| |
|
 |
| |
Did you Know that Your Vehicle is Fingerprinted?
Customers often ask me about the importance of serial numbers on vehicles. In this age of code bars, identification and membership numbers, and access codes, one could easily wonder whether serial numbers on cars could include personal information. Such a case would lead to issues of privacy.
A serial number contains a lot of vital information, but that information includes the ownership history of the vehicle, not the personal information of the car?s owner. However, it?s the most important item on your vehicle, I think.
Let me explain why. Remember the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995? Many people lost their lives in the attack, and it quickly became a FBI nightmare trying to find out who was responsible for that shameful act.
I remember reading about the truck that carried the explosives, which was demolished in the attack. As I recall, a rear axle from that truck landed on a car a few blocks away, and the serial number (also known as a Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN) on the rear axle of that truck eventually led to conspiracy and murder charges.
This is a case where a serial number has allegedly assisted law enforcement agencies in a high-profile criminal investigation. In other types of cases, VINs help police investigators identify stolen automobiles and parts.
What is a VIN? It?s a set of 17 characters made up of alpha and numeric numbers that contain valuable information about a vehicle?s history. The VIN Number is a vehicle?s official ?fingerprint? from the time it rolls off the assembly line until its final resting place at the scrap yard. It is used to record the vehicle?s ownership changes, accident history, insurance and warranty claims, recalls, thefts, registration and liens against the vehicle, just to name a few.
Serial numbers are contained on most major appliances and electronic devices, and passenger vehicles are no different. On cars, trucks and motorcycles, VINs appear as small engravings or as stickers at several places on the vehicle and they play a crucial role in tracking a car?s status throughout its lifetime.
Would you like an assignment this weekend? Try locating the VINs on your vehicle ? but don?t injure yourself or your car in the process. VINs are always located on the dash by the windshield, and sometimes on the driver?s side door, firewall, steering wheel, left instrument panel, engine quarter panels and inside the doors. At times, they?re in hard-to-find places under the hood and near the engine.
Here are some interesting facts about VINs. In the early 1950s, US automobile manufacturers starting using VINs in limited form, in order to provide vehicle specifications. Did you know that the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette was the earliest recorded VIN ? with four digits? However, by 1983, all motor vehicles, (including cars, trucks, trailers, motorcycles and mopeds) were required to carry VINs, worldwide.
The VIN is the DNA of a vehicle, and it includes specific information such as country of origin, automobile manufacturer, body type, car line, braking system, and a unique serial number. Here is how a typical VIN is read:
- The first three digits are the manufacturer code (who manufactured the vehicle);
- The next five digits identify the attributes of the vehicle (body type);
- The next digit is the check digit, an arithmetic check for the other 16 characters. It may be numeric or the letter X;
- The last eight digits represent the Vehicle Identification Section (or serial number).
When you purchase a vehicle from a new car dealership, a record of that vehicle?s history is made available to the dealership. Dealerships obtain this information from the Ministry of Transportation or from companies that specialize in providing vehicle background checks. Dealerships can quickly obtain an accurate snapshot of a vehicle?s history, which helps in assigning a value to the vehicle.
The VIN check on a car will alert dealerships about any problems such as flood or fire damage, emission problems, major accidents and crashes, salvaged or rebuilt vehicles, odometer tampering, car theft, recalls, and high usage vehicles, such as taxis or rentals.
Here are three specific items that a dealership looks for when dealing with pre-owned vehicles: liens, accident history and ownership history. When you purchase a pre-owned car or truck, you want to make sure that you?re not purchasing a stolen vehicle, or a vehicle with liens against it. All new car dealerships conduct a thorough search of all vehicles VINs so that everything is in order.
I?m sure that the majority of people selling their vehicles privately are honest, but it always pays to be careful. If you buy a vehicle that turns out to be stolen or has a lien against it, then you could be out of luck. Alternately, if you purchase the same vehicle from a new car dealership that is fully licensed by OMVIC and by the Ontario government, then you are protected because the dealership assumes responsibility by law.
If you choose to buy a vehicle privately, the responsibility is on you to perform due diligence. Even when you take the necessary precautions, problems can occur on the part of the buyer or the seller. So remember this: buyer beware.
***
Paul Stern is President of the Toronto Automobile Dealers Association and is a new-car dealer in Toronto. E-mail comments to president@tada.ca
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
 |
|
Home Page
