Any VIN plate experts in the house ??

[RS2000CUSTOM]

Can anyone tell me what info I would need and what details would require changing on both VIN and Body tags when a colour change and engine swap is done?

what you suggest doing is pretty much "ringing",

To "Ring" a car is to mask the identity of a stolen vehicle with the details of a legitimate car.

What BigDave is doing is not illegal nor is it Ringing !

The only information an owner is NOT allowed to tamper with on a vehicle is the VIN/Chassis number itself.

Colour changes and engine changes are legal.

To replace tag plates to reflect the vehicles current colour and engine number is not illegal

The only legal requirement is to notify DVLA of the changes ie, colour, engine number, fuel type (fitting diesel engine into a pertrol car or vice versa) engine number.

When I carry out an MOT I have to declare the colour of the vehicle presented, fuel type and chassis number if these do not match the DVLA database I have to "legally" confirm online that the details I enter are correct and then DVLA contact the owner and possibly call vehicle in for a VIC - so be warned keep V5C details upto date and correct.

Only item on chassis plate I have to check is the chassis number and nothing else !

Future buyers are the only people who would be "interested" in detail changes later on !

[graham John]

good points there Dave, and very informative,


cheeRS

[rwdrs]

To "Ring" a car is to mask the identity of a stolen vehicle with the details of a legitimate car.

What BigDave is doing is not illegal nor is it Ringing !

The only information an owner is NOT allowed to tamper with on a vehicle is the VIN/Chassis number itself.

Colour changes and engine changes are legal.

To replace tag plates to reflect the vehicles current colour and engine number is not illegal

The only legal requirement is to notify DVLA of the changes ie, colour, engine number, fuel type (fitting diesel engine into a pertrol car or vice versa) engine number.

When I carry out an MOT I have to declare the colour of the vehicle presented, fuel type and chassis number if these do not match the DVLA database I have to "legally" confirm online that the details I enter are correct and then DVLA contact the owner and possibly call vehicle in for a VIC - so be warned keep V5C details upto date and correct.

Only item on chassis plate I have to check is the chassis number and nothing else !

Future buyers are the only people who would be "interested" in detail changes later on !

Quite "ringing" as such means to hide the ID of a stolen vehicle.

What was meant though, is that anyone tampering with the VIN plate and or body stamped in number is on dodgy ground (i.e. buying a STD 2 dr to reshell an RS)

Whilst you can change the engine/g'box or even shell (with a service shell) you are not supposed to change the VIN plate, this is a piece of tim that manfacturer puts on the vehicle when it is made.

There may be no "legal" stipulations to say changing trim or colour codes to suit the "current" owners ideals but in effect are "changing" the car. Why bother? If the DVLA wanted to take the job of vehicle fraud seriously then all these people flogging original VIN plates would be stopped from doing so.

If a genuine person with a genuine car needed replacements then they should only be available through govt agencies, this would stop this whole discussion in it's tracks and stop people "creating" cars.

For example, if you want to buy special trim parts for certain VW (Germany) models, the dealer is not allowed to sell you these items (by VW) over the counter unless you are the registered owner of said vehicle so as to stop people creating these "special edition" type vehicles.

As these often cost several thousand Euros more than the STD model they are based on, and VW want to avoid "intellectual theft" of these models.

[RS2000CUSTOM]

For example, if you want to buy special trim parts for certain VW models, the dealer is not allowed to sell you these items (by VW) over the counter unless you are the registered owner of said vehicle so as to stop people creating these "special edition" type vehicles.

As these often cost several thousand Euros more than the STD model they are based on, and VW want to avoid "intellectual theft" of these models.

As you mention Euro's can I pressume u r not in UK ?

I was a bodyshop manager for VW/Audi/MG/Rover and I can assure you that in UK any VW dealer will sell you ANYTHING you want for your VW !!

I understand what you mean by "intellectual theft" but in the UK that doesnt seem to matter.

What is UK law, is making something look like a more expensive example and trying to be passed off as such item !

eg, a £10 Rolex fake cannot be legally sold/passed on as a genuine £10k Rolex etc

Meant to add that in Germany I believe that TUV law prevents a lot of car modifications but am sure Dasadrew will put me right on exactly what TUV covers !

[RS2000CUSTOM]

I was a bodyshop manager for VW/Audi/MG/Rover and I can assure you that in UK any VW dealer will sell you ANYTHING you want for your VW !!

Glad I used the word "sell" as I can remember 1 item a VW dealer WILL NOT sell or provide freely

A Golf Anniversary build/commission plate and metal brake/throttle/clutch pedal covers

The above are numbered and only given out once to each car built - a dealer HAS to have the original V5C and then they will special order the items

Why the car wasnt supplied with them in the first place (in the UK) I have no idea.

[rwdrs]

As you mention Euro's can I pressume u r not in UK ?

I was a bodyshop manager for VW/Audi/MG/Rover and I can assure you that in UK any VW dealer will sell you ANYTHING you want for your VW !!

I understand what you mean by "intellectual theft" but in the UK that doesnt seem to matter.

What is UK law, is making something look like a more expensive example and trying to be passed off as such item !

eg, a £10 Rolex fake cannot be legally sold/passed on as a genuine £10k Rolex etc

Meant to add that in Germany I believe that TUV law prevents a lot of car modifications but am sure Dasadrew will put me right on exactly what TUV covers !

I'm well aware what you can get away with in the UK, I used to get away with the odd thing myself now and again.

Yes, I thought most on here knew I moved to Germany nearly 10 years ago.

As for the TÜV and rules on what are and are not allowed to do over here, well like everything over here you could write a book on it.

As it happens, you can modify your car pretty much as you like, however the components you fit have to have a certificate to say they have tested for "road use" you can't just go fitting all-sorts of crap you made up in your shed of an evening. These mods must be entered on the reg doc too and an engineer has to inspect the changes, and sign then off entering then on the (V5)

Which given the question of liability if you injure or kill someone probably not a bad thing.

A little more regulation in this area wouldn't hurt the UK IMO (especially when you hear of people cutting down springs and all that sort of dodgy carrying on) , and a little deregulation wouldn't hurt here.

[RS2000CUSTOM]

A little more regulation in this area wouldn't hurt the UK IMO (especially when you hear of people cutting down springs and all that sort of dodgy carrying on) , and a little deregulation wouldn't hurt here.

lol - Cut springs are my favourite MOT failure as they always seem to "fall out" when I jack the rear end up on Corsas, Vectra's etc

The look on the owners face and more importantly their girlfriends face as I hand them the springs with the car stuck on MOT ramp and a DANGEROUS MOT failure sheet - priceless !

[pinto48s]

back to big dave's question.
whoever changed the colour of my mex just flattened the letter on the plate for the colour code! you can still read it though.
didn't really bother me.