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#1
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Interior swap blues
I've been working on my SVX for over a year to get it ready for PA state inspection, as I could find the time. It is finally ready. Only it isn't.
Some previous owner swapped the original interior with one from another car, and they didn't change the VIN tag on the dash. So the dashboard VIN is from another car. As it turns out, the only VIN tag that really matters to folks like inspection stations, police, etcetera, is the one on the dash. I noticed it when I was buying the car. But apparently I am a naive, trusting, fool. Since the door jamb VIN matched the paperwork, and the car had a valid inspection sticker on it at the time, I figured we were all good. Ha ha. I will now become educated on the finer points of PennDOT Form MV-41. Or maybe I'll find out that the interior was from a stolen car, or that my car was stolen! I just can't wait. Or maybe I'll just sell this pile of misery before it causes me any more woe. Does anyone want an uninspectable SVX with brand new brakes and a bunch of other brand new parts?
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1995 Caterham 7 Twincam 2002 Porsche 911 targa -- now with FSI 4.0L power! 2007 BMW 328i Cabriolet 2012 Tacoma 4wd v6 Access Cab 2013 Mercedes E350 4Matic Wagon 2005 STi - totaled after 10 great years 1994 SVX LSi 5spd - sold but not forgotten 2000 Legacy GT 5spd sedan - gone after 150K miles of bliss |
#2
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Re: Interior swap blues
REMOVE the dash Vin # there are 4 or 5 other # on the car they can use . Be honest and tell them the story. That happened here and it went through. Conn. is tough also . What color is the car? and what color is the interior ? maybe the same car. before 1980 they didn't even have the vin on the dash so what do those people do ? Have you asked the people at DMV yet?
Last edited by Conn SVX; 10-06-2011 at 05:50 AM. |
#3
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Re: Interior swap blues
my 97 ebony I bought for $800 has no dash vin plate. I think when the windshield was replaced it may have been removed or fell off. I would remove the dash plate and try again and explain.
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1995 POLO LSI 76K MILES SOLD |
#4
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Re: Interior swap blues
make your own reproduction vin plate out of a thin piece of steel and some number/letter punches. this is a common issue in my other car club (50's mopars) because you have to remove it to do a good paint job. most people have gotten away with faking their vin plate this way, since you can't get a very good visual through the windshield i would think that if it was close to original looking it would pass. i doubt many cops are experts as to exactly how subaru was making svx vin plates.
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#5
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Re: Interior swap blues
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Why don't you just tell him to rob a bank while your telling him to create an illegal vin which will eventually cost someone the car, a sizable chunk of change and possibly some visits with Bubba in the shower. Provided you have the car legally and can prove that you have it legally start with Subaru, just like with any manufacturer it is their job to supply replacement LEGAL vin for LEGALLY owned cars. If that doesn't work out or your lacking the proper proof then move toward a bonded title. With the SVXs value being that of a nicely kept Yugo, it shouldn't cost ya more than a couple hundred in the bond.
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British vehicles are my last ditch attempt to keep the nasty Italian thoughts in my mind at bay. So far its working. |
#6
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Re: Interior swap blues
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i've been through this before, took 3 months and several hundred dollars. also made a replacement vin for a friend out of a tin can, cost nothing but time. the choice is his, i am just letting him know about all of his options, legal or not. |
#7
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Re: Interior swap blues
It is not an illegal vin plate . if all the # match.
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#8
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Re: Interior swap blues
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Just my humble way of doing things like this. But then I have a non-stock steering wheel with the stock airbag and never posted how to do it, to avoid accountability... Which I'm not sure is illegal, but is definitely to be done at one's own risk. [/end hijack] Personally, what I would do is go back and try to get them to look at the vin number on another part of the car instead of the dash one. Because why the hell are they there, if not for this exact situation? The one on the firewall would be pretty difficult to counterfeit. Just explain the situation, and keep explaining it to different people until you find someone that's reasonable. Maybe remove the vin plate from the dash also, so there's no confusion?
