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Old 09-30-2010, 08:33 PM   #18
RUSHNBOBO
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Placerville Ca.
Posts: 982
Re: Door jamb VIN sticker

Quote:
Originally Posted by motornut View Post
In my case it was vin tampering,and the cops said if they thought it was me,
i'd have tickets and charges ,not the truck.

Don't think i've ever been pulled over in that truck in the 8 years i've owned it........
I should ask if they know
Thats exactly what you should expect them to do; their cops!!!! If they didn't ask about what looked like tampering they wouldn't be doing their job.

The point is that if they really suspected fraud on your part ....your right ...they would immediately impound the truck. A reasonable officer might let u go after a polite explanation of why the tag looks that way ...when he runs the vin to dispatch and it comes up clear. Simply say these words: "in the process of a restoration I had to remove and replace the tag" if he knows the federal statute and u seem credible you should be on your way.

If he's not "reasonable" or is suspects something is not right....you'll have to explain it to a judge with the statute in hand, the judge has no option but to throw it out. They are not going to waste their time and resources to pursue a backyard mechanic that is totally within the law, restoring or replacing a part of the vehicle that is attached to the part with the vin. tag.

This vin debate is getting to the point that I have yet to hear about a person who was "CONVICTED" of a crime for removing and replacing a vin tag in the process of repair or restoration, all I ever hear is anecdotal evidence .....the impounded vehicles and persons "convicted of tampering" were more than likely in the process of intent to commit fraud ,theft or other crimes to scam the system.

I looked at a federal website that has literally hundreds of these cases and every conviction was related running a chop chop or had some other intent on fraud or theft. There were others that were thrown out do to benign reasons for tampering of vin. but not one conviction.
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