Discovered a scary thing about my S3.........

MrTackalakalaka

MrTackalakalaka

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I bought my S3 about 2 years ago off a friend I've known for a long time. He had it since 29k miles (i got it at 58k). My friend never seems to sell cars with any service history which annoys me.

I noticed a while back that the Chassis No. on the V5 document was different to the one on the car............
I then did a check on the car and it came up stolen but had been recovered.

My friend then had it back for a while when i went away travelling, when i got it back all was fine......noticed yesterday that the chassis number in the bottom corner of the window had been scratched out.


This has got me thinking......whats going on?
 
I would do a full hpi check mate if I was u sounds very dodgy the fact the chassis number is scratched out isnt a good sign also I would be paying a not too friendly call to ur friend
 
Interesting friend you have there, have you done a full check MOT check for mileage discrepancies I would be very wary of this friend. The best check I feel would be an AA check its worth the cost of the check for piece of mind. Hope you get this sorted out dude.

Chris.
 
The car as u said was stolen but when was it recovered? And ring ur friend and sort it out ASAP mate cos u may end up losing the car or having to break it if it's not safe
 
Do i get this right?......the number WAS in the windscreen but a different one on the logbook, you went away for a while leaving him with the car and whilst he had it the number got.....er.....'scratched out' :ohmy:
 
Thanks for your help and advice!!

The car didn't even pop up on the international Audi system when it was at audi a few weeks ago. which was a bit strange but they didn't even flinch at it.

From the check i did......it was stolen in 2001......the car was first on the road in 2000 and was in the London area.
My insurance also notified me of this when i got a quote with them........was a CAT D stolen and recovered.

Ive never had a problem with anyone so far. I got a speeding ticket from the police (camera in a van) last year. If it was really dodgy do you think it would have showed up on their system?

Will do some more research!
Yeah the relationship with my friend has pretty much gone as i found out he screwed me over with a couple of cars i had off him. Although i keep in contact with him as he owns a body shop and i get very cheap re-spray/repair jobs which is a plus i guess.
 
it wouldn`t show up as a issue if the reg of you car is for that car. But the car itself could be another car.

A lad in my area used have many issues with his car then suddenly they were all sorted and the paint work even looked better.........
 
If the Reg is the same as whats on the V5 then it wont show up with the police because as far as they are aware the details they get from the PNC through the reg are correct. So it would only be when they look up close at the vehicle i.e Chassis No that they would find the discrepancy
 
if the chassis on the car dont match the V5 and the window chassis number is scratched out
id say its a ringer
and your mate runs a body shop and hes had you over with a few cars ?
well without seeing the car id say ringer just cos the chassis dont match the v5
 
Basically the V5 is tied to a chassis number and that CANNOT be changed.

If they dont match, then the V5 you have (and consequentially the number plate/ID) is not from the car you have.

What typically happens is someone buys a totalled car, then goes out and steals an identical car, and attaches the number plates etc from the wrecked one, and the car becomes a ringer.

When you did the HPI check which chassis number did you use? The one from the V5 or the one from the car itself?
 
Finally looked in the engine bay to see if i could see the VIN number in there

Looks like there is a display area but it has been broken and nothing is in there.........dodgy!!!!

Anywhere else i could possibly find the VIN Number to compare it to my MOT certificates and V5?
 
if the vin aint where it should be its a ringer
from your 1st post you said the v5 chassis number was diffrent from the car chassis number so car must have got 1 for you to have found that out
but if its not where it should be then 99% sure its a ringer
i would drive the car to your mate leave it with him and tell him you want the cash back
 
take some pics of the window where number is and engine bay
 
As bez says, go knock your "mates" door, then punch the wa**er. You are basically driving someones stolen pride and joy. You could stand to lose a lot of money if you get found out.
 
Will put a pic up in a minute.......i think thats always been missing though.

I knew the chassis no was different in the window than the one on the V5 document before it was scratched out in the window, he said the last few digits were out. (i kept the car at his whilst i was away travelling. when i came back they had been scratched out which i was pretty ****** off about)
 
audi upgrades
I did a check through an iPhone App last year........came back as Stolen and Recovered but the Insurance company had written it off
 
Ok so then it looks like the previous reg has been stolen and put on your car. Im pretty sure that when a car is written off that it has to be broken for parts or scrapped, not entirely sure though. So it looks like the reg and docs have been matched up with your current car and stolen to order. Without finding a vin numbr on your car there really isnt any way of finding out.
 
Mate or no mate threaten to get the feds around, unless he comes clean about the car...he has not considered your distress here so think likewise....fkn tosser...(not you,, your "mate"...;)) then when sorted out lamp the fkr...:)
 
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It was written off CAT D.......so thats why its still on the road, doesn't need to be scrapped?

I think the car is legit.....just looks very dodgy. Is there anyway of getting the plate in the window replaced?
 
