Purchasing a car is a very important step for every car enthusiast, during which unforeseen “surprises” may arise. One of these “surprises” may be the purchase of a salvaged car.
A car is considered scrapped if it is documented (Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated December 21, 2019 N 950 “On approval of the Administrative Regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the provision of state services for vehicle registration”), namely:
- a certificate of disposal of an out-of-service vehicle issued as part of the recycling program;
But what to do if such a car has already been purchased, but you cannot get your money back?
In this article we will try to figure out whether it is possible to register a scrapped car.
Which car is considered scrapped?
A car is considered scrapped if it is proven by the presence of documents (Letter of the Main Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated October 18, 2011 No. 13/5-229), specifically the following:
- A certificate of disposal of an end-of-life vehicle issued as part of the recycling program.
- A certificate issued by a collection center for non-ferrous metal structures or a recycling point.
- The owner’s request to deregister the car after scrapping it, submitted to the registration department of the traffic police.
Disposal or destruction
If a car is in danger of being scrapped, this does not mean that it will be destroyed. This procedure involves deregistering the car. And most often, disposal procedures are limited to this action.
By deregistering a car with the traffic police, its owner is exempt from paying tax. Then he can store the car in the garage for an unlimited amount of time. The law does not oblige motorists to physically destroy written-off cars.
The legislative framework
Having contacted the traffic police to register a previously scrapped car, many motorists are refused. However, it is considered illegal.
When refusing re-registration, traffic police officers most often refer to Order No. 1001 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Paragraph 13 of this document states that registration of scrapped vehicles is impossible. However, if you pay attention to more recent legal acts, it turns out that the legislation is not so categorical.
By law, a car is considered scrapped if the following documents are available:
- Statements from the car owner that he disposed of the vehicle himself.
- Certificates from a scrap metal collection point or recycling center confirming the fact of physical destruction of the vehicle.
- Certificate of recycling issued under the state program.
Thus, if actual disposal never took place, the registration can be restored. According to general rules, a car that is in good technical condition can be registered with the traffic police. However, there is one limitation to consider here. It is prohibited to restore those vehicles that were disposed of as part of a state program. For example, if a car was used as a contribution to the purchase of a new car, then it will not be possible to restore its registration.
Is it possible to register a vehicle after disposal?
June 26, 2021 is the day when Order No. 399 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs “On approval of the Rules for state registration of motor vehicles and their trailers” came into force.
Until this moment, motorists had no difficulty in deregistering their cars due to scrapping, and then in restoring their registration. Any division of the traffic police carried out such actions as usual ; there were no insurmountable barriers for their employees.
But the situation changed when the employees of the State Road Traffic Safety Inspectorate were notified of the content of paragraph No. 13 of this provision, which stated that if the registration of a vehicle was at one time canceled due to disposal, according to a statement drawn up by the owner, then put it Registration is again impossible.
After the adoption of new rules in 2013, the phrase “deregistration” does not formally exist in legislative acts. Its use is limited to general public use only.
This type of procedure has become available only when selling a car or driving it abroad. In exchange, motorists received an easier way to re-register upon purchase. However, it is no longer practically possible to evade paying transport tax .
Previously, owners could not pay a penny in the following situations (when the vehicle acquired salvage status):
- Infrequent or seasonal use of the vehicle.
- Vehicle downtime due to loss of a driver's license or deprivation of the right to drive a vehicle.
- The presence of a vehicle in a destroyed state for a long period of time.
According to the former rules, in theory there would be no opportunity to avoid paying taxes . But especially cunning and resourceful owners found an option - temporary disposal. Upon identifying such a clever loophole in Order No. 1001, these cases were stopped.
Based on the legislation of the Russian Federation, each owner has the right to dispose of his vehicles at his personal discretion and is not limited in his actions. Thus, the car owner can not only interrupt the registration of the car, but also resume it if he so desires. The owner has the right to register a car with the traffic police department if he had previously removed it from the register for disposal, but for some reason did not turn it into a pile of metal.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation was forced, by its decision dated March 6, 2014 No. AKPI13 1251, to cancel the ban on registration of a vehicle, which was previously stopped at the request of the owner due to the intention to dispose of the car. The reason for this development of events was the appeal of one of the car owners regarding the deprivation of this right.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs took into account the decision of the Supreme Court and implemented it everywhere with the help of Order No. 259 of 02/13/2015, which was replaced in 2021 by Order No. 399, as of 2021 the current administrative regulation is the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia of 12/21 .2019 N 950. As a result, as of 2021, a car written off as scrap can easily be re-registered . We must remember that this is only possible if it has not yet undergone physical recycling or recycling under the state program (receiving funds for a new car when scrapping the old one).
