Certificate of destruction

A certificate of destruction is a state ownership document that allows a vehicle to be dismantled or destroyed. In states that use it, it replaces the normal title, and the vehicle generally cannot be titled or registered for the road again. Florida, for example, issues one for wrecked vehicles that cannot be rebuilt.

If you junk a car in a state that uses this document, the buyer or the insurer usually applies for it. It matters because it formally takes the car out of circulation, which protects you from later problems tied to the VIN.

Under Florida law, a certificate of destruction may be reassigned a maximum of two times before the vehicle must be dismantled or destroyed, and it travels with the vehicle in place of a certificate of title.¹ Florida’s application form marks a certificate of destruction “unrebuildable” and offers it, for example, when a vehicle worth less than $7,500 or more than seven model years old has residual value only for parts or scrap metal.²