Advice needed - UK

I'm not sure what somebody could do with the VIN other than check to see if there are any reports about the car. Your friend is being overly paranoid. It's about the same as trying to conceal your license plate number. Everybody can see it as all they have to do is look at the dash through the windshield, at least that's where it is in the U.S. I'm not sure what anybody could do with a VIN that would be fraudulent unless it were to claim it was the number on a different car.

VIN number should be given. I would never consider buying a car if the buyer would not reveal the VIN. How would one determine whether the car was stolen or totalled without running the VIN?

You can't do anything fraudulent with that information. Check eBay. Almost every listing provides the VIN. If someone did figure out a way to use VINs fraudulently there would be an endless supply there.

stay well clear and don't give your address.............the very very slightest mention of Spain and I would run a mile...........na 100 miles.

dj

Is Spain the equivalent of Nigeria now?

Yes.............this phrase is used in abundance on ebay as the answer to Ask Seller a Question "I am currently in Spain, either on business or holiday etc"

isn't it possible to obtain a new key / remote control etc with the vin number and registration details etc. its not difficult to forge a V5 document. the all he needs is your address and bingo... I'm by no means a paranoid person myself, i just bought my latest 318i E36 on ebay.had to travel about 200 miles to collect it, but i would never consider buying or selling cars on ebay to oversea's parties. and as the previous poster has mentioned, spain would be setting off alarm bells to me, esspecially if the guy is a businessman in america, using his wifes account, and doing business in spain... why would he want a right hand drive beemer in the us anyway? steer clear if you ask me... steve.

I had the same thing once selling a motor bike.. the guy wanted to know what the chassis number was, electronic serial number... were I lived... everything. He was very bullish about it, he came from abroad and claimed he wanted to make sure it was what I was stating in the ad.

But basically I checked his IP out, and discovered he wasn't abroad, and if I had given him the electronic serial number he could of ordered a key for around £70.. and came around one night and stole my bike, then valued at around £10k !!

It's hard trying to distinguish whose honest and whose not.... do you have the item number as I'm in the market for a M3 !

To order a key, you'd need proof of ownership. I can read the VIN off any BMW on the street (actually, that may not be true for all models). Either way, I'd be surprised if I could order a key based purely on that.

I'm in the market for a M3 !

Correct. Here in the US they make you show your registration for that car and a driver's license with the same name on it. Just the VIN doesn't cut it.

On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 06:15:28 GMT, "Mike Cook" waffled on about something:

There's no big deal about the VIN, it's readable through the windscreen, but I don't believe you need anything more than the registration number for an HPI anyway.

From the hpi.co.uk website... "For an instant check, all you need initially are the vehicle registration mark (VRM) and your credit card details."

English is not his first language, although he has obviously been speaking it long enough to make some of the common English mistakes. Having said that, he's familiar with HPI, which I thought was just a UK thing. Sounds like he's bought lots from here.

At the end of the day all you "know" about him is his wife is American, and he's in Spain on business...

Nope, run away... Nobody has a flight booked to the UK on business and then nips over to look at a car!

Dodgy.

They cannot give you the full report without the VIN - for example, with just a reg, it could easily be fake so is hardly worth bothering with if buying from a distance - unless you then go to see the vehicle and compare the VIN on the report with the one on the car.

On Wed, 7 Jun 2006 15:51:12 +0100, Jeremy waffled on about something:

Well you're going to see the car when you pick it up anyway... Personally I wouldn't part with any money for a car until I have seen it, and preferably only part with the cash as I take the keys off the previous owner.

Dodgy.

I agree that I think it's a scam of a sort that's been reported several times. You'll wind up with a cheque that bounces after you have handed the car over.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling