I am looking to buy a used car. I checked the Kelly Blue Book value and the owner wants about 30% more. I understand thats pretty common here. I copied the VIN number from the silver plate on the car and from the original bill of sale. When I checked CARFAX and DMV.org the VIN does not come up as a valid number. Does anyone know why this might happen? The owner said the car was shipped new from the States and has been in the D.R for about 6 years.
- Thread starter DMLVT
- Start date
Help--VIN not found
Car was stolen and "VIN" replaced? Maybe car really came from Europe or Japan? who knows... Normally cars have the VIN stamped in other parts of the car not just the silver plate by the windshield, but its hard to tell because every car company does it different. Maybe a google search for your specific car type will tell you the other places where the VIN is also stamped. You could then compare the two and see if they match.
Either way it sounds fishy and personally I would stay away from it. There are plenty of places where you can buy a used car at a good price with VINS that check out.
Either way it sounds fishy and personally I would stay away from it. There are plenty of places where you can buy a used car at a good price with VINS that check out.
DMLVT:
For newer cars from the USA,the VIN number can also be found on a sticker on each door, fender, quarter panel, hood and trunk. The main VIN is, as has been pointed out, located in the left lower windshield area, as viewed from the drivers seat.
I must however agree with JDJONES that a number or letter may have been misread or inadvertently omitted. Recheck the number and try again.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
I would think that only vehicles imported from the US used would be found in the CarFax records and vehicles imported from elsewhere would not.
Every vehicle here is from outside of the DR, hence "de importacion". Unlike Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and so forth, there are no assembly plants here in the DR (as far I would know).
New vehicles sold in the DR may not necessarily have been imported from or thru the US and/or may not have destined for the US market originally, so again, they should not show up, their history is entirely Dominican.
... J-D.
Every vehicle here is from outside of the DR, hence "de importacion". Unlike Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and so forth, there are no assembly plants here in the DR (as far I would know).
New vehicles sold in the DR may not necessarily have been imported from or thru the US and/or may not have destined for the US market originally, so again, they should not show up, their history is entirely Dominican.
... J-D.
B
batich
Guest
All vehicles from U.S. are in Carfax. Your car either from another country or VIN is fake or both.
Carfax
Interesting article from Detroit Free Press saying Vehicle Histories Don't Tell All. Indicates that CARFAX is not everything it is supposed to be. Carfax setteled a suit involving a 1995 BMW that indicated a clear history but had been involved in three total loss accidents.
I cannot get the article to come up on line. It is in today's St Pete Times.
Interesting article from Detroit Free Press saying Vehicle Histories Don't Tell All. Indicates that CARFAX is not everything it is supposed to be. Carfax setteled a suit involving a 1995 BMW that indicated a clear history but had been involved in three total loss accidents.
I cannot get the article to come up on line. It is in today's St Pete Times.
Its A Ringer
:bunny: Auto Trader UK - Vehicle Ringing :bandit: If you suspect that your vehicle is a ringer, contact the police immediately. Keeping hold of it or trying to sell it on could leave you facing criminal charges.
:bunny: Auto Trader UK - Vehicle Ringing :bandit: If you suspect that your vehicle is a ringer, contact the police immediately. Keeping hold of it or trying to sell it on could leave you facing criminal charges.
How high's the water, Papa? Well, it's 3 feet high and risin'...
I spent the better part of last week in la Capital, amongst other things, looking at cars... The ol' Johnny Cash song came to mind. "How high's the water Papa? Well, it's 3 feet high and risin'... ". Just as mentioned by some routined posters on here, much of these 3 to 5 year old freshly imported "opportunities" must have been knee deep into it in Louisiana or Texas a little less than 2 years ago. Most look jest fine and then you look underneath and it's all coroded... Jeepetas with chassis made next to useless... breaking systems and lines flaking rust, exhaust systems slowly disappearing. Strangely enough, bodies seem to hold up pretty well (yet).
So, if you go shop for cars, dress accordingly and if you don't have the flexibility anymore, bring somebody along who has, as well as a flashlight and a big screw driver, rust wears your fingernails down quickly.
There are nice cars to be found, but just as above poster wrote... most is junk and you can safe CarFax on most once you've looked underneath.
... J-D.
I spent the better part of last week in la Capital, amongst other things, looking at cars... The ol' Johnny Cash song came to mind. "How high's the water Papa? Well, it's 3 feet high and risin'... ". Just as mentioned by some routined posters on here, much of these 3 to 5 year old freshly imported "opportunities" must have been knee deep into it in Louisiana or Texas a little less than 2 years ago. Most look jest fine and then you look underneath and it's all coroded... Jeepetas with chassis made next to useless... breaking systems and lines flaking rust, exhaust systems slowly disappearing. Strangely enough, bodies seem to hold up pretty well (yet).
So, if you go shop for cars, dress accordingly and if you don't have the flexibility anymore, bring somebody along who has, as well as a flashlight and a big screw driver, rust wears your fingernails down quickly.
There are nice cars to be found, but just as above poster wrote... most is junk and you can safe CarFax on most once you've looked underneath.
... J-D.