How Much Does A Car's Value Diminish If The Vin Plate Got Stolen?

I am an owner of a classic car and the repair shop removed and "lost" the VIN plate. Now my 60 year old car lost it's identity . Losing a VIN plate on a newer car made after the 1960s isn't nearly as problematic as there are multiple places where the VIN can be located. On older cars there was only one location for a VIN plate. Thankfully I still have the VIN number and vehicle information filed away in my title and registration. At this point it'll be very difficult to prove that my paperwork matches my car if I wanna sell it to a serious car buyer . Now that the original VIN plate is missing, how much value has my car lost?

 

i'd say lots

new tag is a big red flag.....missing one is even bigger


new issued tag with all proper documentation and dmv history might convince a serious buyer but not a serious collector if ita actually a high value car they want it all original

 

I'd say you're screwed...

 

At one point before I owned the car the engine was toast and had to be replaced. The car itself is a family heirloom and my grandpa had it since the '55. It was in bad shape when I got it and it needed a new look.

After I gave my jackass mechanic verbal hell for taking it off in the first place, he called me up a few days later saying he found it. I go down to pick it up and find out a few days later he have me a VIN plate off of a different car of the same make and model! I'm considering pressing charges against him.

 

I'd sue him for the big loss in value you are going to take. It's not a problem at all for you, but to sell and or show it, you will have a new designated vin #. The plate should have never been removed, the ass clown you took it to owes you big $$. More so the dumb fuck lost it? I'd most likely beat him stupid, maybe some sense will get beat in.

Search around classic car sites, might luck out and find an original blank and have it stamped and dmv/dot certify and inspect it. Just keep and have all paperwork handy for any and all questions they will ask. Good luck

 

I'd tell him to find the original or we're going to be litigating. I wouldn't even be nice about it because he's already tried to bullshit you with the wrong plate.

 

????
why in the world would they have to remove it in the first place?
where was it located.
it is generally not on a part routinely replaced.

 

It was located on the upper right corner of the firewall. I had my mechanic rewire the whole electrical system because everything kept shorting out over and over again. He installed a new fuse box as well, and of all the places he chose to install it, he picked the area right where the VIN plate was mounted. That's how that son of a bitch lost it.

That jackass apparently didn't think that plate was significantl; he thought it was just a "horsepower tag" that only indicated the vechicle's horsepower, weight, carrying capacity, etc. I got on his case big time about it. I showed up at his shop at 5:00 in the morning before sunrise waiting for him. I let him know how much trouble he was in. Then the next day as I'm contemplating making a police report, he calls me saying he found it and gave it back to me. The only problem is that the VIN tag he gave me did not match the one on the title; the year didn't match either! He simply phoned up his cronies to find one off of a decomissioned car like mine and gave it to me hoping it would shut me up.

Fortunately there is a vehicle restoration club that restores old jeeps like mine. I called them up asking how much value I lost without a VIN plate. They said they'd make me a new one identical to mine with the same VIN and everything, just as long as I showed them my paperwork and title information. Aparently many people have lost and misplaced their own VIN plates. So I'll be getting a new one in the mail here shortly. I'd much rather have the authentic one back, but it's lost forever.

Once I get it back, I'm gonna tell my mechanic he owes me big time for all the mental hell he put me through, and the cost of buying and stamping a new one. I'll keep the counterfeit one he gave me as "evidence" for if I need to take his ass to court.

 

See this is the reason why modern cars have the VIN stamped all over the place on multiple parts of the car: in case the car is stolen by a chop shop, or some asshole decides to remove and throw away the identity plaque.