VIN numbers

[dizzly]

Hi guys in the UK

Bought an 8p a month or so ago and got this weird letter from dvla asking me to provide photos of VIN number.

I provided the one on my windscreen which matches the V5 doc, and then they asked me to find a sticker in the engine compartment. After a bit of digging around I have found said sticker and has another number that looks like a VIN but it's not the same one. Should I be concerned?

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[samisnake]

https://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/Audi

type the other number you found under the bonnet into that. if it comes up as another car, yeah you should worry.

other locations to check are in the spare wheel well, on the sticker.

 

[Ike]

good advice from samisnake. did you have it checked before buying, would you be insured against the worst? if that is the vin of another car then you're on borrowed time...

 

[dizzly]

Yeah 2 different cars. I want to die.

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[Daveyonthemove]

That doesn't sound good. Stolen car or cut and shut?

 

[samisnake]

do a check on the reg. see what vin its supposed to match with.
salvagehistory is a good site, shows you whether the cars been in a copart auction as well.
then with the 'wrong' vin, find a site which will do a check using vin numbers and see what the deal is with that one, stolen, damaged etc. then you can get an idea of whats happened.

could turn out that its all ok, and that the windscreen one is from a rubbish repair or something. thats the easy one to change. the others on the car are harder. seems strange that someone going to the effort of trying to pass it off as one car would leave an easily seen vin on show.

gonna guess you didnt do a hpi check, and you bought it private?

 

[dizzly]

Thanks guys for the help and support. I'm struggling to come to terms as forked savings on this.

Ok so the vin decoder matches car with the vin in V5 document and windscreen , and vcheck.co.uk matched that vin with the reg plate.

The vin inside engine bay stuck against firewall matches to a diesel version of the 8p.

Car doesn't come up with stolen marks or anything like that, however it does seem to have finance against it. So I guess somebody tried to hide vehicle from lender or some other shennanigans? Car is very clean and solid doesn't look tampered with like chopped in half and welded back again...

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[dizzly]

Yes bought private from auto trader and went to sellers house etc, looked legit. Idiotic of my side.

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[maxpayne]

Yes bought private from auto trader and went to sellers house etc, looked legit. Idiotic of my side.

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So you did or didn’t do a pre check? Did you buy using cash or card? If latter you have automatic protection. If former you still have some statutory rights but it will be a hassle. How long have you owned it for?

 

[dizzly]

No pre check. Bank transfer.

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[dizzly]

Had it for a month

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[samisnake]

Thanks guys for the help and support. I'm struggling to come to terms as forked savings on this.

Ok so the vin decoder matches car with the vin in V5 document and windscreen , and vcheck.co.uk matched that vin with the reg plate.

The vin inside engine bay stuck against firewall matches to a diesel version of the 8p.

Car doesn't come up with stolen marks or anything like that, however it does seem to have finance against it. So I guess somebody tried to hide vehicle from lender or some other shennanigans? Car is very clean and solid doesn't look tampered with like chopped in half and welded back again...

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so the v5, reg and windscreen number all match?
and the engine bay vin is for a diesel (your engine is petrol?) is the engine bay vin the one with finance?
have you checked in the spare wheel well for the sticker with the vin?

 

[maxpayne]

Had it for a month

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There’s a chance you can pursue the misrepresentation angle - the consumer act states a reasonable period which is generally considered 30 days but in your case that should be flexible as you had no way of knowing about the dodgy engine VIN.

See https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-ri...car-i-bought-has-a-problem-what-are-my-rights

 

[stbuk]

It's a bit weird that the apparently incorrect VINs are the hidden ones - as in theres a diesel VIN hidden away on a petrol car- the hidden VIN is usally what car it actually is, what engine has it got in it and what is it supposed to have?

 

[dizzly]

It's a bit weird that the apparently incorrect VINs are the hidden ones - as in theres a diesel VIN hidden away on a petrol car- the hidden VIN is usally what car it actually is, what engine has it got in it and what is it supposed to have?

Hi Guys. It's got a 1.8 tfsi petrol. Indeed I thought the hidden one would be the real but doesn't look like. Will check tonight for the sticker in the spare wheel.

