Where the hell is my VIN?! Missing Windshield VIN

[FatsWaller]

Ya I saw that as well. Im
Just curious as to what they are going to require. Chicken or the egg type deal. I can see them saying I need a current title and reg but I can’t get one until I have a valid VIN plate. So guess I’ll have to just traverse this and find out how screwed I am.

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[2door]

Ya I saw that as well. Im
Just curious as to what they are going to require. Chicken or the egg type deal. I can see them saying I need a current title and reg but I can’t get one until I have a valid VIN plate. So guess I’ll have to just traverse this and find out how screwed I am.

I would consult a Ford dealer first. They can identify the vehicle by comparing the VIN from the ECU and other modules to the VIN that is engraved on the body and frame.

The VIN on the frame is located on the passenger side. It's not easy to see it – you're going to need a flashlight and an inspection mirror.

The number of the engine block should match the last 7 digits of the VIN.

 

[FatsWaller]

I would consult a Ford dealer first. They can identify the vehicle by comparing the VIN from the ECU and other modules to the VIN that is engraved on the body and frame.

The VIN on the frame is located on the passenger side. It's not easy to see it – you're going to need a flashlight and an inspection mirror.

The number of the engine block should match the last 7 digits of the VIN.

Gotcha, ok Ill see about that tomorrow. @RagnarKon helped me find that, and it matches my VIN on other parts of the truck.

 

[broadicustomworks]

Good luck, Cameron.
With a lot of matching VINs in the right places and supporting docs it will all work out.
You'll be breathing a sigh of relief soon and telling this story to your buddies one day.

 

[flip]

We ran into this recently through our wholesale parts department. Had a body shop with two fleet vehicles in for repair that a tree fell on. Both were non repairable due to roof, door opening, A-pillar damage (or parts weren't available at the time) so we ordered them two cabs. Whatever happened, the VIN tags were damaged or not reusable but are attached to the cab, not the dash. We can get the paper VIN door tags from Ford going through our reps and giving them some documentation. After months and months of going around, our wholesale manager finally got ahold of the right person at Ford who confirmed they do not/will not issue new dash tags.

I don't know the whole situation here but would assume this vehicle has had some major damage that lead to cab replacement along with other marked body panels or something more nefarious.
FDRS needs to be hooked up and modules checked to make sure the VIN ID on them matches the VIN on the sales order. If not, see thread with hot Raptor-market place-cash-f'd.

A very detailed Autocheck/Carfax, history search would be in order.

 

[flip]

Looked at OASIS and the only warranty history is 3 recalls at Palmetto Ford. Does not show that the vehicle has branded title or was a buyback and no current or historical GCCT cases. Probably needs to have a history check run to see if there was any reported accidents to explain any of this.

 

[wjtinfwb]

Had an issue with buying a motorcycle many years ago that had been stolen and the VIN on the bike's frame altered. The state (Florida) was zero help as they had already passed the bike through the registration system and not picked up on the altered VIN. In fairness, this was over 20 years ago, and systems were nowhere near as sophisticated as they are now, but it still makes it through the states process. American Honda was able to confirm that VIN did not match the model bike I'd bought. The state did issue a title however, so I sold it at wholesale and a huge loss to get rid of it.
Obviously, Ford makes lots of mistakes in manufacturing, but it seems impossible to believe this car made it out of a plant, through shipping, through a dealer process and a state's registration process with a blank VIN plate. The VIN plate is riveted to the dash frame as part of the cab structure, the entire dash would have to be removed, windshield removed, and the rivets drilled to replace the VIN plate however and it doesn't make sense it would be replaced with a blank plate. Hopefully an innocent manufacturing snafu but doesn't speak highly of Ford's internal QC and inventory control processes. Let us know what you find out.

 

[Razorback]

Friday afternoon build?

 

[RAC-Wildtrak]

I'm just curious as to scammed in what way or what the motive would be, I know where the guy who sold me the car lives, his name, his paperwork. He's got the window stickers and everything as well as the documents he signed when he purchased it new. I also bought it through Autotraders PSX so they verify the title and the history of the vehicle as well as both sellers identities and handle the paperwork, so I feel if someone is going to scam you, there are much easier platforms to do so. Not saying its not possible but I could easily go beat this dudes door down if it came to that so seems like a crappy scam.

At the very minimum the guy knew that the window VIN was missing. No way he bought, sold, and insured a vehicle and never noticed the missing tag. So, go back to him and ask what is going on, could solve a ton of needless worrying. Of course, then the armchair sleuths and suspense novel fans on the Internet would have nothing to do.

...to be clear, I'd still go through all of the due diligence and fact checking, but sometimes going back to the source is the path of least resistance.

 

[cbrenthus]

Very interesting situation. I'm interested to see the outcome. So far, I see the following possibilities:

1. VIN never installed from the factory. I highly doubt this is the case, because (as mentioned already) I would assume there are several checks starting with leaving the factory, the shipping company making sure they have the correct vehicle, and the dealer checking it into inventory. Somebody should have noticed before the first owner took delivery. But maybe nobody checked the window and only checked the door?

2. Stolen vehicle. I doubt this because it seems like if they were going to change the rest of the VINs, they would have had something for the window. Why remove the window VIN and not replace it? Plus they either are very traceable or stole someone's identity with a similar vehicle, neither are likely.

3. Badly damaged vehicle and the VIN was damaged and not replaced. I find this highly unlikely as well for the same reasons I don't think it was stolen and that is they were either really dumb to be traced or stole someone's identity.


While writing the above, I came up with a new idea that I think is the issue. I think it wasn't installed properly and simply fell off. Might even be sitting under the window somewhere. This would make sense as it had the VIN when it was delivered, and then for some time, and then it didn't. The only thing I'm wondering is how the shipping company that took it from the prior owner to the OP didn't notice?

 

[Monster1926]

Friday afternoon build?

Mr. Roboto was on his union break.

 

[cbrenthus]

At the very minimum the guy knew that the window VIN was missing. No way he bought, sold, and insured a vehicle and never noticed the missing tag. So, go back to him and ask what is going on, could solve a ton of needless worrying. Of course, then the armchair sleuths and suspense novel fans on the Internet would have nothing to do.

...to be clear, I'd still go through all of the due diligence and fact checking, but sometimes going back to the source is the path of least resistance.

With my theory that it simply fell off, I could easily see the owner not knowing. I haven't looked at my window vin since the day I bought it. Not sure if I would notice when washing if it wasn't there. And if I sold it, I wouldn't think to check the VIN on a vehicle I bought new and owned ever since.

LOL, I'm going to go check VINs now.

 

[vrtical]

This will be a nightmare. Different scenario, I had ford F'up my tags coming in import to the US as customs applies the door tags, I did not buy the vehicle as my dash vin plate didnt match the door tags. VIN tags missing or different is a train wreck of red flags.

 

[Techun]

At the very minimum the guy knew that the window VIN was missing. No way he bought, sold, and insured a vehicle and never noticed the missing tag. So, go back to him and ask what is going on, could solve a ton of needless worrying. Of course, then the armchair sleuths and suspense novel fans on the Internet would have nothing to do.

...to be clear, I'd still go through all of the due diligence and fact checking, but sometimes going back to the source is the path of least resistance.

I would say maybe 2% of buyers would ever look at the windshield vin tag.

 

[Roger123]

I can't wait to get home and check mine............

I watched it roll off the carrier at the dealership though so I'm assuming its good.

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