Methods for checking a car for recycling

What does “machine scrapped” mean?

The recycling process involves recycling a used car. In this case, the body is freed from all plastic and rubber components. The engine, electrical wiring, windows, wheels, instruments, etc. are removed. The body itself is crushed in a shredder, pressed and sent for melting. The process is labor-intensive, but many industrial enterprises are willing to buy recycled materials, since they are much cheaper.

A car scrapped means that it is deregistered and legally no longer exists. It often happens that the documents for the car are disposed of, but the car itself continues to be driven or even sold. True, when buying such a car, the new owner has problems with registering the car.

About how to check a car for scrap according to the state. number or VIN, we will tell you below.

Is it necessary to bring a vehicle to the traffic police for formal disposal?

Often people do not dispose of obsolete cars out of ignorance, considering the procedure troublesome and expensive, and they continue to pay an annual tax on the vehicle. If you think logically, then for recycling you need to have the scrap object itself. Then how to dispose of a car without a car at the traffic police? Of course, the traffic police does not deal with the physical destruction of vehicles. The network of dealership centers and scrap metal collection points fully cope with this function.

From July 2021, formal disposal of a car at the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate is carried out only after submitting a certificate of its physical recycling. This decision was made due to the large number of rusting cars on city streets, whose owners did not bother to dispose of them after they were written off. Therefore, deregistration of a vehicle at the State Traffic Inspectorate department without the presence of the car itself is a standard procedure, which is supported by legislative acts.

According to Appendix No. 2 of the administrative regulation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia N 605, it is not necessary to provide the car to the traffic police in order to hand it over for recycling. An extract from Law No. 130-23B, as amended on June 23, 2016, states that a vehicle inspection is not required.

At the State Traffic Inspectorate office, the owner submits a completed application using a standard form, provides documents for the car, registration license plates, and a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation.

Algorithm for filling out an application:

1. a department is selected and its full name is entered in the header of the application;
2. the owner's full name is indicated;
3. the item corresponding to the reason for deregistration is emphasized or marked (namely, disposal);
4. car details are indicated with all important information included;
5. in the information column about the car owner, detailed information is entered indicating the full name or full name of the authorized person, date of birth, as well as passport data, tax information, residence/registration address of the car owner;
6. information about the car is indicated again, but in more detail;
7. If deregistration of the vehicle is carried out by a trusted person, detailed information about the owner’s representative must be indicated.

The fields must be filled out in as much detail as possible and without errors. The department will check the owner for any debts to the tax service or violations. If there are none, the owner will be given a decree - an extract from the register about the end of operation of the vehicle. The owner submits this certificate to the tax office to stop accruing annual transport tax.

Why are new cars scrapped?

This happens for two reasons:

• The new car was damaged during transportation to the place of sale. The shipment is usually insured, so the insurance company will pay the dealer monetary compensation. In turn, the dealer is obliged to send a new, but already damaged car “for press”.
• The new car reached the buyer, but it turned out to be seriously defective, which during operation caused some kind of emergency (accident, fire, etc.). Such a car must be replaced with a similar one. The defective vehicle is scrapped and the dealer receives compensation from the insurance company or manufacturer.

Apply for recycling of your car online according to the state. number or VIN!

Is it possible to buy a salvaged car?

“Excuse me! - one of the readers will say. - How is this possible? After all, scrapped cars are dismantled and recycled!” It's not that simple!

In accordance with Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation No. 1001 of November 24, 2008, it is impossible to restore the registration of a scrapped car. But this only applies to those cars that ended up at recycling points. If the car is not included there, it is quite possible to register it. Therefore, a certificate received from the traffic police does not mean that the car will soon be at the collection point. Many owners receive this document only to avoid paying taxes on a vehicle that they do not use. And some are also trying to make money by selling it.

If you deliberately wanted to purchase a salvaged car (prices for such cars are usually one and a half to two times lower than the market average), then by and large there is nothing wrong with such a purchase. The main thing is to know how to register a scrapped car.

Why check a car for recycling?

Until July 10, 2017, before being sent to the press - both during normal scrapping and in the case of participation in the state program - the old car had to be first deregistered with the traffic police. However, not all vehicles were actually destroyed after being formally scrapped. For example, new cars that were damaged in an accident. Some owners only formally wrote off their cars for scrap when they had not been used for a long time, in order to avoid paying vehicle tax. It happens that they try to sell such cars without restoring registration or with fake documents. It is for this reason that before buying a used car, it is important to make sure that the car is not scrapped according to the documents.

Since 2013, before sale, cars are not deregistered with the traffic police, but are immediately re-registered to the new owner by the buyer himself. If the vehicle is formally scrapped, but was somehow sold, the buyer will not be able to register it on his own. Then you need to find the seller and ask him to restore the car’s registration with the traffic police or provide you with a power of attorney to carry out registration actions. In case of refusal, you should file a claim in court, where the purchase and sale agreement can be provided as evidence.

How to restore documents if the car is scrapped

To apply for vehicle registration, you must contact the traffic police with the following documents in hand:

• certificate of disposal;
• power of attorney from the owner in writing (it is not necessary to go to a notary);
• photocopies of passports (yours and the seller’s);
• insurance;
• maintenance ticket.

After checking the submitted papers, you will be given an application (of course you need to fill it out) and a payment slip for 3.3 thousand rubles. Next, you need to pay the state fee and, attaching the receipt received from the bank to the rest of the documents, visit the traffic police again to receive a PTS and a registration certificate. With a successful combination of circumstances, you can do it in 1-2 days. Then a standard DCP (purchase and sale agreement) is drawn up, and you are the full owner of a legally registered car.

