Do breakers record vehicles scrapped?
Discussion
I've recently been wondering about a car I'd love to track down.
A simple DVLA check will show when a car's tax & MOT was last due and from this I've always assumed that if off the road and not SORN, the car is most likely in a breaker's yard somewhere. But is that actually the case?
Does anybody know whether a car is registered as scrapped when it arrives at a breaker's yard, versus being scrapped and crushed straight away? I want to get a bit of certainty that what I'm looking for has suffered a certain fate so I can give up the search!
Finding an old car is like looking for a needle in a haystack of needles, so I'm not holding out any hope. It would just be useful to know.
A simple DVLA check will show when a car's tax & MOT was last due and from this I've always assumed that if off the road and not SORN, the car is most likely in a breaker's yard somewhere. But is that actually the case?
Does anybody know whether a car is registered as scrapped when it arrives at a breaker's yard, versus being scrapped and crushed straight away? I want to get a bit of certainty that what I'm looking for has suffered a certain fate so I can give up the search!
Finding an old car is like looking for a needle in a haystack of needles, so I'm not holding out any hope. It would just be useful to know.
Yeah, sort of what I was thinking.
I basically want to know if there's a way of differentiating between those cars sat rotting on a driveway that aren't SORN, versus those sat rotting in a breaker's yard.
The car I'm looking for is not registered as scrapped and the last change of ownership was the date it was last sold by my family. It's also not SORN and was never taxed or MOT'd again after a family member sold it 20-odd years ago. I guess this means it was only driven until it's last MOT was due and until the tax ran out. Could that still mean it's sat in a breaker's yard, on a driveway somewhere or either?
I basically want to know if there's a way of differentiating between those cars sat rotting on a driveway that aren't SORN, versus those sat rotting in a breaker's yard.
The car I'm looking for is not registered as scrapped and the last change of ownership was the date it was last sold by my family. It's also not SORN and was never taxed or MOT'd again after a family member sold it 20-odd years ago. I guess this means it was only driven until it's last MOT was due and until the tax ran out. Could that still mean it's sat in a breaker's yard, on a driveway somewhere or either?
Depending on how long ago it's last MOT was it's unlikely to be sitting in a scrap yard, most yards will have a stock rotation where anything sitting
for over a certain period of time will be crushed and the remaining metal sold. If it's last MOT was a few years ago and it's nothing special
the chances of it still being around are slim.
for over a certain period of time will be crushed and the remaining metal sold. If it's last MOT was a few years ago and it's nothing special
the chances of it still being around are slim.
Have you tried the DVLA site to request info
https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla
You might need to be creative with the reason for making the request but if you can get the registered keeper's details you could then write to them.
Not used it myself but thought that might be easiest way to find out if it's still around.
https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla
You might need to be creative with the reason for making the request but if you can get the registered keeper's details you could then write to them.
Not used it myself but thought that might be easiest way to find out if it's still around.
I still get recall letters from Nissan for an Almera written off in 2008. Keep telling them what happened, but there appears to be no way to show the car is written off without the V5, which of course I no longer have, and I don’t want to go through the palaver with the DVLA to get a V5 for a dead car just to formally write it off
R56Cooper said:
Have you tried the DVLA site to request info
https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla
You might need to be creative with the reason for making the request but if you can get the registered keeper's details you could then write to them.
Not used it myself but thought that might be easiest way to find out if it's still around.
Thanks. I have already seen this but hadn't tried it because I don't have a legitimate reason listed by the DVLA. Might try my luck though.https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla
You might need to be creative with the reason for making the request but if you can get the registered keeper's details you could then write to them.
Not used it myself but thought that might be easiest way to find out if it's still around.
Pastor Of Muppets said:
Depending on how long ago it's last MOT was it's unlikely to be sitting in a scrap yard, most yards will have a stock rotation where anything sitting
for over a certain period of time will be crushed and the remaining metal sold. If it's last MOT was a few years ago and it's nothing special
the chances of it still being around are slim.
In this case, I wonder if the cars are just scrapped and there's absolutely no paper trail to mark them as such. The car was last MOT'd in the late nineties, so a long time ago. I ran a check and it came back as not scrapped, not stolen and not written off. It wasn't even that tired by the time it was sold, so I'm a bit confused about how it didn't make it's next MOT. for over a certain period of time will be crushed and the remaining metal sold. If it's last MOT was a few years ago and it's nothing special
the chances of it still being around are slim.
