-Rich-

I got mine from Lexus Parts Direct and fitted myself. This was in the middle of Covid and we were isolating so £125 fitted is a great price. Ours was the original so it had lasted 10 years. https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/parts/lexus-ct/lexus-ct-2010-onwards/lexus-ct-engine-service-kits/lexus-ct-phase-1-12v-starter-battery/

I guess it depends on if you needed to sell at the time but no one could've predicted these rises! I'm still glad ours went when it did as I got more than I was expecting. Plus we 'only' lost £3k on 5 years of ownership. Someone was also snooping underneath one of our other cars last night so if the Lexus was still on the drive I'm convinced the CAT would've gone again!

I found the car on autotrader, being sold by a trader not dealer and they want £9,650 for it! Out of curiosity I did another WBAC valuation and it was £1,000 more than 4 weeks a go. That is just crazy! If anyone is thinking of selling I would do it now while prices are so high.

Did the same with ours and snapped the grille to cut the wires, but they only cut one side, which is why the alarm still sounded. The guy who collected the car said he's not seen one where they cut the grille, they usually use a wire coat hanger to pull the wire and sheath out, and then cut.

Well booked my appointment with WBAC yesterday. The guy phoned me this morning to confirm things, he sounded really friendly. Arrived 10 minutes early and he was dealing with someone when we got there, a 69 plate BMW X1. They drove off without accepting the offer! He checked the engine started ok, looked at the V5 and the service stamps. Then spent 2 minutes looking around the car. He didn't bother with the wheels, interior or engine bay, just the paintwork! They go by grade and he gave it a 2, saying it's rare to get a 10 year old car in such good condition. Valuation online was £7285. Price offered after grading £7142. Admin and immediate payment fee was £105. So total of £7037. Invoice emailed instantly and money was in the account pretty much instantly. 10/10 for WBAC, very easy way of selling your car. I now have some bits to sell, winter wheels, oil and filter, filter tool, boot liner and rubber mats. I'll put them in the for sale section.

Yep they stole ours with the alarm blaring out, they just don't care who sees them! 😡

We got the car back on Friday after nearly a month with the garage. Total bill was £2066! 😠 The car was being sold anyway and unlikely to be replaced but I've had to declare the claim on my other car. The Lexus is the missus and she is a named driver on mine. The quotes increased on mine by £40+ but the excess went from £0-£100 to £250-£500. I had been planning on renewing with Aviva for £237 and £0 excess. Adding the claim changed it to £275 with a £500 excess!! 😢

We got the car back on Friday. I spent a good few hours cleaning it on Saturday and swapping the winter wheels back to the summer ones. It was too late to take it to WBAC by then. So I've listed it using that motorway, although they need to speak to me first. After going through the history the car has done 3k miles in 2 years and in 2019 I also had new front discs and pads fitted so they're virtually brand new! I'll see what happens with motorway but I only have 10 days until the insurance needs renewing so need it gone asap!

What about when you drive it there, that adds mileage too!! That reminds me the engine bay is a bit grubby so I'll have to clean that quickly. I'm hoping the branch I use doesn't check the wheels as while three are mint one does have a little kerbing on the edge. I removed it from the valuation in the hope they don't notice. Our car has 2 and half months MOT. The options are 3-5 months or 1-2 months. Our valuation is based on the former but I don't know whether to change it. My concern with taking the free payment is leaving the car with them. I would opt for the 30 minute option but that's probably weekdays only, not late on a Saturday which is when I plan to take it.

Did they knock any money off the valuation and what payment speed did you opt for? How thoroughly did they check it? We're getting our car back tomorrow so hoping to get it to WBAC on Saturday.

You don't need 6 months MOT, they'll buy it with an expired one. My quote is based on 3 months left but by the time I have the car back I'll have to do it as 1-2 months. The valuation drops by the cost of an MOT so that's fine with me. It would be nice to sell to a Lexus enthusiast but the price WBAC if offering is more than what I was expecting selling privately. Yes they might try and knock some money off but it shouldn't be much if you've been honest with the history. Someone gave me a good tip who a WBAC rep told them. Take the car to the last appointment of the day when they'll want to get home. Take it on an overcast day so the sun doesn't show the paintwork up more. But ideally take it when it's raining as that'll make it difficult for them to try and pick things out. I know a couple of people who have used them and they didn't even check the interior condition or knock any money off at all. I'd probably pay the extra for next day payment though rather than wait 4 days.

We've had a quote of over £7k from WBAC for our 2011 SEL. That's with 82k miles and part service. Also try Motorway as that was a similar price after you take off WBACs fees. Plus they collect and pay immediately. The car is barely getting used, less than 1500 miles a year and the CAT being stolen was the nail in the coffin. We should have the car back from the garage next week and then it's going. I'll miss it for sure but we don't really need 4 cars! 😂

So now the nightmare of insurance begins. I reported the claim online, although some of the questions seem to relate to being in an accident, even though I selected fire/theft. They have appointed one of their approved repairers which seems to be a bodyshop. Although I suspect they could fit a new CAT too. I know they're going to fit a pattern part, should I accept this or ask for a Lexus part or even get Lexus to do the repairs? What has everyone else had fitted when they've been stolen?

I had a look earlier and took some photos. What I thought was wiring loom was actually just the sleeving for the blue wire to the siren. The other siren they couldn't reach so didn't cut this. They have cut the bolts for the CAT to the manifold to remove that end. I found one underneath the car but no sign of the other. Where the car is parked it was close to a wall and they would've jacked it up on soil (hence the weeds). Whoever got under the car like that has some balls on them!

Thanks. I can see the blue wire but wondered what the black one poking out of the grille is? The photo was taken by a relative as I'm actually away so won't see the damage until the weekend. Nice welcome home present! I got a quote from a local garage and they said it'll be over £1k to repair so it's definitely going to be an insurance claim. I was actually planning on putting the car up for sale next week as it's not really been used. So I have been blocking it in on the driveway as best as I could. I really wish I had got a catloc now but thefts in my area had quietened down so didn't bother.