where do you stand if you buy one?

what sort of risk are you putting yourself at if u buy one?
and if u buy it without knowing (and the previous owner didnt tell you it was cat c) what can you do about taking it back to the seller?

thanks

If you bought privately, you have no come back, buyer beware.

If you bought from a dealer, he must tell you or he is breaking the law.

The value of the car is approximately half it would normally be.

There are lots of reasons the car could be a category C, you could try to find out why, (may help with re-sale). The most common is an accident, but it has to be safety checked before it gets re -issued with a v5 (reg doc).
However, in my opinion if you bend a car once and you are in a further accident, i think that the car will be weaker and will crumble more than originally. I wont be conviced otherwise.

Hope this helps.

my beetle is a cat c just cos the body shop was charging so much for re spray but i fixed it up and all i have to do is get a VIC check and a new MOT

My Golf is a cat c too, wont take a lot to write off an old car these days.

AFAIK the vic check isnt an inspection to check roadworthy 'ness, it simply confirms that the car hasnt been rung onto another shell ,hence the name Vehicle Identity Check.
all they do is check the chassis numbers etc.
like buey said ,if its a private sale ,as long as the vehicle is fit for purpose theres naff all you can do about it .
however ,as long as it has been correctly repaired ,it should be safe to drive ,cat c/d write offs are only written off for economical reasons ,not because they are unsafe to put back on the road.