What to do if the car is scrapped

If the vehicle was not checked in a timely manner, and as a result of an already completed purchase and sale transaction, the new owner learns about the fact of disposal, he has several options for solving this problem.

The owner can choose one of these three methods:

Recommended reading:

• Remove a car from registration for recycling
• Car recycling: what is needed for the procedure
• Checking a car using STS in the Russian Federation
• What is the responsibility for non-payment of transport tax, how to check whether there is a debt
• Checking the legal purity of a car in the Russian Federation before purchasing

If the owner wishes to restore the documents, if the vehicle is sent for recycling, then it is necessary to contact the State Traffic Inspectorate and submit the following papers:

• certificate of scrap;
• power of attorney from the owner;
• photocopies of passports (both seller and client);
• insurance contract;
• maintenance ticket.

Next, you will need to fill out an application and pay a state fee. After visiting the traffic police department again, the new owner receives a PTS and a registration certificate. Next, you can draw up a policy statement.

What to do if the car is scrapped, but you didn’t know about it when you bought it

To avoid problems, it is better to check the car in advance using the traffic police database for disposal. If a scrapped car has already been purchased, there are several ways to resolve the situation.

First option

Find the owner and demand that he restore the registration. The former owner's lack of time is not an argument. Let him write out a general power of attorney for you. And then the procedure is the same as described in the previous section of the article.

Second option

Applicable in the case when the owner of the car declares that I am not me, and the house is not mine, and refuses to do anything to restore the registration of the car. If there is a purchase and sale agreement, the seller can be safely sued. Article 451 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that a gross violation of the rules of the monetary policy may serve as grounds for termination of the transaction and return of funds. Your claim will most likely be successful, but legal proceedings may take a long time.

Third option

If you were unable to find the old owner on your own, contact the traffic police with a request to find the owner of the car. In this case, you can, for example, indicate that you simply found the car in the middle of the road. If the owner is found, use one of the two methods described above.

How to find out whether a car is scrapped or not

As already noted, hundreds of thousands of different vehicles pass through enterprises engaged in performing this important function. From these companies, information flows into the general traffic police database so that anyone can check a car for recycling. Hence the verification methods:

1. Personal appeal to the traffic police department with a question on how to find out whether the car is written off or not. Of course, this method is quite archaic, but it still works, especially in the Russian outback. It is clear that it will require a certain amount of time.
2. Check your car for recycling on the traffic police website for free. You only need to know the WIN code of the vehicle and have a firm position - if the vehicle is not in the database, the purchase must be postponed.
3. Go to the Avtokod company website, enter information about the vehicle’s license plate number or its WIN code and get information about whether the car is scrapped or not. Unlike the traffic police, the information provided here is paid.

It is important to know! In any case, it is necessary to follow the golden rule - if there is no data in the database, the car is not suitable for use. However, it may happen that the car purchased by the new owner ends up being scrapped. Regrettable, but not fatal.

The best option is to require the former owner to restore the vehicle registration or issue a general power of attorney for the new owner. Otherwise, go to court. But only if there is a purchase and sale agreement. As a rule, the court, when considering such cases, takes the position of the plaintiff. If you cannot find the former owner, then there is only one piece of advice - read the article first.

Is it possible to drive a scrapped car?

The Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation does not provide for any special punishment for driving a scrapped car. However, for a number of reasons, such a ride can cost a pretty penny. Including, in accordance with Art. 12 of the Code of Administrative Offences, driving an unregistered car will cost 500 rubles. Repeated violation will increase the fine to 5 thousand rubles. Also, traffic police officers will have every right to send the car to the impound lot. There it will remain until the violations are eliminated (that is, until you register it).

Why is this necessary?

Checking the purchased vehicle for recycling is necessary for a simple reason. Despite the technical condition, driving such a car is subject to sanctions, since it is not properly registered.

Attention! For such a violation detected for the first time, the traffic police imposes a fine of 500 rubles. if you get caught again, the fine will increase to 5,000 rubles, in addition, the car can be evacuated to a impound lot.

It will be possible to pick it up from there only after the violation has been eliminated, that is, registered in accordance with all the rules, with the restoration of the title and registration certificate. In the case of a scrapped vehicle, this may take more than one day.

How to check a car for recycling

You can check, for example, in the following two ways.

Contact the traffic police

To check the car, you will need to present the title, passport details of the seller and buyer, as well as the state registration plate number.

Use the online verification service "Autocode"

Simply enter the vehicle's license plate number or VIN code into the search form. Checking your car for recycling will take no more than 5 minutes. You will also receive information about mileage, number of owners, fines, accidents, restrictions and other information about the car.

Recycle your car right now!

Autocode is suitable if you need to check one or more cars. If you need to constantly check a large number of cars, use the “Autocode Pro” unlimited car check service. A subscription to unlimited car checks costs 2,500 rubles per month. “Autocode Pro” allows you to add comments to reports, create your own lists of liquid vehicles, quickly compare options and store data about cars in an orderly manner.

You can learn even more about how to get your car inspected in our free book, Secrets to Buying a Used Car Safely.

Checking on "AutoHistory"

There is another option to check the car. A reliable and proven online vehicle check service on the territory of the Russian Federation is the AutoHistory service, which checks a third of a million cars every day.

On it, by entering the state. numbers or VIN code, you can check the car for recycling and many other parameters that are important when conducting a transaction. You can buy a report after it has been generated by paying for the service. The information will be sent to the email address you provided.