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[aqibi2000]

Scroll around in the cluster and see what the VIN in there is too

 

[dizzly]

Scroll around in the cluster and see what the VIN in there is too

You mean in the DIS?

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[aqibi2000]

You mean in the DIS?

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Yep, then there’s also obd2 scanners as well

 

[Charlie23]

Sound like the Registration car has been crashed/wrote off and re-shelled in another with all parts swapped. Big job fair play but can be done.

Back a few years ago not sure what age your car is say 12 plate 1.8 tfsi worth £10k, a 2003 moon mileage A3 tdi can be bought for £500 then strip it and swap all the bits over job done.

I work for a Recovery company for the police etc so seen it happen a few times with mk 6 Golf R's.

Obviously not what you want to hear but the previous owners might not know also as be honest I don't check all the vin plates when I buy a car.

HPI check, Check the window vin plate is correct and job done.

So least its something for us all to think about and carry out an extra check when buying.

 

[dizzly]

Thanks! Good insight. Would love to know what the real story was behind it, and all the shady characters in charge...

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[samisnake]

Iirc there should be an etched vin number on the inner side of the drivers side wing.

How strong was the price of it compared to similar on the market?

 

[SootySport]

Do you have the service book? Another build sticker with the VIN is stuck in there.
If the V5 VIN, windscreen VIN. OBD VIN, and service book VIN match up it seems the body shell has been changed but totally legit, it is a regarded as a spare part.
More worrying is the Finance marker against it.
It seems that unless you ask the vendor relevant questions such as - Has it been stolen, accident damaged or financed owed then you don’t have recourse to a refund, when it is a private sale. Only way to get your money back in this case is through a private court case.
You should phone the DVLA and ask them why they have an interest in this car and go from there.

 

[dizzly]

Iirc there should be an etched vin number on the inner side of the drivers side wing.

How strong was the price of it compared to similar on the market?

Full market price.

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[dizzly]

Checked the vin in display. Matches engine bay!!! This is getting more and more confusing!!

So

Vin#1
V5 document
windscreen
Online vin decoder, which matches also engine type (petrol)

Vin#2
Engine bay
DIS

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[Charlie23]

Try get some pictures up, might be of use to help you out

 

[abmat]

Doesn’t the vin on the dis come from the ecu? Which would say to me the ecu and possibly engine aren’t originally from that body, which I think someone highlighted in a earlier post.

Car may have had a new shell as some point.

 

[Jonnie]

Doesn’t the vin on the dis come from the ecu? Which would say to me the ecu and possibly engine aren’t originally from that body, which I think someone highlighted in a earlier post.

Car may have had a new shell as some point.

Seems strange that the DIS and engine bay match when OP said that the engine bay vin comes back to a diesel.

If the DIS vin matches the diesel vin in the engine bay I’m confused how the windscreen VIN and V5 vin would match up with the petrol engine that the car has.

I think OP needs to give more info because nothing seems to make sense here. What spec is the car and what spec does a VIN decoder return for the two separate VINs?

 

[dizzly]

Hi Guys.. this is a developing story. I tried other vin decoder s and I am now fairly confident both vin's are for an 8p hatch 5 door 1.8 tfsi petrol.

Vin #1 - 8p year 2009
Matches V5 document, reg plate
and displayed in windscreen - I tried to poke it with a slim screwdriver and it moves, I think it's a plastic label. Is it normal?
Has finance against this reg plate.
Ordered a spare key from Audi dealer on this vin and key doesnt work.


Vin #2 - 8p year 2011
Appears in Engine bay
DIS /ECU

No vin displayed anywhere else (spare wheel, door shut etc).

No vin's appear marked as stolen.

Audi Dealer guy told me he thinks vin#2 is real, and car has fake vin reg plate and v5 to pass on the finance charges.


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[abmat]

Hi Guys.. this is a developing story. I tried other vin decoder s and I am now fairly confident both vin's are for an 8p hatch 5 door 1.8 tfsi petrol.