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'94 Laguna Blue LSi ~159k.......JDM ultra short-geared 3.900 STi Version 7 6-speed w/ Cobb shortshifter, ECUtune 244,8.1mm/256,9.1mm i/e cams, group N motor mounts, '97 grille, JDM clear corners, Momo JDM Legacy GT steering wheel, apkarian's LED tails, silver STi BBS wheels, PWR radiator, redstuff pads f/r, drilled/slotted rotors, bontragerworks rsb #18, Koni/GC 450f/375r coilovers, Megan Racing adjustable lateral links, KMac c/c plates, Stebro exhaust, ECUtune 1v5, Optima battery in the trunk where it belongs. Turbo project '97 Ebony LSi ~137k #036.......Power mode mod, JDM clear corners, BBS wheels. AUX/pocket mod Now a mod "over there" ............Photo album |
#9
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Re: Interior swap blues
You're wrong, unless it was put there by the manufacturer it is an illegal vin plate. One that in many states is a felony. The manufacturer as I already stated is REQUIRED to provide a replacement vin if it was damaged, lost or misplaced. That is the only legal way to replace the visible vin on a vehicle and should cost you next to nothing provided you legally own the vehicle.
As for all of the #s matching. There is only 1 legal vin placed on a vehicle. That would be the visable vin. The other vins are simply there for manufacturer's id nothing legal about them. You're better running the car without a vin, without a license, without a plate, without registration then you are to illegally tamper with a vin. Tampering with the vin means willful disregard for the law, the others not so much.
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British vehicles are my last ditch attempt to keep the nasty Italian thoughts in my mind at bay. So far its working. |
#10
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Re: Interior swap blues
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1992 LSL ebony pearl 170k - Thank you Ron Mummert Reading Box of Wine Car ----------------------------------- 1992 SVX LSL 5-Speed Sold at 180K 2019 1995 SVX Lsi Polo Sold at 118K 2007 Last edited by Sean486; 10-13-2011 at 05:10 PM. |
#11
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Re: Interior swap blues
Never got one for a Subie but most stealerships don't do them, you probably need to contact the manufacturer. Only one I can remember that you could get it through a dealer was for Mercedes, who uses paper for their vins BTW.
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British vehicles are my last ditch attempt to keep the nasty Italian thoughts in my mind at bay. So far its working. |
#12
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Re: Interior swap blues
It's the vin from my old claret. that dash went in years ago around 3 am& I never had the chance to get the vin plate back. So the fact it's there is a mistake. It's jf1cx3533nh101688 correct?
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1991 SVX L JDM Last edited by Mike621; 10-13-2011 at 05:33 PM. |
#13
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Re: Interior swap blues
The car should not require a dash vin to be inspected and the plate comes off easily.( I had to take it off the dash I installed from a parts car some time ago.
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1991 SVX L JDM Last edited by Mike621; 10-13-2011 at 05:33 PM. |
#14
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Re: Interior swap blues
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Now the funny part about this is since my TVR didn't have a visable vin plate either (had been glued onto the dash and fell behind it) the great state of Colorado felt compelled to insist on a State ID vin as the original importer was no longer in business. They also felt compelled to place it not in a visable location but rather on the door jamb, 3 inches above the Origin Plate (which like with many makers actually contains the vin as well).
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British vehicles are my last ditch attempt to keep the nasty Italian thoughts in my mind at bay. So far its working. |
#15
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Re: Interior swap blues
i could have that car inspected tomorrow.
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Alan 1987 928 S4 (Black) SOLD! 1997 SVX LSi (Ebony) SOLD! 2005 Legacy GT (Silver) [Cobb Stg 2+] SOLD! 1987 928 S4 (Black) SOLD! 2005 Forester XT Premium (Crystal Gray Metallic) SOLD! 2008 Lancer Evolution X MR (Apex Silver) [Cobb Stg 1+] 2015 Outlander Sport 2.4GT AWD (Mercury Gray) 2013 G37xS (Obsidian Black) |
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