Scrapped car check

When a car reaches the end of its life, it's taken to an authorised treatment facility (ATF) to be stripped, recycled and destroyed, and the DVLA records it as scrapped. From then on it should never be taxed, insured or driven again. A scrapped car check tells you whether the vehicle you're looking at carries that record.

The scrapped marker is part of the Standard check (£4.99) and the Full check (£8.99). If the car has been recorded as scrapped, the report shows the date.

Why a scrapped car could be for sale

If a car on sale shows as scrapped, it's worth stopping to work out why, because none of the usual explanations are good news for a buyer:

• A stolen car wearing a dead car's identity. Criminals buy the plates and paperwork of a car that's been scrapped and put them on a stolen car of the same make and model. This is often called ringing. The stolen car then looks like a legitimate one with a real history, until someone checks.
• A car that was never actually destroyed. It was recorded as scrapped but kept, rebuilt or patched up, and put back on sale. It isn't legal to keep driving a vehicle the DVLA has recorded as scrapped.
• A mistake on the record. It does happen, but it has to be sorted out with the DVLA, by the keeper, before the car is sold. It isn't something to take on as the buyer.

In every case the answer is the same: don't buy the car until the record is cleared up, and if the seller can't explain it, walk away.

Scrapped, written off, exported or SORN?

These get mixed up a lot, and they mean very different things for a buyer:

• Scrapped. Destroyed at an ATF and taken off the road for good.
• Written off. An insurer has decided the damage wasn't worth repairing at their cost. Cat S and Cat N cars can be repaired and driven again; Cat A and Cat B can't. Our write-off check shows the category.
• Exported. The keeper told the DVLA the car was leaving the UK. One that's still here and for sale needs explaining. The export marker is in our free check.
• SORN. A statutory off-road notice. The car is untaxed and off the road for now, but can be taxed and driven again at any time.

Plenty of written-off cars are never scrapped, and plenty of scrapped cars were never written off. That's why the report checks for both, along with salvage auction records.

Other signs a car's identity isn't what it seems

A scrapped marker is the clearest warning, but a ringer or cloned car can also give itself away in other ways:

• The VIN on the car doesn't match the V5C, or looks tampered with. Our V5C logbook check explains where to look.
• The colour, engine size or trim doesn't match the DVLA record in the free check.
• A long gap in the MOT history, then the car reappears with a new keeper.
• Recent plate changes, or a V5C issued only days before the sale.
• A price well below similar cars, and a seller in a hurry.

Scrapping your own car

If you're the one getting rid of a car, doing it properly protects you from tax bills and fines for a car you no longer have:

1. If it has a private plate you want to keep, apply to take the number off the car before it goes.
2. Take it to an authorised treatment facility. It's illegal to scrap a car anywhere else.
3. Give the ATF the logbook, but keep the yellow "sell, transfer or part-exchange" section.
4. Get a certificate of destruction from the ATF, within seven days for a car. It's your proof the car was handed over.
5. Tell the DVLA you've scrapped the car. You can be fined up to £1,000 if you don't. Any full months of tax left are refunded automatically.

In England and Wales a scrap yard can't pay you in cash for a car that's being scrapped. Payment has to be by bank transfer or cheque. A yard offering cash is one to avoid.