Car-fax caution
06-06-2003 | 01:45 AM
#1
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From: Draper, UT
Car-fax caution
As I've been searching for a 928 to purchase, I have found an issue with Car-fax I feel is worth passing along.
It seems that the VIN is recorded incorrectly by service shops and an the DMV because there is often confusion with the first three digits. I've found that it is beneficial to pull a Car-fax by BOTH wpo and wp0. Doing so will likely show that the car has more history than originally thought.
A recent example I looked at had the mileage listed as 99321 by the selling dealer, and their link to the wpo Car-fax showed "at least one owner" and no odometer issues. However, inputting the wp0 VIN showed more than three owners, including a fleet/lease, and also a potential odometer rollback.
caveat emptor.
It seems that the VIN is recorded incorrectly by service shops and an the DMV because there is often confusion with the first three digits. I've found that it is beneficial to pull a Car-fax by BOTH wpo and wp0. Doing so will likely show that the car has more history than originally thought.
A recent example I looked at had the mileage listed as 99321 by the selling dealer, and their link to the wpo Car-fax showed "at least one owner" and no odometer issues. However, inputting the wp0 VIN showed more than three owners, including a fleet/lease, and also a potential odometer rollback.
caveat emptor.
06-06-2003 | 01:16 PM
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</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Bill Coleman:
<strong>'The letters "I", "O" and "Q" never appear in a VIN'.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">I was told the same thing on two different occasions by insurance companies.
<strong>'The letters "I", "O" and "Q" never appear in a VIN'.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">I was told the same thing on two different occasions by insurance companies.
06-06-2003 | 01:41 PM
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From: Draper, UT
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Randy V:
[QB]Sounds like the birth of an urban legend, Ferris.
It is an odd phenomenon to be sure, but I have two Car fax reports in my possession where the only variation is the third digit, and they paint very different stories. I've not tried any of the other verification services though, so they might not have the problem. Either way, I will be doing searches for both variations from now on.
[QB]Sounds like the birth of an urban legend, Ferris.
It is an odd phenomenon to be sure, but I have two Car fax reports in my possession where the only variation is the third digit, and they paint very different stories. I've not tried any of the other verification services though, so they might not have the problem. Either way, I will be doing searches for both variations from now on.
06-06-2003 | 08:18 PM
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Any program that checks a VIN number you give it by validating the checksum character (9th from the left) should object to a WP"O" code because the checksum cannot be generated with an illegal character since there is no lookup table value for character "O" to do the required calculations.
Only if it explicitly substitues 0's (Zeros) for O's would this work.... (or if it doesn't check this at all ... duh!)
The checksum digit is designed to ensure all single digit and most multiple digit transcription errors can be identified, so this is exatly the application that its intended for...
Alan
Only if it explicitly substitues 0's (Zeros) for O's would this work.... (or if it doesn't check this at all ... duh!)
The checksum digit is designed to ensure all single digit and most multiple digit transcription errors can be identified, so this is exatly the application that its intended for...
Alan