MrTackalakalaka said:
It was written off CAT D.......so thats why its still on the road, doesn't need to be scrapped?

I think the car is legit.....just looks very dodgy. Is there anyway of getting the plate in the window replaced?
Click to expand...
if its a cat d then why would anyone remove the vin and then at a later date scratch the window vin out ?
its not something u can scratch not meaning to
he prob realised he left it in there and got rid when he had the chance
as above after it was damaged they prob nicked a car same colour and year used parts IE iggnition locks ecu on the nicked car and stuck the reg on and ground the chassis out
if you get pulled and the cops notice that missing they will check the chassis vin and when thats not found
wave goodbye to the car when its off down the road on a truck
did u ask this so called mate why he scratched the vin off ?
 
wether its legit or not id be getting the microscope out on this bull**** just due to the suspicious acts that have taken place
 
the one on my mums golf gttdi is wrong they dont match up, spoke to dvla and they said its a typo error on there behalf, but mine was abit more simple all the "Z" had been replaced with "2" on the v5, how far out is it? and what is the vin in the boot?
 
Marcos said:
the one on my mums golf gttdi is wrong they dont match up, spoke to dvla and they said its a typo error on there behalf, but mine was abit more simple all the "Z" had been replaced with "2" on the v5, how far out is it? and what is the vin in the boot?
Click to expand...

he said it was there but now scratched out
doubt thats a dvla error :bye:
 
Can just imagine some dvla employee sat in hedges waiting for the prime moment to pounce and scratch of the vin :eiertritt:
 
hmmmm unfortunately, if it's legit then there's NO reason to deface the VIN?!?!?

Have you looked in the boot for the sticker which lists the options that the car came with?

Also if the VIN has been scratched/ground off, forensically it's possible to determine what was stamped there by analysing the other side of the metal / xrays / magic and other clever stuff etc.

I'm wondering whether the serial number of the ECU or dash display are logged with Audi and linked to the original VIN (if they're original) ... Can you get an electronically stored VIN using VCDS?

He's a friend ... but it could turn messy. Take some 'backup' if you confront him.

Also if that VIN was under the screen before you lent it to him and now it's not i.e. it's been scratched under his control then he has obviously had something to do with the theft.

I hate thieves - I've had two motorbikes stolen.

I have an idea, perhaps we could organise an ASN group trip to go to MrTackalakalaka's to have a nice game of baseball or cricket in a park near his, afterwards we could all accompany MrTackalakalaka as group (of friendly ASN members) to politely request his money back immediately from this friend. If he's interested, we could invite his friend to have a look at our baseball / cricket bats.

:nunu:

Liam
 
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yeah, just looked at my VCDS fault code file i ran last weekend and my VIN number is on that, and thank god it matches my v5!

Have you got VCDS Tackalakalaka?
 
sorry, but re-reading your original post your story doesn't stack up. You had the car for 2 years then recently gave it back to the original owner (friend) for a short period of time and it comes back with numbers scratched off ? did you ask him how did that happen ? Do you speak to your friend ?

I then did a check on the car and it came up stolen but had been recovered - did you speak to your friend ?

"My friend then had it back for a while when i went away travelling, when i got it back all was fine" - what does that mean all was fine ??

Sorry, but I can't believe this story, you're simply not telling us everything. even you current relationship doesn't ringtrue, oh so that's alright if he's dodgy bloke because he's the owner of body shop so supplies you with cheap things....and that's after he's appearently sold you 2 other possible dodgy cars.......come on now mate give me a break.


 
vagcom, you plug your laptop into the car and it'll give you fault codes and stuff like that. It'll also tell you your VIN number
 
Sorry "TheGoal" I shall explain the story again......

I bought the car off my friend 2 years ago (approx) he has owned it since 29k miles. I've known this guy for quite sometime and you normally trust your friends don't you?

Anyway......I noticed that the chassis number displayed in the window didn't match up to the one on the V5 document. The last couple of digits didn't match up (I can't remember how many exactly)
This got the alarm bells ringing so I did a check on it and it came back that the car had been stolen and recovered but written off with a Cat D.

I then asked my friend if he knew about this an why didn't the numbers match up? He said that it must have been changed when it was stolen but never changed back. He said its nothing to worry about as its all on the system about being stolen and written off.

So I thought fair enough........didn't really think about it after that.

I then went away travelling and asked him to look after it. It was driven occasionally but most of the time it was kept at his house.

Anyway, I came back from my travels........carried on driving it as usual. Then noticed a sticker on the bottom of the windscreen (outside). I removed it only to find the VIN number had been scratched out.

I then posted on here asking for advice

Hopefully that clears it up a bit?
 
It was in at Audi recently.......they plugged it in to find faults......(I told them about the vin numbers being a bit dodgy) reckon it would have popped up on their system?
 
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