Atoms for sale - information thread

[John Scherrer]

Yes - The number plates are consecutive too !

[Cro]

Anyone recognise the story of this car? Must have been some shunt for it to have been a complete chassis replacement, or would that be common place?

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds ... 3DLocation

[phil4]

That's the thing though, with the frame exposed as it is, firstly it's open to damage in a collision, and secondly it's very obvious if it has. There's no "impact absorbing" bumpers, wings, doors etc that can just be removed and replaced, it's the chassis.

As they say though, it's been repaired with insurers money by Ariel, it's got the newer 3.5 chassis and lights shown, and in reality is a really good price for someone wanting an Atom.

[Fastlane]

It wouldn't put me off if it's been rebuilt by the factory. I'd ring the factory and confirm their thoughts on it, and also check the service history.

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[atomiser]

Anyone recognise the story of this car? Must have been some shunt for it to have been a complete chassis replacement, or would that be common place?

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds ... 3DLocation

Good money for a 2010 car with a major accident history.

However if the car truly has had a chassis replacement and a full factory service history then worth a look.

I'd be using 'in a major accident' as a negotiating point, because if you don't, the next buyer will.

Try selling any specialist car that's been in cat S and said buyer will be looking for a bargain.

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[Cro]

I agree [mention]atomiser[/mention] I'm assuming it would HPI as a categorised car seeing as it was put through insurance, which is probably enough to put me off and I actually thought it was then quite expensive considering this.

Not as if they are trying too hard in the advert with their 1 photo either!

I was contacted by someone from the FB group who was possibly wanting to sell theirs, and when I contacted the factory it had chassis repairs carried out via insurance. No mention of that from the description they sent me but Henry did reassure me that if it was fixed by them then even he himself wouldn't have a problem driving it as hard as he could.

Categorised and resale value would be my only apprehension then buying one that had damage repaired

[phil4]

I think your assumption may be wrong. If the repairs were paid for by the insurers then it wouldn’t be CAT anything.

Worth checking mind, as I could be wrong.

Price wise for a new frame and gear I think it’s quite reasonable.

And if it’s factory repaired then it’s good as new, they don’t take half measures with repairs.

Each to their own though, I know nothing about the car and have no hand in it.


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[atomiser]

Doesnt matter if its recorded or not - the factory will state the chassis has been changed, which is a cat S and will effect the value of the car.

HPI may not come back with cat S and may not have been recorded as such, but his atom has still been in a major accident that required a structural part of the vehicle to be repaired.

Definition: A Cat S car is one which has sustained structural damage during a crash – think items such as chassis and suspension.

[phil4]

I don’t disagree with the definition of Cat S... my point is it has to be written off to be Cat anything. Since the insurer paid for the repairs it won’t have been a write off and so can’t be a Cat S.

Like I said, I may be wrong.


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[hamtt]

Somethings not quite right. Surely if the repair estimate was anywhere near that the insurance company would have written it off?

Unless the factory initially quoted them peanuts and forgot to add on the ariel tax, and once the work was done the insurance company got a nice surprise.

[phil4]

That’s the thing, we don’t know what value it had when it crashed and we don’t know the Ariel quote for the repair (expect that’s ex vat as b2b).

There’s a lot of unknowns here, but a chat to Ariel and a HPI check from someone who was interested would sort it all.

If you’re looking and at that sort of price don’t write it off (pun intended), on a guess or assumption.


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[autobackup]

There are several provisos to this :

1. It's not possible to compare a rebuilt handbuilt car with a frame chassis to a mass produced monocoque car that's had an accident.

2. A new frame on an Atom is equivalent to a complete new monocoque body shell - if, as claimed, the new frame is a 3.5 spec unit then it will be much better than the original not to mention better braced and also 15% stiffer!

3. All the other bits simply hang off or are bolted to the frame and, if damaged, are very easily replaced.

Suggesting that simply having been in accident reduces the value of a completely rebuilt car with a brand new and pristine spine is, to my mind, completely ridiculous

IF the repair was done inhouse by Ariel then I have no hesitation in suggesting that it's probably considerably better than the original car prior to the accident as all the old running gear is likely to have been replaced!

To all intents and purposes it's effectively a brand new car!

If the factory verifies the repair I would have absolutely no problem in buying it - after hard negotiation of course.

[Anon]

If it were me paying just short of £40k for a used 10 year old Atom (albeit it has been rebuilt) I would just order a basic 4 and wait. Even the basic 4 with no options will be much better in every aspect. You don't know the condition of the running gear, clutch and engine and it's done 18k. But this is just my own reasoning.

[autobackup]

Simon

Would your opinion be the same if it had never been in an accident but had simply had a complete new rebuild that included a new 3.5 spec frame?

[phil4]

I swear this car was listed for £28k when I commented. Indeed I was even doing some man maths to work out if I could, and if i could squeeze it in the garage.

At 38k I think it’s a bit too rich. Forget the crash, more that it’s got plenty of miles and engine and gearbox are many years old.

And while it’s reasonable spec it’s not stand out.

At that price, I think Simon’s right, you’d be better spending a smidge more and getting a 4, or looking for better spec/less old/less mile atoms.


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