Vin #1 - 8p year 2009
Matches V5 document, reg plate
and displayed in windscreen - I tried to poke it with a slim screwdriver and it moves, I think it's a plastic label. Is it normal?
Has finance against this reg plate.
Ordered a spare key from Audi dealer on this vin and key doesnt work.


Vin #2 - 8p year 2011
Appears in Engine bay
DIS /ECU

No vin displayed anywhere else (spare wheel, door shut etc).

No vin's appear marked as stolen.

Audi Dealer guy told me he thinks vin#2 is real, and car has fake vin reg plate and v5 to pass on the finance charges.


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Now that’s starting to make sense.

I would get the authorities involved, private sale or not and pursue the seller through small claims.

 

[dizzly]

Yeah. Police coming on Friday to check the car. Have the sellers address and bank details. Hopefully something can be done, either to rectify situation, or recover some of the money. Fingers crossed!!

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[Daveyonthemove]

Good luck, it sounds like a nightmare.
I'm amazed the Finance company haven't pounced on the 'debtor' straight away. In the past when I have had HP on a car and changed a number plate, they have written to me within days stating that the number plate has changed and that they are applying an 'admin fee' to my finance.
If they can detect a change of registration then they should be able to detect a change of registered keeper.

 

[ab1702]

I reckon that Audi guy is bang on the money with what he says. The fact you ordered a key with the V5 VIN and it didn’t work kind of proves that. Somebody has gone to the effort of trying to hide the real identity of the car (probably because of the finance) but didn’t obviously know that there was a VIN number to be found in the engine bay or on the DIS display that would still show the original VIN.
There may well be another A3 showing with the VIN in your engine bay if they have just swapped everything over unless that ‘donor’ car has just disappeared.

 

[abmat]

Good luck, it sounds like a nightmare.
I'm amazed the Finance company haven't pounced on the 'debtor' straight away. In the past when I have had HP on a car and changed a number plate, they have written to me within days stating that the number plate has changed and that they are applying an 'admin fee' to my finance.
If they can detect a change of registration then they should be able to detect a change of registered keeper.

But here lies the rub. The car with bad finance is still on the road, hidden by the new v5 etc. Bet the finance company don’t even know, other than payments have ceased.

 

[dizzly]

Sad turn to story.

Vin #2 is indeed marked as stolen.

So looks like I have bought myself a stolen car, dressed up with registration plate, v5 and vin from a similar car.

Police coming tomorrow.

I think 2 possible outcomes:

1- they take the car and tell me to f off and get on with it. 5k out of pocket.

2- they hook me up with the insurance company to negotiate a pay out to keep the car. 5k + whatever value and I keep the car.

What do you guys think a reasonable value could be to give insurers, assuming it's even a possibility, bearing in mind car will always have dodgy history and stolen recovered marker?

Thanks for your help and support !

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[Daveyonthemove]

Really feel for you, that is a horrible outcome.
I have no idea if the insurance will give you anything, but my fingers are crossed for you.
Please keep the thread updated and good luck!

 

[Charlie23]

Got one like that here now mate with a Mk5 Golf.

False Plates, History etc etc

Check your insurance as some do cover you for this instance but you will have to make a claim against it.

Good Luck tho mate don't get to worked up about it etc as your not the first and wont be the last for this to happen to sorry to say.

 

[abmat]

Sorry to hear this. There are some utter scum out there.

I hate to say it resign yourself to losing the vehicle. If insurance has paid out the vehicle is their property now. There may be a deal to be done somewhere, ie buy it off the insurers, or hopefully your insurance covers you for this.

History says though it is normally the innocent party that loses out.

 

[Pinky1959]

Please do not contact the seller until you have had advice from the police and a solicitor as forewarned is forearmed .
So sorry to hear of the situation but at least you have regress to get your money back.
Good luck and keep us up to date .

 

[samisnake]

Nightmare scenario.
Doubt a hpi check would've helped this, as who even checks every vin plate until ages down the line when you're topping up oil or something. Know I will be from now on though
Hopefully something works out in your favour

 

[aqibi2000]

If you did do a HPi check and only checked the windscreen they would use this as grounds to say why didn’t you also check the engine bay VIN. Just like all insurance companies they will look for their way out of it...