I'm selling a car soon, struck a deal over the phone...any the guy that's buying the car wants me to give him my VIN# for the car so he can get it insured.....Is that ok to do? Never dealt with that before. Thanks for the help
VIN's are common info. A bad person will do bad things but it's got nothing to do with you giving a VIN number. Look on abay, virtually every car ad has the VIN posted.
Lots of bad stuff can happen. It's Not his car to insure, my insurance company will insure anything for 49 hours because I call them and say "hey I'm buying a blank blank " ok call us back with the Vin. Also after hours telephone message is just as good for 49 hrs.
He could also make arrangements for everything on the insurance so all he has to do is make a phone call when he picks it up. Or he could do the same and get the phone number, email addy or Fax number for the insurance office or company hq and you can call, email or fax it in if you are afraid he may be a bit shaky. But I can sure as hell see why he would want full insurance on it at the time he picks it up. And if you start acting like a butt and don't work with him you probably have just lost a sale.
what about the fact that the vin number is clearly visible on almost any newish car.....all you have to do is look through the windshield and you could write someones vin down. If it was that big of a deal to worry about, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't see them visibly on almost any car. but on the other hand never underestimate a crook....not saying the guy buying your car is a crook. But well...you know.
it's crazy to buy anything these days without running the vin first, stolen, liens, bad paperwork, numbers already in use.... your downright silly and naive to buy anything without checking it out first, it's been said a million times but a registration service is your friend
Do a search on vin scams . There's a few threads on that. Mixing apples and oranges here, a late model Toyota Vin # doesn't have the same rarity, desirability, or marketability as the Vin # on a 55 Chevy. One of the scams is to take your good vin# and attach it to a bastard body and off it to somebody. Vin checks good not stolen, scammer has the money. Take that a step further, hotrodlady cruiser likes the 55 the scammer is selling and runs the Vin to be sure its not stolen. Of course it comes up good because the scammer got a good vin# . .
How far is the seller from you.......has he mentioned what insurance company he uses? Would he give you his agent's name/number so you could talk with them and maybe feel more secure? On one hand the car won't be his til he pays you. On the other, he may want to get the insurance ball rolling for when the sale is complete. I worked in an insurance agency for a large company. We would give up to 30 days for the customer to tell us about a newly purchased everyday vehicle.....they had automatic coverage when adding or replacing a car. But, with a rod or custom, it might be a different matter since we had to get specific approval to cover a modified vehicle......including pictures. Hopefully the buyer is OK......but it makes you question things due to the scammers out there.
Some fella from New Zealand wanted me to send him pics of my title. This was before we hammered out any deal whatsoever. No friggin way.
While I agree that there will always be bad people out there to steal your VIN, fake your identity, etc. It's pretty reasonable to ask for the VIN before furthering the purchase. As others have said, things like title checks and insurance need to be set up in advance. Also, if its leaving the country, the border needs to have info like the VIN days before the car gets picked up. Whenever someone refuses to give me numbers on something I'm considering purchasing (casting, VIN, serial number) I get a little suspicious as to if they're actually selling what they're saying. Just my 2 cents
The title is a different story, not until paid for in full....but a VIN....You can walk in any parking lot and get a hundred.......mmm...lets see, he takes your VIN and re-stamps a VIN plate, then he has to take the car to the DMV to get it inspected for VIN verification which means all VIN's on the vehicle have to match (55 and newer in FL) like Mr 48Chev said, push the issue and you WILL lose the sale
Had cars insured on transport. Vin request and a call to my insurance agent. If it's titled already, a second title out of state is possible but in the long run not legal. so, anything is possible. Get your money, send the vin, and ship.
DMV inspection tenacity varies from state to state. Ohio DMV vin inspection & out of state inspection is a joke. Government employee or government certified official (any car dealership ) looks at dash tag and out of state title to make sure they match. If its raining it goes quicker. U.S. Customs vehicle inspection is a serious matter when bringing a vehicle back to the states.
My insurance agent told me they'll cover new purchases for 30 days, so he shouldn't need the VIN unless he's got a bad ins. co.
From most insurance companies, you are given 21 days to insure a new purchase. I believe this even applies to Hagerty & Grundy. But I wouldn't buy a car without seeing the VIN actually on the car. If I plan on driving 10 hours to pick a car up, I will already have a picture of the vehicles VIN and a copy of the title before driving that far. I had those pictures for the numbers on my Studebaker before driving out to CA from Detroit. If the (good, legal) VIN is on the car and you have the paper title/registration, there should be no worries.
X2! i wouldn't hand anyone a red cent without making sure the person selling me the car actually owned it.
I run a club for the Blackjack Avion trike and I had a guy contact me claiming to be the UK agent for a car collector in Japan who wanted an example of the car for his collection of trikes. I located a car for him and agreed a price (a very good one for me). I asked when he wanted it delivered and how he wanted to pay. At that point the agent got weird - wanted a hi res colour scan of the registration document before he would move forward. I said you can see it tomorrow when I bring the vehicle and you pay the money. He wouldn't agree to that. Long story short - the Japanese guy had already had an Avion that was incorrectly registered and/or not old enough to avoid some sort of inspection and alterations. They were looking for registration documents for a pre 1985 example and had come up with this ruse to get them.
When buying a classic I attempt to confirm the car is as advertised. Is the car really a V-8 car or did it start as a 6. It amazes me how many people think their old car is a factory 8 when in reality it was built as a 6. I will not buy a vehicle without researching the VIN.
But I don't like 55's....please don't make me buy it! If the Vin is run to check to see if its stolen it will come up as being registered to someone else though, or at least it should right?
The local administration is more interested in collecting your tax money or giving you a speeding ticket or levying some other income producing law/fee upon you. The DMV window personnel are there to take your money, in exchange you get a plate. They are not there to check for stolen information, or stolen vehicles. There's ZERO dollars involved for the authorities chasing information thieves or car thieves, but a tremendous risk to law enforcement do so. If they caught every single car thief or variation of including the scammers, that would actually cost the local government huge amounts of money. The man power, leg work, infrastructure, investigations,courts, public defenders, prosecution, prison, room and board. If it's across state lines then the FBI needs to be involved and more cost involved yet. Governments are on the verge of bankruptcy as it is. The insurance industry doesn't care what You are paying premiums on they only care when they need to payout on a claim. That when the checking starts. I don't know the all the details of the scam and not everyone is a scammer. No money = tire kicker = no documents. There's no point. This ain't the old days.
Be up front and explain your reservations about releasing the vin and if he needs it for insurance and is a deal breaker, have him give you his insurance agents # then call the agent with the vin. Verify the agent exists before releasing info. Problem solved.
that happens alot actually because people will buy projects and never transfer title so here you are buying a car from Fred, who bought it from Bill, who got it from Bob in a trade. Turns out Bob's wife's boyfriend is the actual owner of the car.... vin verification will bring all this to light, and it's pretty damn common Now I also hear people talk about vin stealers who register cars with someone else's legit vin number. While stupid it could happen and would be a hassle but as long as your car is legit with proper paperwork you won't have too much of a problem proving that. Now on the other hand if your car has a bad vin, mismatched paperwork, stolen, lien sale, is actually owned by someone other than the person you got it from, oh boy get ready for a long ride or to even lose the car, this happens waaaaaaaaaay more than vin stealing.
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