 2015
Vehicle excise duty
Vehicle excise duty rate for vehicle
6 Month rate £79.75
12 Month rate £145.00
Vehicle details
Vehicle make ROVER Date of first registration 17 December 1991 Year of manufacture 1991 Cylinder capacity (cc) 1275cc CO₂Emissions Not available Fuel type PETROL Export marker No Vehicle status Not taxed Vehicle colour RED Vehicle type approval Not available


It's ALIVE! I presume it's awaiting a VIC check before it can be retaxed.

If anyone knows anything about this car, I'd love to know more about the story of what happened to this car, good bad or ugly. I've still got a stack of it's early history here as well. And, if it's for sale, I could be tempted. My Mark One needs it's old Rover garage mate to keep it company!

Thats great news for the Mini but I was under the impression that Cat B was 'break-only' and would not allowed back on the road.

Hopefully that has changed and the person concerned has not got the Mini repaired and MOT'd, only to now find out via a VIC check, that a V5 will not be issued as its a Cat B write off

As it was a stolen recovered and presumably sustained little or no damage, its a travesty if it is a Cat B and cannot be returned to the road. Some insurers do seem to categorise cars differently.

Yeah it's an odd one; one check I did years ago showed it Cat B. another I did more recently just showed stolen recovered (and scrapped..)

That said the dvla told me that it wasn't scrapped nor had a cert of destruction been issued.

There no 'law' against returning a cat B to the road as far as I know but they do (and this one will) have to have a VIC check to get a V5C and tax. I presume it's waiting for successful VIC..

I'm hopeful I can find out who owns it and what the story was with it. I'd consider having it back as well.

I suppose a more nefarious outcome to this is that maybe something stolen has been ringed onto that identity. I can't see how that'd be desirable though as I think the log book is supposed to be endorsed as an ex write off.

It wouldn't bother me either being a write off. In the past, I've bought and straightened a few damaged ones and a stolen recovered one, and they've been bloody good cars and cheap as well.

It used to be that Cat D ones are not recorded on the V5C as damaged/repaired but Cat C's were (and presumably Cat B's, if they can be returned to the road). Cat D's were subsequently much more sought after as it's not a requirement to inform a buyer (legally rather than morally that is) that the car has been written off. If they ask the question though, you cannot hide the truth.

Once it's back on the road, you could write to DVL and tell them that as a previous owner, you have some information and documentation that you would like to pass on to the current registered keeper. They may then pass on your letter to the current keeper and contact can be made. Its worked for me in the past.

I suppose these days with heritage shells it's difficult to totally lose a later car!

Cat B shouldn't be returned to the road, but until they seemed to standardise it all a couple of years ago, it was possible. I think since the VIC test thing started it was possible to sneak them through, but now the V5C is held back unitl the VIC marker is moved after inspection its all but impossible.

'Cat B is where the vehicle is no longer safe to put back on the road and must be broken or crushed. These can only be sold to registered dismantlers with an EPA waste licence. They are actually sold as parts and are no longer considered as a vehicle. There is no economic consideration involved, purely a safety one. Vehicles that have been flooded are normally written off as a cat B.'


my old VTS was a Cat B, and there was no way that was ever going back on the road, so you have to assume that a mini that has received the correct 'B' marker must have had a fairly serious punt to do so.


however I have heard of a lot of people struggling with insurance companies who want to put later minis straight onto a Cat B as it allows them to just write it off and pay out, this is due to the difficulty in getting the parts to fix them

'Shouldn't' be returned to the road - however, it seems that there's no law against it.

It's difficult to imagine how a car for which one can obtain a brand new replacement bodyshell could ever be demolished to a point where it's 'unsafe' to be put back on the road - and with the prices the cars are fetching these days combined with their relative simplicity to disassemble and reassemble for the average guy in a shed it's probably becoming economically viable. I can't see how insurers have difficulty in getting parts to fix them either, there can't be much that's not available.

It's unclear in the case of my old car exactly what's happened - like I said, one report I did yonks ago showed a Cat B, another more recent search didn't show a write off category.. Either way, something bearing that numberplate has an MOT and presumably whoever owns it is trying to get a V5C and a bit of tax. It'd be interesting to know if this is genuine or something more dodgy.

If anyone does know of the story of this car and is offered it, then beware (and let me know, I might just want it back!)

gs.davies wrote:
It's difficult to imagine how a car for which one can obtain a brand new replacement bodyshell could ever be demolished to a point where it's 'unsafe' to be put back on the road

I refer you back to my old vts...........

gs.davies wrote: I can't see how insurers have difficulty in getting parts to fix them either, there can't be much that's not available.

the trouble with the later minis is that its the trim, plastics, looms, ecus etc. - plus a lot of insurance companies only want 'genuine', so if x-part cannot supply parts they simply write the car off - they will not get involved in trying to source parts from the specialists. - we have some right carry ons at work with bodyshops and people desperately trying to get quotes that are 'worded right' to appease insurance assessors.

CatBs do somehow sometimes get returned to the road. I had a car written off (flooded) in 2007 and did make enquiries to my insurer about buying the salvage back. I was told I couldn't have it because of the catB status. A few years later I did a DVLA check and was suprised to find that it was taxed again!