Alas, that's true. I made my own experiences a few years ago when I tried to rescue a beautiful, green (limonengrünmetallic) Opel Kadett B which was doomed to die such a death. I never had a fondness for small cars at all, but this little thing was in almost immaculate shape, so I felt I had to try it. A valuable classic that didn't deserve to be crushed. But no chance, the scrap dealer wouldn't set it free, neither officially nor on the quiet, because he was not allowed to. I could have parted the car out, but due to a lack of storage space, I didn't.