I've checked cars that I know were definitely scrapped and they come up as 'not scrapped', it will depend on whether the person who scrapped
or broke it for parts bothered to inform DVLA, many people didn't, back in the day when there was no such thing as SORN there was little
real impetus to do so. Sadly if your vehicle is nothing interesting and had it's last MOT in the 90's the chances of it sitting somewhere is
almost nil, remember in the mid noughties there was mad money being paid for scrap and anything abandoned was being weighed in,
colossal amounts of cars including some now highly valued stuff was crushed.
What make and model is it anyway ?
or broke it for parts bothered to inform DVLA, many people didn't, back in the day when there was no such thing as SORN there was little
real impetus to do so. Sadly if your vehicle is nothing interesting and had it's last MOT in the 90's the chances of it sitting somewhere is
almost nil, remember in the mid noughties there was mad money being paid for scrap and anything abandoned was being weighed in,
colossal amounts of cars including some now highly valued stuff was crushed.
What make and model is it anyway ?
alex.baker89 said:
R56Cooper said:
Have you tried the DVLA site to request info
https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla
You might need to be creative with the reason for making the request but if you can get the registered keeper's details you could then write to them.
Not used it myself but thought that might be easiest way to find out if it's still around.
Thanks. I have already seen this but hadn't tried it because I don't have a legitimate reason listed by the DVLA. Might try my luck though.https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla
You might need to be creative with the reason for making the request but if you can get the registered keeper's details you could then write to them.
Not used it myself but thought that might be easiest way to find out if it's still around.
Just because it's not showing as scrapped on DVLA records doesn't mean that it wasn't. Loads of cars of that era will have been broken for parts on someone's drive / yard and never declared / registered as such. Even more likely given the length of time you've said it was last sold, taxed, MOT'd. Best case scenario it's in storage in need of restoration. Worst case scenario it was broken / scrapped years ago.
Pastor Of Muppets said:
I've checked cars that I know were definitely scrapped and they come up as 'not scrapped', it will depend on whether the person who scrapped
or broke it for parts bothered to inform DVLA, many people didn't, back in the day when there was no such thing as SORN there was little
real impetus to do so. Sadly if your vehicle is nothing interesting and had it's last MOT in the 90's the chances of it sitting somewhere is
almost nil, remember in the mid noughties there was mad money being paid for scrap and anything abandoned was being weighed in,
colossal amounts of cars including some now highly valued stuff was crushed.
What make and model is it anyway ?
Sadly I think you're right and can't say I'm surprised. There are 3 cars I was interested in:or broke it for parts bothered to inform DVLA, many people didn't, back in the day when there was no such thing as SORN there was little
real impetus to do so. Sadly if your vehicle is nothing interesting and had it's last MOT in the 90's the chances of it sitting somewhere is
almost nil, remember in the mid noughties there was mad money being paid for scrap and anything abandoned was being weighed in,
colossal amounts of cars including some now highly valued stuff was crushed.
What make and model is it anyway ?
-My Z4M Roadster (insurance write-off in 2019, but sold in December that year via a co-part equivalent). I gave them my details to pass to the new owner so I could give them paperwork for the car if they wanted to rebuild it (only just scraped into Cat S) - showing as untaxed & not scrapped. Was mint before the crash and has probably been parted out for the S54, etc.
-1984 Ford Sierra 2.0 GL - my Grandad's car, sold in 1998 and never taxed again since. Nothing special, just wondered if it's sat somewhere as not showing as scrapped, but to your point the chances are slim to none
-1986 Mk2 Astra GTE - very rare early Mk2 5-door 1.8 GTE - written off by my dad in the late 80's in a messy crash, but according to DVLA it lasted another 10 years and was never recorded as an insurance write-off. Last taxed in 1998 but as you say, probably been crushed
Nothing special really but some cars I was interested in tracking down. My pipe dream would be to save the Sierra, but we can all dream, right?
As an aside, I part exchanged my Abarth 595 comp back in October when it was 13 months old, and a DVLA search shows 'no details found'. Assuming this means it's been transferred onto a private plate? It'd done 6k miles and I bought it new.....shame realy as I wanted to keep an eye on it (and I wish I transferred the plate to my new car), but hey ho.
Edited by alex.baker89 on Tuesday 26th July 09:55
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