Sell Car For Scrap in South Africa

Engine Finder is here to provide advice on this subject. They help you understand how and why to scrap your car, whilst simultaneously ensuring you know how to get the most money from the situation. Often a “write-off”, after an accident or long term damage, will result in the car as a whole being essentially worthless, with many people unwilling to purchase something that has potentially unseen damage hidden inside.

But by scrapping you car, a selective inventory can be taken of the components, and still-working parts can be restored to operation in other vehicles, thereby providing value once more. Further, the raw materials of your car can also be sold on, to produce new cars and similar items, in new forms by forges and factories elsewhere. These two facts can take a heavily damaged car, one that is never likely to drive again, and ensure a reasonable amount of value can still be extracted, and passed on to the owners.

In South Africa, it is perfectly legal to scrap your car, and is quite possibly a very sensible decision to make. By extracting this value from your car, and by going to reputable sources, you can both gain money and prevent the terrible waste and pollution that may result from other methods of disposal.

Provided you follow the correct procedure (outlined below), this can scrapping your car can be incredibly rewarding. These instructions can seem very complicated, but by following them one-by-one you will likely realize they are actually quite simple, and they refer to lots of different situations, many of which may not apply to you.

• Ensure the current titleholders are informed (preferably in writing)
• At the appropriate authority, complete a CNP or MVR1A form (dependent on your situation), and make sure it has been completed within 3 months, to demonstrate to the authorities that it is no longer fit for use.
• Then proceed to present your registration certificate for your car to the relevant authority

Assuming you are not the titleholder of the vehicle, it is your job to notify the current titleholder, so make sure you do this. If you are the title holder, or the titleholder is unsure of what to do, the duty of a titleholder is as follows:

• To ensure the correct registering authority is notified, by means of an ADV form, that the vehicle is unsuitable for further use
• Ensure the correct registering authority is also notified, by means of an ADV1 form, that the vehicle has been permanently destroyed
• Submit the certificate described in regulation 13B to the relevant authority
• Submit an affidavit (a legally binding statement) detailing the particulars of the former motor vehicle at the time it was destroyed. This must include the reason why the vehicle was destroyed.
• Provide the demolition certificate detailing the place, time, date and personal particulars of the operator (to include name and address)

Further to this, you have the right, as described in sub-regulation 1(b),2(a)(b), 6(a) or 7(a), to expect the following of the authority:

• They must ensure the information held is correct and accurate
• They must update all held information regarding the demolished motor vehicle
• They provide a legal receipt, on the ARN form, as defined in sub-regulation 1(b) or 6(a)
• They must provide you with a formal deregistration certificate, complying with sub-regulation 2(a)(b) or 7(a)

When the notification receipt is issued, you are no longer liable for licensing the motor vehicle, and this will take place on the first day of the following month (after the receipt is issued). The records will be held for 5 years, after which they are permitted to be archived. It is your legal responsibility to complete and submit form CNV, and ensure regulations 1,2 and 3 have been complied with, within 3 months of the demolition.

If, for some reason, your car was not indicated to have been permanently destroyed, it is the vehicle’s titleholder’s responsibility to inform the relevant authority (using the medium of form ADV1), complying with sub-regulations a, b, c, d and e

If these instructions are followed, it is your legal right to sell your car for scrap, and extract value from it. When negotiating for with a scrap merchant, it is often useful to have an inventory of your car and it’s components, detailing what is functional and what is clearly damaged. It is also very useful to have a clear definition and/or description of any damage the car has taken, and how severe this damage is.

This can ensure you are more likely to get the full value of the vehicle, and all involved parties are aware of the functional components available (and therefore the value is clearer). It is also critical you have the proof of ownership at hand, and can provide it when necessary. You can expect a potential buyer to want to look around the car and thoroughly examine particular components, often including the engine (and associated components inside the engine bay), as well as suspension and axle related components.

These components are often sought after by many scrap merchants, as they are specialized components, and are therefore worth much more money than simple scrap metal. This is why it can be very useful for you, as the seller, to know exactly what is functional and what is damaged, so as to gain as much money as possible.

With Engine Finder, we can help you extract much greater value from you car, and ensure a quick and easy sale, ensuring you no longer have to worry. Please contact us if we can be of any help.

Resources:

https://www.gov.za/services/register-motor-vehicle/deregister-motor-vehicle