VIN Mis-match????

[Kijona]

Okay. The short and skinny is I'm getting ready to buy a 1998 Orange and Black GS500E. Title has an extra "1" in it versus the number on the bike. It's right in the middle of the VIN. It's the original title. Also, title says 1998...frame says 1997. Other than that they are an exact match. I called my insurance agency and both numbers pulled up the same bike.

I'm in ATL, GA. Any ideas what the hell this malarkey is!?

[Dizzledan]

Sounds like a title typo. This is a good question for the DMV forums.

[Kijona]

Sounds like a title typo. This is a good question for the DMV forums.

Which forum? I couldn't find a DMV forum.

[Dr.McNinja]

DO NOT BUY IT


Any VIN mismatch, mileage mismatch or title issue (title isn't in the state you're residing in) will cause insurmountable amounts of headaches. It doesn't matter how good the bike is. Any time the VIN is screwed up you're asking for a mile long paper given to you by your local DMV with VIN checks, previous owner checks, previous previous owner checks...

It's a pain in the ass. I bought my GS500 from a guy who filled in the title (from Texas, not my state) with the wrong mileage. If I wasn't so quick to get it fixed it would've been impossible to track him down, he could've fled with my money, and my bike would've been impounded permanently. I got lucky. I will NEVER buy a bike again if anything about the title is out of state/fishy. Even if it's something innocent like accidentally writing down the wrong mileage (I will say it was an accident on his part).

[KC0514]

Yes be very careful.

As a car wholesaler I've seen titles bounced by the DMV for the simplest reasons. But a title with 18 digits on it, would make me walk away. Sounds like a headache in thd making.

How about a 1 year old car, mileage typo'd by the DMV as 290000, instead of 29000. They would not change the title. Even though they made the mistake. Morons.

[Kijona]

Well, that's a bit extreme. It's obviously just a typo on the Title by whoever originally made the title back in the day. Like I said...owner is the original owner. Whatever the case, I'm gonna wait until tomorrow to do the deal so I can first shed some light by calling my TT&T office (Tax, Title & Tag).

We'll see. It may just be a simple form to fill out when I go to transfer the title over to my name. This isn't anything the owner herself did. And it's been like that since 1998. Both VIN numbers pull up the same bike in the insurance database Progressive has.

[Kijona]

Yes be very careful.

As a car wholesaler I've seen titles bounced by the DMV for the simplest reasons. But a title with 18 digits on it, would make me walk away. Sounds like a headache in thd making.

How about a 1 year old car, mileage typo'd by the DMV as 290000, instead of 29000. They would not change the title. Even though they made the mistake. Morons.

Wow. Well personally I don't really care so long as it won't be an issue when I go to get a title in my name. I'm going to call my TT&T tomorrow and see. If it's gonna be a bunch of rigamarole to get it fixed I'm gonna have to ask her to deal with it or knock a bunch of money off.

[Dr.McNinja]

Yes be very careful.

As a car wholesaler I've seen titles bounced by the DMV for the simplest reasons. But a title with 18 digits on it, would make me walk away. Sounds like a headache in thd making.

How about a 1 year old car, mileage typo'd by the DMV as 290000, instead of 29000. They would not change the title. Even though they made the mistake. Morons.

Yep, the way they fixed it was adding 1000 miles to the titled miles and telling me "you will be fined and probably arrested if you try to sell the bike before you get to this mileage". I had no problem doing that, it was just frustrating knowing that if the insurance company knew or I had to sell it before then I would've been SOL.

The only reason you should buy it is if you can get the PO to go so low on the price you can (if everything fails) part out the bike and come out on top.

[Kijona]

Yes be very careful.

As a car wholesaler I've seen titles bounced by the DMV for the simplest reasons. But a title with 18 digits on it, would make me walk away. Sounds like a headache in thd making.

How about a 1 year old car, mileage typo'd by the DMV as 290000, instead of 29000. They would not change the title. Even though they made the mistake. Morons.

Yep, the way they fixed it was adding 1000 miles to the titled miles and telling me "you will be fined and probably arrested if you try to sell the bike before you get to this mileage". I had no problem doing that, it was just frustrating knowing that if the insurance company knew or I had to sell it before then I would've been SOL.

The only reason you should buy it is if you can get the PO to go so low on the price you can (if everything fails) part out the bike and come out on top.

