Should I report this dealer to the police?

[Carnoobie]

Long story but ill make it short. Local small 6 man ran dealership here is selling a car on thier lot with a changed VIN. Theyre trying to sell it as a clean title price. A few days ago I was in and actually THIS close to buying it, then the guy showed me the carfax and said it was stolen, recovered and paid out by insurance last year and given a new VIN. He showed me the carfax report with it stating that. Of course the carfax he showed me was the NEW VIN, NOT the orignal VIN. He didnt say if they swapped the VIN or the seller who sold it to them.

This guy was nothing but full of lies, lie after lie after lie. He claimed they bought it off a local Mazda dealership (which if they did I HIGHLY doubt they would swap VINs) because that is a serious offense. My guess is that was just another lie and they most likely got it in an auction and swapped the VIN themselves. Usually theft recovered cars are given a rebuilt status and auctioned off.

I dont have written proof that THEY actually swapped the cars VIN but it was either them or the previous owner. Knowing how shady this dealer is, it wouldnt surprise me if it was them who did it. I was told by some friends to report them to the police so I called the police to inquire and they said yes swapping VINs is a serious offense. You would get a hefty fine and could lose your business license. They said they could meet up with me to open a report and they will investigate. They would obviously go visit this shady dealer and find out who exactly changed the cars VIN. They said to think about it and give them a call back if I wanna go ahead with it.

Do you think I should do it? Real shady dealer who was nothing but lies and was this close to sucking me in, until I backed out last min. I even left a small deposit for a night just to double check with friends first, and got it refunded the following morning. The only thing is they had run my credit app prior so they still have me in their system with all my personal info and credit history. If I report them and they get in serious trouble, I dont want these idiots trying to get revenge on me by doing something with my personal information.

What do you think? What would you do?

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

You could call the Auto Theft Unit of your local police and talk to a Detective and explain your suspicions. He/She could decide what follow-up to do.

 

[fxrider]

Go for it, i would be [censored] if i bought a car that was stolen..

 

[Mr Nice]

Yep, sounds like many cars on their lot have altered VINs.


Call the police.

 

[Bluestream]

You go and report it then let us know what happens....

 

[HerrStig]

The attorney general for your state or the local district attorney usually has a "consumer protection" unit. They should know. Our state has a "dealer license commission" as well. Worth a call there if you have one. I don't know who can issue a VIM other than a manufacturer, and in any event, why would they do it. A vin is like the title chain to real estate. Every owner is listed, nobody gets "scrubbed". Woops, Just noticed this guy is in Canada. Who knows what they do up there.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: Carnoobie
He showed me the carfax report with it stating that. Of course the carfax he showed me was the NEW VIN, NOT the orignal VIN.

Don't call the cops, call your insurance company. If this is a legit vehicle, you will cause no end of problems for the seller; cops love to push their weight around.

If the incident is on Carfax, your insurance company will have all the details. If your insurance company sees something amiss, then you can decide if they will call the cops (preferable), or if you will.

 

[Carnoobie]

Originally Posted By: fxrider
Go for it, i would be [censored] if i bought a car that was stolen..

Well was stolen but recovered and paid out.

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
The attorney general for your state or the local district attorney usually has a "consumer protection" unit. They should know. Our state has a "dealer license commission" as well. Worth a call there if you have one. I don't know who can issue a VIM other than a manufacturer, and in any event, why would they do it. A vin is like the title chain to real estate. Every owner is listed, nobody gets "scrubbed". Woops, Just noticed this guy is in Canada. Who knows what they do up there.

From what i was told by a friend, only way to change a cars vin is through thr govt.

 

[Carnoobie]

Originally Posted By: Tegger
Originally Posted By: Carnoobie
He showed me the carfax report with it stating that. Of course the carfax he showed me was the NEW VIN, NOT the orignal VIN.

Don't call the cops, call your insurance company. If this is a legit vehicle, you will cause no end of problems for the seller; cops love to push their weight around.

If the incident is on Carfax, your insurance company will have all the details. If your insurance company sees something amiss, then you can decide if they will call the cops (preferable), or if you will.



What do you mean by cops like to push their weight around?