In what cases is it not possible to restore documents for a written-off vehicle?
- The car is physically disposed of.
- The car is not insured under MTPL.
- When buying a car that is at the recycling stage, but in a technical condition that suits you, you need to check the year the car was delivered to the scrap metal center.
According to the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, issued on June 26, 2018, it is prohibited to register vehicles that were deregistered due to disposal on the basis of accompanying documents confirming the disposal of the vehicle. If the car is disposed of before this order is approved, then you can try to restore the documentation for the vehicle and register the car with the traffic police. You just need to be patient, optimistic and the required amount of money.
What the law says
Until November 2008, no one thought about whether it was possible to register a car after disposal. There were no problems with the removal and installation of salvaged vehicles. This was before the adoption of Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 1001 “On the procedure for registering vehicles.”
The Order separately included paragraph 13, which explained that it is impossible to register a vehicle if it was deregistered due to disposal. This was done to prevent situations where drivers wrote off their cars in order to avoid paying transport tax. Law enforcement authorities stopped these attempts and issued an appropriate order.
Car owners were outraged, because when they wrote off the car they were sure that it was temporary. Those who did this before the order was issued completely lost the rights to their vehicles. Many owners, after removal, try to sell the car for parts, but not many succeed. Then they try to restore both the car and the registration. Or they sell the car to those who want it, who will also need to register it later.
Then citizens began to fight for their rights. After several appeals to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, it invalidated clause No. 13 of Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 1001. After this decision, traffic police officers were again required to register scrapped vehicles. If you know the law, then you won’t be able to allow inspectors to refuse to carry out such a procedure.
It is impossible to restore the registration of a car if it was disposed of under a state program and a monetary reward was paid for it to purchase a new vehicle.
What does a scrapped car mean? Based on the Letter of the Main Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia No. 13/5-229 dated October 18, 2011, a car is considered disposed of if there is official written confirmation of this. In this case, it is impossible to restore the scrapped car.
Documents confirming disposal:
- Owner's statement regarding self-disposal.
- Certificate from a recycling or scrap metal collection point.
- A certificate issued under a scrappage program indicating that the vehicle has been scrapped.
Cancellation of a vehicle for the purpose of disposal is possible only on the basis of a personal application from the owner.
If the car is not disposed of, you can re-register it. To do this, you need to restore the technical condition. If you purchase a serviceable written-off car, you need to know how to register it.
Who has the right to re-register a car?
According to the current legislation of the Russian Federation, only the current owner of the vehicle has the right to register a previously scrapped car with the traffic police department .
For this reason, when purchasing a scrapped vehicle, it is important to discuss with the previous owner of the vehicle the time of a joint visit to the State Traffic Inspectorate office or the possibility of signing a notarized general power of attorney for the right to conduct business on behalf of the owner and the right to restore registration records.
What is recycling and does physical destruction of the vehicle occur?
This is the destruction of a car. The measures are due to two reasons:
- Littering cities with junk.
- Preservation of the environment.
In the first case, the state is struggling with cars that have been standing in yards for decades in unusable condition. Thanks to the write-off of such cars, you can clean up the city and get a discount on the purchase of a new vehicle from the domestic automobile industry. With the implementation of this program, Russian factories were able to gain up to 50% of profits. There were queues at the salons for several months in advance, but over a couple of years demand has dropped significantly.
The measures also target popular scrapped Japanese right-hand drive cars. They are cheap and easy to use.
In the second situation, it is necessary to properly destroy old cars. Private companies recycle cars by parts: glass, metal, plastic. In addition, there are harmful substances that must be destroyed in a safe way. If cars are left to rot in the natural environment, toxic substances will damage the environment and pollute the soil, water and air.
In Russia, the destruction of vehicles is carried out mainly by small enterprises, processing materials in a handicraft way. The reform has been repeatedly criticized due to the lack of large companies that would organize safe and effective destruction.
The actual destruction of the vehicle does not always occur. It can be sold to an interested party. It is in such a situation that you will need to restore your registration.
According to current laws, only if it is actually destroyed is the machine considered disposed of.
If the vehicle was disposed of under a state program, that is, the owner purchased a certificate for a discount of 50 thousand rubles, then the vehicle cannot be registered again.
