How allegedly scrapped cars are sold in Russia

In the first three months of this year, the used car market grew by 5,2% in the country - 60 cars were sold. And although April, for obvious reasons, made its own adjustments to the sales statistics, experts are sure that after the victory over the coronavirus, it is the secondary market that will experience rapid growth, since the prices for new cars will be prohibitive for Russians who spent a lot of money in self-isolation. At the same time, a significant part of the automobile second-hand will be sold at very tasty prices. But only because many of the inexpensive cars will be legally dirty. In particular, scammers will offer - and already offer - cars that are considered salvaged! How this happens, the AvtoVzglyad portal found out.

Already now, as the experts of the car check service avtocod.ru told the AvtoVzglyad portal, 5% of the cars put up for sale on the secondary market are in recycling. In this case, most often recycled are cars older than ten years. Statistics showed that in 90% of cases, along with recycling, these cars have other problems: traffic police restrictions, twisted mileage, accidents and repair work calculations. But how do supposedly salvaged cars continue to run on the roads and how are they sold on the secondary market?

How ghost cars appear

Until 2020, when deregistering a car for recycling, the owner could make a note in the application that he would independently drive the car for recycling. Also, he could not pass the TCP, writing an explanatory note that, like, he lost the document. And then the citizen could completely change his mind to dispose of his "swallow". As a result, according to the documents, the car is listed as scrapped, but in reality it is alive and well.

Since 2020, a different rule has been in effect: you can deregister a car with the traffic police and submit documents only after presenting a certificate of disposal. But since the new rules have just gone into effect, used car buyers may well stumble upon a salvaged car.

How junk gets into the secondary

By law, a recycled car cannot be a road user, nor can it be registered with the traffic police. But this fact does not bother unscrupulous sellers. Without a twinge of conscience, they sell a car that does not exist according to the documents and disappear. The new buyer will not be aware of the status of his purchase until the first meeting with the roadside police.

Sometimes the revival of a recycled car from the ashes is facilitated by employees of companies that accept auto junk, including those under state programs. The latter, in particular, assume that the owner applies to an organization accredited by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, scraps the car and receives a discount on the purchase of a new car. In the midst of state utilization, “enterprising” workers sell cars and owner data for little money. In this case, the buyer can easily make a "fake" power of attorney on behalf of the former owner. This document allows you to drive until the first serious check with punching numbers (on rural roads, such a procedure is generally very rare) or once again sell the recycled car to a new owner. For these cases, there are already prepared sales contracts signed by the seller, in which there are empty columns for entering the buyer's data.

It happens that car owners themselves do not realize that they are driving a recycled car. This usually happens if the car was bought by proxy. In this case, the old owner actually parted with the car, but at the same time remains the owner legally.

Data about him continues to be stored in the traffic police database. The official owner, tired of paying fines and taxes of the new owner of the car, writes a statement to the traffic police about recycling. When deregistering from the traffic police, you do not need to show the car for license plate verification: you need to present your passport, as well as hand over the title, which puts a mark on recycling, a registration certificate and registration marks. The car is removed from the register, and after that it ceases to exist legally. However, the vehicle continues to travel on the roads of the country with the same license plate.

Know in person

Checking a car “for disposal” is quite easy using the traffic police database or using online services that will show the full history of the vehicle up to deposits, repair calculations, mileage and ad history.

- Yes, a scrapped car is not the most common problem in the secondary market, but rather annoying for a buyer who fell for the bait of an unscrupulous seller. A young man contacted our service who wanted to buy a car from a reseller. He was interested in the low price and fairly good condition of the car. However, he acted prudently and checked the history of the car in time. She was disposed of. It turned out that the reseller bought the car and did not register it for himself. Fines began to come to the former owner and he sent the car for recycling,” Anastasia Kukhlevskaya, a public relations specialist of the avtocod.ru resource, comments on the situation at the request of the AvtoVzglyad portal, “Usually problems with documents are disclosed when the scrapped car becomes a participant in an accident. Everything would be fine - there is a dime a dozen such rubbish on Russian roads, but in the traffic police database it appears that the car has long since retired. No car, no documents. And without documents for a car, one way is to a car impound ...

Reanimate the "deceased"

If you are unlucky and you bought a scrapped car, then do not rush to get upset. Your case is not hopeless, although you will have to run. How to restore the registration of a scrapped car tells lawyer Kirill Savchenko:

- In order for a car handed over for recycling to become a road user again, it is not necessary to create a double car, or to change the VIN numbers of engines and bodywork, as many of our compatriots do. There is a legal opportunity to register an officially scrapped car.

To do this, you need to find the previous owner of the car, who handed it over to the scrap, and ask him to write an application to renew the registration of the vehicle with the traffic police. In the application, you must specify all the characteristics of the car and attach documents for the car. After that, it is necessary to present the decommissioned "old woman" to the inspectors. After checking and a positive response from the inspection, you will receive new documents for your car.

However, if the owner of the car is not found, your actions will be different: you must go to court with a statement of claim to recognize your right to the car. Witnesses and the necessary evidence will help prove your case.