Abandoned cars are nothing new – you’ve almost certainly seen them from time to time yourself. But according to recently released data from 50 councils across the UK, it turns out there might be a great deal more abandoned cars around than we’d all first thought! While plenty of salvage cars end up in our online salvage car auctions, there are tens of thousands that end up littering the UK, on side roads, country lanes and city streets alike.

Where has the data come from?

The data has been drawn from a Freedom of Information request to 50 councils across the UK, revealing that a total of 21,106 cars were found abandoned in 12 months across 2021. It’s worth noting that ‘found’ is the operative word here, as the number only relates to the number of cars that were actually discovered and removed. The true total could be a lot higher.

So what’s classed as an abandoned car, exactly? According to government guidelines, a car can potentially be classed as abandoned if it meets one or more of the following conditions:

• It doesn’t have a registered owner

• It’s untaxed

• It’s stationary for more than 28 days

• It’s significantly damaged, missing its number plate, or unroadworthy

During 2021, 11,075 vehicles meeting several of those conditions were abandoned on public land in England alone. The cities with the highest proportions of abandoned cars include:

• Bradford (3,561)

• Milton Keynes (1,869)

• Barnet (1,846)

• Sheffield (1,746)

• Croydon (1,548)

• Leicester (1,434)

• Newham (1,106)

• Southampton (1,074)

• Portsmouth (1,034)

• Sunderland (876)

Some of the most abandoned models of car include:

• Ford Transit van

• Vauxhall Astra

• Ford Focus

• Vauxhall Corsa

• Volkswagen Golf

How to get rid of a salvage car

If you own a vehicle that you no longer want to drive, then you’ve got a couple of options: SORN it, scrap it, or sell it.

SORN your car

This is a good option to go for if you think you might want to drive it again at some point in the future. SORN stands for Statutory Off Road Notification – it’s a process for essentially telling the DVLA that you don’t want to drive the car for the time being, and don’t want to pay tax and insurance on it, but you don’t want to scrap it just yet either. It’s worth noting, though, that when they say Off Road, that means literally – so you can’t leave it parked on a public street, you need to have a garage or private parking space in which you can leave it until you want to drive it again.

Scrap your car

Alternatively, if you don’t want to drive your car anymore, or if it’s not in a roadworthy condition for whatever reason, you can choose to scrap it instead. There are plenty of companies online dedicated to making the process as simple and straightforward as possible for you, such as Scrap Car Network. Even if your car is a complete wreck, you’ll always get something for it – even if that’s only its scrap weight in value – so don’t let anyone tell you they’re doing you a favour by “taking it off your hands”!

Sell your car

And one more good option – if your car is driveable, or you think it’s still intact enough to be of some use to mechanics or other professionals, you can always auction it with us right here at RAW2K. We’ve always made sure that it’s as simple and straightforward as possible to register with us – you can find out the answers to some common questions about the process, or get started immediately.

Or if you’re in the market to buy one instead, make sure to check out the 4 absolute essentials to bear in mind. Our online car auctions are refreshed on a daily and weekly basis, and we include makes and models available from some of the world’s leading manufacturers, such as Volkswagen, Ford and Renault. So, why not take a look around and see what you can find?