So call my auto insurance first and get them to look up the cars VIN to see if they have record on their end of the vin being swapped?

 

[antiqueshell]

I agree with the others here that said you should call the appropiate authorities, you'd probably have better luck with RCMP auto theft unit than the local poice.

I would do it. Your gut instinct is probably right.

 

[carwreck]

Originally Posted By: Carnoobie
Long story but ill make it short... showed me the carfax and said it was stolen, recovered and paid out by insurance last year and given a new VIN.

This is legal in Canada under certain conditions.

If a car is stolen, and recovered damaged, the insurance company can declare the car totaled.

If the car has been stripped or badly damaged, and re-built using used parts from another car, a new VIN can be requested.
http://www.ibc.ca/en/Insurance_Crime/Prevention_Investigation/Alberta_ReVINing.asp

"Through the program, a replacement VIN can also be assigned to a home-built or amalgamated vehicle for the purposes of obtaining a Certificate of Registration."

 

[Carnoobie]

Originally Posted By: carwreck
Originally Posted By: Carnoobie
Long story but ill make it short... showed me the carfax and said it was stolen, recovered and paid out by insurance last year and given a new VIN.

This is legal in Canada under certain conditions.

If a car is stolen, and recovered damaged, the insurance company can declare the car totaled.

If the car has been stripped or badly damaged, and re-built using used parts from another car, a new VIN can be requested.
http://www.ibc.ca/en/Insurance_Crime/Prevention_Investigation/Alberta_ReVINing.asp

"Through the program, a replacement VIN can also be assigned to a home-built or amalgamated vehicle for the purposes of obtaining a Certificate of Registration."


I see well if thats the case then i might not be able to do anything.

 

[eljefino]

If it's a government issued replacement VIN it should *should* follow a radically different format. I know a guy who made a homemade car from a buick riviera frame and a ford taurus body; the state police gave him a new VIN unlike any other.

I don't expect they'd let a party assign a different "used" VIN off a crushed car or whatever that still had clean title papers.

There are VINs all over a vehicle, on the doors, door jamb, trunk lid, engine, etc. It's against US law to obscure any of them. The cops will be all over this car if you let them.

 

[Eddie]

iF THE POLICE SHOWS UP AT THE DEALER WHERE YOU OBSERVED ALL THIS, HE MAY TAKE A DISLIKE TO YOU, BIG TIME. Ops Caps and too tired to redo. Not sure I'd get involved because of this. BTJM. Ed

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: Carnoobie
So call my auto insurance first and get them to look up the cars VIN to see if they have record on their end of the vin being swapped?

That's correct.

 

[paulo57509]

I don't think it's too hard to believe the story about a switched VIN tag. This kind of happened to my brother years ago, but it was his own car.

My dad bought him a used car here in CA, fixed it up and drove to to my brother in FL. A few months later, the car was stolen (it still had CA plates on it).

My brother and his wife are on their way to the credit union to apply for a loan to buy another car. At the stop light he sees what looks like his stolen car at the Circle-K.

He pulls in and takes a close look. The rear vent window frame is corroded (replaced with a new one - glass was in the empty parking spot where it stolen from), the outside rear view mirror has a dent in it, the tires are the same brand....all identical to what was on his car.

He goes into the store and asks who owns the Cutlass outside. The woman behind the counter tells him that it is hers and she just bought it.

The cops are called and my brother tells the cop that this is his stolen car based on the dents, tires, etc. The cop is skeptical and asks my brother if there is anything on or in the car that may lead him to believe that this is my brother's car.

My brother tells him the day before it was stolen, he put some insurance papers under the trunk mat (he's a musician and was loading the trunk with his stuff. It was raining and he didn't want the papers to get wet). The cop opens the trunk, lifts the mat and there's the papers with my brother's name on it.

One of the detectives that showed up, took his pencil and nudged the VIN tag with the eraser. The tag popped off; it was taped in with double-sided tape.

On topic - the car was stolen by a known car thief and the VIN tag was switched at a local body shop and resold. Ever since then, the FL DMV would hassle my brother when he would try to register the car. He had to get a signed doc from the police department stating how the VIN tag became switched.

The follow up investigation resulted in the arrest of a huge car theft ring in the Tampa area.