Why doesn't the DVLA tell you if a vehicle has been scrapped??

Conrad3000

Hi all.

Very strange considering you can find out MOT history, car tax check, and even insurance (via MID).

Why the supposed secrecy with information about scrapped vehicles?

cw8825

Would be almost impossible to track. 

They would end up spending an upgodly amount for a service that just isn’t needed

Veteransaver

Conrad3000 said:

Hi all.

Very strange considering you can find out MOT history, car tax check, and even insurance (via MID).

Why the supposed secrecy with information about scrapped vehicles?

An Hpi check (or whatever they are called now) will tell you. Also auto trader does flag them as cat S or Cat N

Mildly_Miffed

Conrad3000 said:

Hi all.

Very strange considering you can find out MOT history, car tax check, and even insurance (via MID).

Why the supposed secrecy with information about scrapped vehicles?

If DVLA are notified of a vehicle having been scrapped, then the record ceases to be visible on VehicleEnquiry.

The ones that come back as just long-since-in-limbo haven't been notified as scrapped. They may still be lurking in a barn as far as DVLA know.

facade

cw8825 said:

Would be almost impossible to track. 

They would end up spending an upgodly amount for a service that just isn’t needed

Once more my naivete strikes, when a vehicle is scrapped, all they have to do is mark it as scrapped on the database so when you do a tax/MOT enquiry it comes back with "This vehicle was scrapped on DD/MM/YYYY", or "This vehicle was marked as permanently exported from the UK on DD/MM/YYYY" (or even "this vehicle was removed from the records on DD/MM/YYYY" as I saw on a youtube video, they will strike off your registration if you significantly alter the vehicle and require an SVA to register it again)

The ones in Limbo could just return "VED expired DD/MM/YYYY" "Last MOT expired DD/MM/YYYY"

I can't find how many registered vehicles there have been since 1900, but if we assume 3 million a year on average that is only 375 million records in the database, I'm sure the PC I'm typing this on could handle that, never mind a datacentre!

(I do know how many licensed vehicles there were each year- the total is 1647 million, but there will be much multiple counting as vehicles last on average 14 years, so that would give only around 100 million, either way I'm sure my PC could handle 1647 million records)

Just comes down to they can't be bothered I suppose, or they think the information has no use.

 

cw8825

theres no benefit compared to the cost to implement it

facade

I suppose the cost is the difference between typing a few lines of code yourself in 10 minutes, and a Government Contractor charging £100K for spending 3 months typing a few lines of code and sort of testing it a bit (but not enough that it won't crash).....

cw8825

also 
if tomorrow the government decide to start a register for cars that are being scrapped.
people are up in arms about having their time wasted and being a 'nanny state'

facade

cw8825 said:

also 
if tomorrow the government decide to start a register for cars that are being scrapped.
people are up in arms about having their time wasted and being a 'nanny state'

When you scrap a car you must inform DVLA giving the address of the ATF that you took it to, so there is no time wasted.

https://www.gov.uk/scrapped-and-written-off-vehicles.

Mildly_Miffed

facade said:

Once more my naivete strikes, when a vehicle is scrapped, all they have to do is mark it as scrapped on the database so when you do a tax/MOT enquiry it comes back with "This vehicle was scrapped on DD/MM/YYYY"

It comes back as this vehicle does not exist.

or "This vehicle was marked as permanently exported from the UK on DD/MM/YYYY"

It reports "Export Flag: Yes"

The ones in Limbo could just return "VED expired DD/MM/YYYY" "Last MOT expired DD/MM/YYYY"

That's what happens already.

Go and look at https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/
P586KLG - scrapped
E484NHX - exported
A920XHL - in limbo

Conrad3000

I tried checking a 1987 Toyota Corolla I sold back in 1999.

The only info showing is that it's not been taxed since July 2000.

I checked another vehicle; a 1994 Honda Civic but the result came back as 'No vehicle details could be found'.

So do you think it was scrapped? Hence the lack of info?

And surely my Corolla from 1987 would have been in the same situation? Unless someone's had it parked up somewhere since 1999/2000.

But then, why didn't they SORN it?

It's all very odd.