Important! Since private enterprises are engaged in car recycling, the owner himself looks for a company that suits him according to conditions and prices. Accordingly, you yourself bear the risk of running into scammers.
How to do this correctly?
- Search for the previous owner of the scrapped car. In most cases, vehicles are scrapped by their former owners. They are most likely included in the car’s passport, so it’s worth finding them and asking them for help. The owner needs to be persuaded to renew the registration of the car with the traffic police departments; sometimes, a necessary measure is an additional fee. You can do it in two ways:
- The previous owner is responsible for restoring the registration on his own.
The previous owner draws up a special general power of attorney for the person who will restore the records.
- Writing an application at the traffic police department indicating:
- state number;
car brand;
- the moment of its release;
- engine and body identification numbers.
The second method is safer, because you will have the right to personally monitor the progress of operations, to be nearby during all procedures, and this is a guarantee of the success of the planned business.
Reference! The previous owner is required to issue a general power of attorney for the buyer. This document must be certified by a notary. Also, it must contain information that the person to whom this document was issued has the right to register the car again.
Regarding additional data, it would not be superfluous to indicate information on the power of attorney (if available), as well as details of the vehicle passport.
The addressee field must contain information about the traffic police department that will be responsible for registration. As additional information, you should note the details of the vehicle passport and the details of the power of attorney, if available.
Read more about how to carry out registration actions without the owner of the car here.
Required package of documents
To restore the registration of a scrapped car, the owner must provide the traffic police department with a package of documents consisting of:
- An appeal drawn up to the head of the registration department of the traffic police.
- Identity cards (Passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation).
- Vehicle passports (until November 2021, both electronic and paper forms are allowed, after that only electronic forms).
- Vehicle registration certificate (if available).
- OSAGO insurance policy.
- Receipts for payment of state duty.
An application for vehicle registration is drawn up in free form. The text should indicate the car model, its production date and license plates, as well as body and engine identifiers. Registration of a vehicle without a preliminary technical inspection is impossible, so the car must be delivered to the inspection point by tow truck.
Important! It should be noted that the vehicle must be delivered on a tow truck, but you cannot drive it in person while driving. Otherwise, the local authority will immediately issue a fine if the traffic police officers do not do this on the way to the department.
According to the law, motorists cannot drive a car that has been scrapped, even if it is in working order . The final stage is the issuance of a new technical passport of the vehicle in the name of the new owner.
After registering the car by the previous owner or his authorized representative, the new owner must strictly enter into a purchase and sale agreement for the car.
The provision of this agreement will be required in the future when re-registering the vehicle to a new owner. It is important to remember that if a purchase and sale agreement is signed before the registration is restored, the document will be considered nothing more than a piece of paper, i.e. will have no legal force.
Approximate time frame and total cost of the process
If both participants have collected everything they need in advance and prepared for the procedure, then the process of resuming registration will take about a couple of hours . The established amount of state duty for registering a car with the traffic police in accordance with Art. 333.33 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is 2,850 rubles.
This figure is calculated from:
- 2 thousand rubles – issuance of registration numbers;
- 350 rubles – adding a new mark to the vehicle passport;
- 500 rubles – issue of a new vehicle registration certificate.
More information about the cost of the car registration procedure and methods of payment can be found here.
Who can initiate recovery
If you are the owner, then you must personally visit the traffic police department. If you purchased a car from the previous owner, you need to find him and visit the institution together to purchase a salvaged vehicle.
An alternative option is to issue a power of attorney from the owner and have it certified by a notary. Then you can come to the department yourself.
Legislation
Several laws regulate such a life situation. Here are the main ones:
- RF GD dated December 26, 2013 No. 1291 (as amended on May 11, 2016);
- RF PP dated 02/06/2016 N 81 (as amended on 05/11/2016);
- Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated November 24, 2008 No. 1001;
- Federal Law No. 89 dated June 24, 1998;
- Federal Law dated July 28, 2012 No. 128;
- Order No. 139 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation dated March 20, 2017.
Where to contact
The vehicle must be re-registered at the branch where it was deregistered.
Recovery stages
The procedure consists of 3 stages:
- Search for the previous owner. You can persuade him to restore the documents yourself or through a power of attorney.
- Legally formalize removal from disposal.
- Inspection of the car by a traffic cop.
- Draw up a purchase and sale agreement, and then send it to the State Traffic Inspectorate for new registration.
Documentation
The following package of documents will be required:
- Application addressed to the head of the traffic police department;
- Passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation;
- PTS;
- STS.
