VIN fraud? need advice ASAP!

[Ihatetowait]

Long story, but I bought a new car and this is the jist:

I was given a VIN number starting with 1F1 from the guy at the dealer originally, carfaxed it, it was clean...

I found out the day of purchase the vin was wrong and it was JF1 (made in japan, not made in USA). That was cool, so today the check engine light came on, and I'm pissed...

So I ran the new VIN (JF1) and it comes up that the car was from quebec, which sucks, cars from quebec are usually crap... The inspection on the car went over well, the car is in great shape other then some rust in usual spots like just on the seat bolts and some random parts in the engine. Overall, it's very very clean underneath cept a few spots.

So heres the thing, I'm pissed the check engine light (CEL) came on, and I'm equally as pissed I got the wrong VIN from the guy prior to purchase.



Question: what can I do other then talk to him and tell him WTF?

I basically got the right vin at the time of purchase, when I pretty much already had the cheque on his desk.

I paid good money for a local car, thats clean.... and now i just feel ripped off...

[Destinova403]

did he give you the original VIN in writing or just like over the phone or somthing unofficial... because there probably isnt anything you could do. especially since you got the proper vin before you technically purchased the car.

[Ihatetowait]

I have the wrong VIN written down on the original bill of sale.

I had talked him down, so he wrote a new bill of sale.

So in essence, I have on paper that he had the wrong VIN.

[kaput]

.

[A790]

Court, judge, you win, return car, get money, be happy, love life, get laid

[Weapon_R]

Originally posted by A790
Court, judge, you win, return car, get money, be happy, love life, get laid

LOL good luck with that.

Buyer beware.

[A790]

Originally posted by Weapon_R


LOL good luck with that.

Buyer beware.

Misrepresentation of the vehicle on the original bill of sale. Very illegal- this guy has a bloody paper trail. No judge around would force him to keep a vehicle that was falsely represented.

I'd call the guy, tell him you know whats up, and give him an opportunity to return your cash and you'll return the car. Otherwise, go legal on his ass.

EDIT: He even bought it from a dealer. Call AMVIC and explain what went down and ask what your options are.

[Thaco]

Originally posted by A790


Misrepresentation of the vehicle on the original bill of sale. Very illegal- this guy has a bloody paper trail. No judge around would force him to keep a vehicle that was falsely represented.

I'd call the guy, tell him you know whats up, and give him an opportunity to return your cash and you'll return the car. Otherwise, go legal on his ass.

EDIT: He even bought it from a dealer. Call AMVIC and explain what went down and ask what your options are.

but he was given the new bill of sale, with the new vin, and obviously had an opportunity to tell the dealer to give him a few days to check it out on carfax or whetever, but instead he just handed over the cheque, sounds liek a lack of research on his part. To me listing the wrong vin would throw big red flags for me and i'd have shit verified before handing over any sort of payment.

[Ihatetowait]

Essencially what happened is that I was in his office, I gave him the cheque and I was calling my insurance to change it over. They faxed insurance info to his office.

He had the cheque in his hand before I knew the VIN was different, the new bill of sale has 1 written over with a fat J.

I'm on the AMVIC website now, I'm going to see what I can do.

Despite the fact the car is from quebec, and the CEL, the car is still in good shape, with the exception of a little rust on some weird places like stated.

I'm just pissed that I was given the wrong VIN, and the fact the car was registered in quebec under a new owner, then sold a month later in alberta is very fishy.

[Ihatetowait]

Update:

Called AMVIC and they had said if I cannot resolve this at a first contact level with the dealership, I can submit the complaint in writing and take legal action.

[Supa Dexta]

it may not be a new "owner" in quebec, it may just show up that it was sold there, with plans of shipping it here to sell.. there will be some surface rust on some stuff, but if the car isn't very old, it won't be very bad, and won't get any worse.. I've had my nissan for 4 yrs or so now from quebec and it hasnt changed, its been a good car... The only thing would be the cel being on, I'd want to know why..

[theken]

like a complaint will do much, amvic

[canuckcarguy]

What's the big deal? He made a typo, and then he corrected it. You had every opportunity to verify the VIN - you could have just looked at the vehicle. Your topic says "fraud". Where's the fraud? It's a mistake. You could have done a new VIN check, you could have taken your cheque back and walked out, refused delivery of the deal and opted out.

