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<\/p>\nCut and shut is a term you may have heard applied to second-hand cars, but maybe you weren\u2019t quite sure what it meant. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? Well, we\u2019re sorry to say, bad. Very, very bad. Cut and shut cars pose a very dangerous risk to motorists \u2013 although they were once more common decades ago, the problem still hasn\u2019t entirely gone away. So what exactly is a cut and shut car, any why should you be worried about it?<\/p>\n
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Don\u2019t let the catchy name fool you \u2013 cut and shuts are much more sinister than they sound. Basically, the term refers to a single vehicle that\u2019s been jigsawed together from the remains of two separate write-offs. In these cases, the undamaged sections are removed and then welded together to make a new car.<\/p>\n
These cut and shuts are hugely dangerous to motorists. You see, the people who perform this impromptu vehicular surgery are generally more concerned with shifting them for profit than they are about doing a good job that guarantees safety. The structural integrity of the cars are altered so that these scrap cars can be liable to fall apart completely with even the slightest impact. So not only does it make it dangerous to you, the driver, but also any other passengers and likely any motorists around you. It\u2019s essentially a perfect storm of everything you don\u2019t want in a second hand car \u2013 but luckily, there are some easy checks you can make to ensure that you\u2019re not buying a cut and shut.<\/p>\n
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We talked the other week about how to make sure you\u2019re not buying a stolen car<\/a>, and to be honest many of the same rules apply. Have your wits about you when looking at the price \u2013 in the motoring world, anything that looks too good to be true generally is.<\/p>\n Even a skilled cut and shutter isn\u2019t able to hide all the hallmarks of such a major operation, so giving it a cursory check over might be wise to see if you can spot any panels that stand out from the general surface, or signs of a hasty, imperfect spray. You might even be able to see the actual join, so always make sure you\u2019re checking the car under good lighting, and not in the dark or rain. The upholstery is another thing to take a ganders at, as seams or rushed craftsmanship can be visible there, too.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve got some good news for you on that front. Part of the reason that cut and shuts are becoming rarer is that paperwork systems have got a lot stricter in recent decades. Spotty paperwork is a major obstacle for cut and shutters, as they have to essentially present a mishmash history of two (until recently) separate cars, and hope no one looks too closely. That\u2019s why it\u2019s in your interests to cast a beady eye over absolutely everything before you buy a car. Are there any irregularities in its financing history? Any breaks or gaps in its maintenance, or missed MOTs?<\/p>\n An easy tell-tale sign is to check the VIN. We went into more detail about this in a previous post, but essentially a car\u2019s VIN is its individual fingerprint. No two are the same, and each car only has one. If you find two separate VINs on the body of the car, then it\u2019s a cut and shut \u2013 no question. You can find the VIN in:<\/p>\n We\u2019ll end on a light note; as we\u2019ve mentioned in passing above, cut and shutting doesn\u2019t seem to be nearly as widespread a practice as it used to be in the UK. That\u2019s a lot to do with tightened legislation and savvy buyers, who are more easily spotting the dangerous cars. Having said that though, it\u2019s estimated that there are still as many as 30,000 on the roads today, which means that it\u2019s still quite possible to stumble across one. It\u2019s worth being careful!<\/p>\n At Scrap Car Network, integrity is our middle name. (Or actually we guess it\u2019s technically \u2018Car\u2019, but you know what we mean.) All of our partners are licensed Authorised Treatment Facilities, which guarantees you a reliable, trustworthy service. Click here to read about some other reasons to choose us<\/a>, or get started immediately on scrapping your car<\/a> by simply entering your car reg and postcode<\/strong> into our website today!<\/p>\nDoes The Paper work check out?<\/h3>\n
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