The risks the photos don't show.
Every lot has risk that doesn't appear in the listing. Make-known defects, title-and-legal traps, hidden mechanical damage. CarMargin calls them out before you bid.
Make-and-model defect surfacing
Some failures are so common on a given engine or platform that knowing the make and year tells you most of the story. CarMargin's defect database is cross-referenced against every lot's damage class and surfaced in the analysis.
- BMW N47 timing chain · 2008–2012, rear-of-engine chain replacement
- VW DSG mechatronic · DQ200 / DQ250 failures
- Audi 2.0 TFSI oil consumption · pre-2013 piston-ring issues
- Range Rover air suspension · compressor and bag failures
When a lot's damage class lines up with a known defect — say, "engine damage" on a 2010 BMW 320d — the analysis flags it explicitly: this might not be what crashed the car, it might be why it ended up at Copart in the first place.
Title and legal risk
Beyond the category code, the analysis flags:
- Flood-title resale stigma — a flood lot is always worth less to the next buyer, no matter how clean the repair.
- Branded-title implications — what re-registration paperwork looks like for each category.
- V5 missing — what it costs and how long it takes to recover the logbook.
- Stolen-recovered — DVLA flags and what the insurer paid out.
"What you can't see from photos"
An explicit list on every analysis. The risks that exist but can't be priced from the listing alone:
- Engine compression
- Transmission internals
- Computer / ECU fault codes
- Mechatronic / clutch pack wear
- A/C condenser leaks
- Hidden frame rot beneath panels
This list calibrates your expectations. A high-confidence damage analysis still can't tell you whether the engine has compression. The chat will say so when you ask.
The visible side comes from the vision pass, and the cost of putting it right lives in the repair plan — the risks on this page are what those two can't quantify.
Total-loss math sanity check
An insurer wrote this car off. Does the visible damage justify the write-off, or does it look more like a £600 bumper repair on a £4,000 car? When the visible damage doesn't add up to the category, hidden damage is implied — and CarMargin flags it.