It's not like he sold you a stolen car, or you have evidence of odometer tampering, or anything like that.

The first bill of sale had a mistake on the VIN. It also had a higher price. What, now are you guilty of fraud for paying the lower price on the corrected bill of sale? Give me a break. And the first carfax you ran showed the vehicle as clean - did it give any particulars? I somehow doubt that you managed to get a report on a car with only that one letter being different. You likely got a report that didn't show any activity at all, not one that confirmed you were buying a local car.

Plus, you admit the car's in decent shape. I don't know, it seems to me you should just get that small item fixed and move on. It's a used car.

[ShOwOfF]

aren't VIN numbers all exclusive to each other, such that one type would not return a result in a VIN check?

If this is true, then having the first letter/number wrong wouldn't return you a result...or am i crazy?

[dr_jared88]

Originally posted by ShOwOfF
aren't VIN numbers all exclusive to each other, such that one type would not return a result in a VIN check?

If this is true, then having the first letter/number wrong wouldn't return you a result...or am i crazy?

I was thinking the exact same thing. And also you saw the vehicle in person did you not? You should have recorded the vin and did the check off of your information. Not theirs.

[dr_jared88]

ya 1f1 is ford, jf1 is suburu. when you ran the report im pretty sure you should have noticed it was for the wrong car

http://www.vinquery.com/faq_all_abou...ufacturer.aspx

[dericer]

Originally posted by Ihatetowait


I basically got the right vin at the time of purchase, when I pretty much already had the cheque on his desk.

Becareful how you word things. Your original comment states that the dealer didn't have the cheque when you learned of the new VIN. One slip up with amvic, or the dealer and you won't have a leg to stand on in court.

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by A790
get laid

[GTS Jeff]

Originally posted by dr_jared88
ya 1f1 is ford, jf1 is suburu. when you ran the report im pretty sure you should have noticed it was for the wrong car

http://www.vinquery.com/faq_all_abou...ufacturer.aspx

Nice. The OP's bullshit just got called out!

[Ihatetowait]

Originally posted by canuckcarguy
What's the big deal? He made a typo, and then he corrected it. You had every opportunity to verify the VIN - you could have just looked at the vehicle. Your topic says "fraud". Where's the fraud? It's a mistake. You could have done a new VIN check, you could have taken your cheque back and walked out, refused delivery of the deal and opted out.

It's not like he sold you a stolen car, or you have evidence of odometer tampering, or anything like that.

The first bill of sale had a mistake on the VIN. It also had a higher price. What, now are you guilty of fraud for paying the lower price on the corrected bill of sale? Give me a break. And the first carfax you ran showed the vehicle as clean - did it give any particulars? I somehow doubt that you managed to get a report on a car with only that one letter being different. You likely got a report that didn't show any activity at all, not one that confirmed you were buying a local car.

Plus, you admit the car's in decent shape. I don't know, it seems to me you should just get that small item fixed and move on. It's a used car.

The VIN did show up as "for sale at 110,000 KM in calgary alberta"

and "dealer inventory at 74,300 KM"

More then one person screwed up the vin, it came up as a 2004 impreza, which is weird.

My bullshit didnt get called out, if youd like, I can show you both carfax reports? It was on the website as 1f1 as well, which is where carfax picked up one of the "dealer inventory" things.

In essence, I talked to him, and he explained that the vehicle was bought after original lease in quebec to be wholesaled, shipped out and sold. Check engine light was a fuel system pressure difference, which was basically the fact theydidnt screw on the gas cap properly when they filled it up, I cleared it, it came on again, then I just replaced the gas cap and it's fine.

After talking to him and expressing my concern about the fact I paid for a local car, which is what the VIN checked out as orignally. He said what he would do is offer me the 700 dollar value warranty for free, which gives me 1 year of protection top to bottom. It all worked out well, despite the fact I got a car that has usual rust in small spots, which i'm sure I could clean off and touch up.

I would really think carfax would have some means to detect this, the vehicle came up "2004 subaru WRX for sale at _____ Km", the one thing I didnt notice is that the title of the vehicle on carfax wasnt filled in, just that it was that car, for sale, at this time, at this place. As listed by the dealers website.