If someone asks for the vin # of your car so they can insure it....and the buyer hasn't seen the car yet but "plans on buying it". Sounds suspect to me.....or am I just being paranoid.
Very very strange ideals at work. I am very dead set against giving out a vin # . However they are displayed in plain site when looking at the car. Here's where it gets Wierd. Shopping and looking for a Beater for my nephew... His biggest expense will be insurance and different cars are different rates to insure. So the first level criteria was cheap rates. However, The insurance company will not and cannot quote without a vin. I wanted to know the insurance premium prior to investment of time looking at beaters. So in order to get the insurance quote Ihad two options, call and see if the owner would give the vin, get the quote and them decide if it was worth looking at. Or go look, inspect car for problems, get vin, get quote, then figure out that one was twice as much as the last one..... Draining and a sorce of aggravation.
All legitimate insurance companies give a grace period, where you are automatically insured when you buy another car, usually 30 days.
I wouldn't give my vin # out until I have the cash in hand. It's not being paranoid, it's being careful.
what Carl said. You are covered when you drive the car home. I always just call my agent the next business day and he adds it to my policy.
I keep a small piece of cardstock over my vin#. On new cars, if you can furnish a vin#, you can get a key from a dealer. My insurance can give me a quote without a vin# and I am automatically covered for 30 days from purchase.
I would be reluctant to give out the VIN number for no reason. But, what kind f trouble could the person cause you if they did have the number? Thing is, any car made in the past 35+ years has the VIN clearly visible to anyone who cares to look, so it's not secret.
Being automatically covered doesn't help the buyer much if insurance cost is a concern. So you buy the car, get your 'grace period' and then get hit with a premium that would have stopped you buying the car in the first place - so now you're stuck with a car you can't afford to insure... I'm always wary of giving out details, but having said that - as has been stated, they're not exactly secret, and even if someone used it to clone your car, presumably you have other evidence that yours was the 'original'. If the buyer seems genuine so far, then I wouldn't worry too much.
I had a guy ask for the vin on a 65 Mustang I was selling. the car was out of the DMV system. I told him it was a "C'' code car (289/auto/2bbl) since the C is part of the vin I thought that's what he wanted it for. Nope, he wanted the number but couldn't tell me why, then he hung up. I figure the only other reason would be to use my vin to register his car. as for insurance, I've gotten quotes for cars I was looking at before I even found the one I wanted. wanted to make sure it was not too much since I was going from a $500.00 junker to a late model with full coverage.
makes no sense for H.A.M.B. friendly ride. but, for late model cars VIN may be required to do a check on history of car. people have bought cars here in Calif, that has a Salvage Title Warning requirement, and turn out to have come in from places like Texas that do not have a Salvage Title requirement for previously damaged cars.
If a police officer sees that you vin is covered he can write you a ticket btw, ask me how i found that one out.
if you're selling a modern car, he's actually asking for the VIN so he can pull a CarFax history report, but doesn't want to alarm you, so he lied. .
.... on the other hand, ebay puts the vin right in the listing. I still wouldn't give it out over the phone.
Then may I be bold enough to say... those insurance companies blow donkey poles. My insurance company is USAA. I know it is not available to the general public... but not only did they give me quotes on cars I was looking at, without having a VIN... they also informed me that they have daily driver insurance and collector car insurance. Hell i been a customer of them for years and ya learn something new. I am not sure why the other need the VINS.
Some people may want the V.I.N. to run it incase its stolen. The ins deal is strange, because normaly a 30 day purchase period is granted on you ins... That being said, there are so many scams, I was selling parts, and a guy from another country wanted to buy them, and he said he was going to buy and tell his agent to make the deal.... I ignored him, sold the parts, and it turned out legitimate. go figure.. It was terminology and speach that threw up all kinds of red flags in my book.
if he cant give u a straight answer as to why he needs it then id say dont give it-----but checking to see if stolen is a good reason in my book--he might also want to run a history---or try to-- -before i was a car dealer-i needed to give vin to get ins [plate]and to get LOAN---transferring plates and having that 7 day grace period only works when orig plated vehicle is no longer in your possesion
I am not sure of the sure of the current practice but my legitimate insurance company (Automobile Club of Southern California) used to (many years ago) have a clause that if you had cars on multiple policies (such as one with them and one with JC Taylor) you had to notify them for this automatic 30 day clause to be valid. You might want to check if you are in this situation. Charlie Stephens
What he said regarding late model cars EXCEPT Texas does have Salvage title laws. http://www.dmv.org/tx-texas/salvaged-vehicles.php I wouldn't buy a late model car over the phone without having the VIN for CARFAX purposes, or even travel very far to see it if I suspected something fishy. As far as the insurance business needing it... who knows. As all of you know, the guys at the parts dealer may ask for it to sell you wiper blades.
If I'm buying a car or motorcycle (especially) I won't put cash in someone's hand until I know and have seen VIN on vehicle and the title . And if I have to travel or go out of pocket just to see the vehicle, I won't even consider it w/o pictures of both. OT, but I always get a kick out of old harleys for sale, where they tell you the VIN is unaltered and show a picture of it, but then they cover half of it up so you can't see it. that said I don't have a problem giving out a VIN if I'm selling a vehicle. There's plenty of reasons that a buyer would want to know about the VIN on the title and vehicle if they were considering buying a car. And insurance is just one of them. Yes, every insurance company I've had will cover you w/o a VIN initially if you are going to buy the car, but they always ask me for it and feel more comfortable if I have it. Unless you have a reason to doubt the person's intentions, why wouldn't you give it to him? All of these responses about not giving out a VIN, but I haven't seen one person give a valid reason or an example of why not to.
Nice ! How can anybody take anything seriously when its prefaced with "blows donkey poles" I can get a ballpark quote, no problem. With a brand new driver and the new computer tracked statistics, not getting even a ballpark one.
Don't make sense... if you are afraid of someone getting the VIN of your old car, and then getting a title or registering in some other state, what they gonna do? You have proof you have the real deal, the earlier registration and title... they'd be setting themselves up for criminal fraud. They would be smarter to just make up a VIN for, say, a 1931 Ford -- millions were made, and chances are a random VIN number (year/number lists are available) was junked fifty years ago.... They don't want your VIN for illegal purposes.
You said this guy hasn't even seen the car but wants your vin no. Is this another internet e-mail deal or what.? He can as said earlier ,get an insurance quote without the vin. Cover your ass,thats being smart,not paranoid ?
Give him the number, but be off by a number here or there. If he calls back and says it doesn't seem right, he should be able to tell you why he asked for it in the first place. Change at least one letter and a few numbers in the string and you will be fine. kinda like all the phone numbers I used to get from the girls in my youth. They were always "accidentally" off a few digits and never worked.
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