Well one can hope, right? Woman that is selling it contacted the dealer (actually a personal friend of hers) and he said I would need to go to the TT&T office and fill out a form to fix it. What puzzles me is the fact that it's has a current tag on it... I'm not buying squat until I get the real info from the TT&T tomorrow.

[Big Rich]

Maybe I misunderstood,  but he said "you" had to fill out a form? As a prospective buyer, you shouldn't be involved in an error on "her" title.

[Kijona]

Maybe I misunderstood,  but he said "you" had to fill out a form? As a prospective buyer, you shouldn't be involved in an error on "her" title.

Yeah that's what he and she said. I don't care honestly...if I can get it fixed myself I'll do it and ask her down on the price.

[adidasguy]

VIN numbers are a fixed number of letters and numbers. You can look up the VIN definition. If there is an extra digit or one missing, it would be an obvious error to anyone except a government worker.

Mention that as you ask your local licensing office and that a report on both numbers gets the same result. If you have the paperwork and a photo of the VIN on the bike, might be easy. They should be able to fix an obvious extra or missing digit, at least in Washington.

This state is pretty liberal about titles on older bikes. No inspection or emissions and exempt from reporting mileage. Inspection required if no title or a salvage title -- then you get issued a new VIN number after inspection, thus clearing any "salvage" tags on the title.

So just as your licensing office what to do, take notes, and go back to the same person when you transfer the title. We have neighborhood licensing offices for titles & stuff manned by maybe 2 or 3 people so they can get to know you and remember what they told you. Hopefully it can be the same with you. (Or move to Seattle and join the West Seattle GS500 Club!)

[Kijona]

VIN numbers are a fixed number of letters and numbers. You can look up the VIN definition. If there is an extra digit or one missing, it would be an obvious error to anyone except a government worker.

Mention that as you ask your local licensing office and that a report on both numbers gets the same result. If you have the paperwork and a photo of the VIN on the bike, might be easy. They should be able to fix an obvious extra or missing digit, at least in Washington.

This state is pretty liberal about titles on older bikes. No inspection or emissions and exempt from reporting mileage. Inspection required if no title or a salvage title -- then you get issued a new VIN number after inspection, thus clearing any "salvage" tags on the title.

So just as your licensing office what to do, take notes, and go back to the same person when you transfer the title. We have neighborhood licensing offices for titles & stuff manned by maybe 2 or 3 people so they can get to know you and remember what they told you. Hopefully it can be the same with you. (Or move to Seattle and join the West Seattle GS500 Club!)

Yeah I live in Atlanta, GA. Not as cool. Though my local tag office has about 20 people working there so it's not TERRIBLE! I may go the extra mile and take a scraping of the VIN on the bike along with a printed photo.

I'll still be sure to call them before I do anything before I get in over my head.

[BaltimoreGS]

VIN numbers are a fixed number of letters and numbers. You can look up the VIN definition. If there is an extra digit or one missing, it would be an obvious error to anyone except a government worker.

Mention that as you ask your local licensing office and that a report on both numbers gets the same result. If you have the paperwork and a photo of the VIN on the bike, might be easy. They should be able to fix an obvious extra or missing digit, at least in Washington.

This state is pretty liberal about titles on older bikes. No inspection or emissions and exempt from reporting mileage. Inspection required if no title or a salvage title -- then you get issued a new VIN number after inspection, thus clearing any "salvage" tags on the title.

So just as your licensing office what to do, take notes, and go back to the same person when you transfer the title. We have neighborhood licensing offices for titles & stuff manned by maybe 2 or 3 people so they can get to know you and remember what they told you. Hopefully it can be the same with you. (Or move to Seattle and join the West Seattle GS500 Club!)

Yeah I live in Atlanta, GA. Not as cool. Though my local tag office has about 20 people working there so it's not TERRIBLE! I may go the extra mile and take a scraping of the VIN on the bike along with a printed photo.

I'll still be sure to call them before I do anything before I get in over my head.

Why are you making HER problem your problem??  If she is selling an old bike with running issues at a premium price, she should be doing the legwork to get a clear title for the buyer.

-Jessie

[ghostrider_23]

I would not buy it either until the problem was fixed.  You may end up with a bigger problem like getting arrested for possession of stolen property and lose it and your money all together.