Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related FFQ: Car Serial Numbers

Can anyone of you car theives in Folcland help me?

Where are the serial numbers on a car? Can they be easily scratched off? (Let's assume that it's a Honda built in the US.)

gerry

They're on the dashboard on the edge of the windshield inside the car on the driver's side. And as for t'other, I have no idea. <G>

Laura

It's generally located on a metal plate which is riveted to the dash board. It chiefly comes into play when you go to purchase the license plates: the Department of Motor Vehicles links the VIN (vehicle identification number) with the license plate number. So, if you stole a car, the owner would report the lisence plates as stolen. In order to get a new set of plates, you would need a *valid* VIN. There is a pattern to the combination of letters and numbers which indicates make, model, year, etc. If you used the VIN of the car you had stolen, it would be flagged in the computer and you'd get caught. If you use stolen plates from a different car, you will be caught when it comes to someone's attention. Because of all of this, stealing a car to use is extremely risky business. Stealing a car to disassemble and sell for parts less so.

At least, that's the way I understand it to work.

Vehicle Identification Numbers, or VIN numbers (yeah, one of those redundant acronyms :p ), are located on the dash of the car on the driver's side right where the dash meets the windshield. That makes it pretty hard to get to unless you're an expert or don't care about breaking the windshield or dash.

The VIN number itself is usually engraved on a metal plate and affixed to the car. I had a look at mine and I think if I could get a screwdriver in there, I *might* be able to pry it off, but I don't think it'd be possible to do without hurting the car.

I've seen VIN numbers located on the inside frame of the driver's side door as well.

You can learn more than you ever wanted to know about the intracacies of the VIN # here.

this website explains when various laws came into effect. It appears that the VIN number is required to be marked in serveral places now on newer cars.

If determined, you could probably file the number so that it was illegible, or perhaps even all of it. If it's a newer car, good luck... the website above indicated that the VIN is in several places throughout the car.

There's more information about locations of the VIN and car models and stuff here.

Probably waaay more than you wanted to know, Gerry, but I hope that at least some of it helps.

Can you tell I'm procrastinating on writing my own story?

Sara (who hopes this doesn't make her look like a car theif )

Wow, Sara! That's great! It looks like it would be really hard to disguise a car these days. Great stuff.
To answer gerry's question:
No, they are engraved very deeply into a steel plate. You could possibly change one letter to another (or several letters), but then their values would have to add up to a correct VIN number. It's a form of data check and encryption.
I tried to find a LA Times article from about a month ago about the theft of valid VIN numbers themselves. They steal the number from a crashed car and put it on a chopped car (car made of parts from several stolen autos). I couldnt' find the article, but "Car Identity Theft" is about as bad here as personal identity theft.

Artemis

Thank you very much for your speedy and informative replies.

Now I can go into business as a car thief . Either that or continue writing my fic...which do you think is more lucrative? :rolleyes:

gerry

Fic! Fic! Fic! Actually, car theft has a huge overhead not to mention insurance problems
so you are much better off writing!

Artemis