[SweetFA]

If you bought a 13.5K car and found out vin,s had been swapped,how much would you be prepared to shell out for a lawsuit?The dealer is no longer in business btw.That is where i find myself.Whats it worth?PS.if need be i can paste link of my story from TCH onto this site..thxs TCA mems..

[chedderboy]

Sounds like it's worth nothing. If the dealer is bankrupt, you likely won't be able to recover it. What type of car are you taking about? It would be helpful to see pics/description.

[SCHOON]

I would go to the M.V. and talk to them. You should be able to work something out with them.
As for the lawsuit forget it if the dudes out of business.
Worse case you could sell the parts and do pretty good.

[choptop]

Agreed, don't waste your money or time with a lawsuit. The chances of collecting on any judgements in your favor are slim. Cut your losses and move on.

[bilodeaulynn]

Originally Posted by SweetFA

If you bought a 13.5K car and found out vin,s had been swapped,how much would you be prepared to shell out for a lawsuit?The dealer is no longer in business btw.That is where i find myself.Whats it worth?PS.if need be i can paste link of my story from TCH onto this site..thxs TCA mems..

I don't know the story on this, and would need a lot of questions answered, but....

If you know for a fact the VIN has been swapped, AND if you know for a fact who did it, contact your state's Attorney General office. Won't cost you a dime, and in most states, they have a "consumer fraud" division to handle things like this. If your car turns out to be stolen with VIN swapped from a wrecked or other donor car, be prepared to lose the vehicle.

If you know the INDIVIDUAL PERSON or PERSONS who did this, and you can prove who did it, then it won't matter if the "dealer" is no longer in business. If the actual persons responsible are brought to justice (i.e. the A.G. gets a judgment against them), they will not be able to discharge the liability in bankruptcy court, because the liablility is base on "deflacation" a legal term of art that includes fraud, but also includes "misleading" that may not rise to the level of fraud. Obviously, swapping a VIN is fraud.

Good Luck

[Jeff H]

If you really like the car and don't have plans of selling any time soon, you could look into making sure the car isn't a theft body and then proceed with getting a state issued VIN and you'll still be able to register and drive it. That would probably make it tougher to sell in the future.

[jet_car2000]

Like Lynn said be prepared to lose the car if the vins dont match,,theres a member on this board that lost his car because it had a nova vin on it,,never heard the outcome of his troubles but think it was due to legal actions being taken
Frank