Expertise
If you decide to register a car without documents and license plates, you must have the vehicle towed for an examination by a traffic police officer.
He must inspect the technical condition, gearbox, whether there is a trailer, etc. Formally, the car is prohibited from driving on city roads, as it was scrapped.
Cost and terms
If both parties to the transaction have prepared for re-registration in advance, then in practice restoring the car will take a couple of hours.
According to the law, the car’s previous license plates cannot be restored, so you will need to obtain documents, as for ordinary vehicles: license plates, passport, insurance, etc.
You need to pay:
- For a registration certificate – 500 rubles;
- The fee for issuing new numbers is 2000 rubles;
- The tax on changing registration data about the owner in the vehicle’s passport is 350 rubles.
In practice, a situation often occurs when the real owner has to persuade the owner to come to the traffic police and deregister the vehicle, paying him money and the cost of restoring it from scrap.
Today you can pay fees through State Services or at the MFC branch.
Will it be possible to return the old license plates?
Previously, the traffic police authorities deregistered a car, canceling the validity of state registration plates, as soon as the database received a request for disposal from the owner of the car.
Based on the letter of the Main Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia No. 13/5-229 dated October 18, 2011 and the new Administrative Regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 905 dated December 21, 2019, stopping the registration of a vehicle in connection with disposal is only available in the presence of a document indicating the fact of destruction (extract from the recycling center).
Vehicle owners submit to the registration offices of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, where the following documents are subsequently disposed of:
- Car passport.
- Certificate of vehicle registration.
- State registration marks.
Therefore, after scrapping, it will not be possible to return the old signs.
Recovery initiator
According to the law, only the owner can register a car.
Therefore, to restore documents, you should find the last owner of the vehicle, who was indicated in the registration certificate. Unfortunately, owners rarely agree to participate in registration procedures. Therefore, you can use one of two options:
- offer the car owner money for participating in the registration process;
- ask for a power of attorney, on the basis of which the attorney can independently contact the registration authority.
The last option is considered the most acceptable, since the new owner will be able to directly participate in the process of registering the car.
What should you do if you bought a car and it ended up being scrapped?
The car is scrapped, what should I do? I bought junk, what should I do? I bought a salvaged car, what should I do?
We buy almost any car. Damaged and used. If you urgently need money, call! "Redemption machine.ru" +7(925)6000-511 or write to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You must have JavaScript enabled to view..
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Changes in legislation concerning property rights and the rights of motorists are made regularly. But not every car owner carefully monitors such amendments. In fairness, we note that knowledge of the law does not always save you from scammers who, by their actions, selling you a junk car, can actually rob you of a significant amount. What to do if you bought a car and it's junk?
When purchasing a used car, the car owner may find himself in a situation where, when registering or checking documents, he finds out that he has purchased a scrap car. What to do in such a situation and how to avoid it?
How not to buy a salvaged car?
Having purchased a car secondhand and driven a sufficient number of kilometers on it, you may unexpectedly find out that you purchased the car as a scrap car. This can happen if the car has been resold several times. Now it is possible to buy and sell cars along with license plates under an agreement written by hand and signed by the parties to the transaction.
“If, when purchasing a car, you did not register it on time, the previous owner, evading paying taxes and fines, may well write off the car as scrap. You are left with a salvaged vehicle running, with license plates and documents.”
Usually, the current owner finds out that the car has been scrapped by accident: when handling documents at the traffic police or when he is stopped at a stationary checkpoint to check documents. Traffic police officers report that the purchased car is a scrapped car. What to do in this case?
In this case, state traffic inspectors advise:
- Offer the seller to have the vehicle inspected at a service station you trust. Sign the purchase and sale agreement only after maintenance. If the owner of the car being sold is not ready to meet you halfway, refuse the deal.
- Before finalizing the transaction, contact the nearest traffic police department to check the vehicle according to existing restrictions: arrest, disposal. It is more appropriate to carry out the inspection in the presence of the seller. On the official website of the traffic police it is also possible to carry out an online check.
- If possible, have the purchase and sale agreement certified by a notary. This effective measure against scammers will help you avoid buying junk.
- Please provide accurate information in your purchase documents. The drawn up purchase and sale agreement and the acceptance and transfer certificate of the car give you the right, if it turns out that you purchased a scrapped car, to file a police report against the owner of the car. The court recognizes the transaction as invalid in accordance with Article 451 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, cancels it and obliges you to return the money to you. If it was not the owner who sold the car, but a third party, it will be difficult for you to prove fraud.