Formula s fender tag

here are a few "legal" thoughts on your question about whether you can use a "fender tag" or what its value might be.

1. in the collector car market (as in life in general), there are two situations where you may encounter the police, or a District Attorney or the local Courthouse. the first is if you've committed a "crime" under either a State or a Federal law. creating or altering VIN numbers on any vehicle is a Federal felony so if you used a fender tag with a serial number on it to obtain a title to a vehicle (with that tag's serial number on the title) and placed that tag on a car that you did not have a title for - you will have committed a felony under both the Federal VIN statute and the vehicle code laws of all 50 U.S. states. this behavior would place you at risk of arrest, prosecution and sentencing for the entire period you owned the subject vehicle and for years after you might sell that vehicle.

2. even if you did not draw the attention of the "authorities" over the creating or altering of a VIN number on a vehicle, if you sold that vehicle to anyone and the buyer found out what you had done, the buyer would have a civil cause of action against you for the amount of money he paid for the car and for any "incidental damages" that he may have suffered - like him putting money into the car and then finding out about the bogus VIN number. that right to sue you would exist for the entire time the buyer owned your prior car. AND, it would be possible that ANYONE who subsequently purchased the car that YOU created or altered the VIN number on would be able to sue you.

3. using a fender tag without criminal or civil liability. if you wanted to create your own car with your desired options or if you found a fender tag with options that you had added to your car, it would be perfectly legal for you to add that tag to "your" car for purposes of a car show. however, if someone wanted to buy your car with the fender tag you added, you would need to disclose to the buyer that you had added the tag and also the options you added. if you did not disclose to any buyer these details, you could be subject to being sued at a later date for "misrepresenting" a vehicle or a "fraudulent conveyance."

4. the problem with fender tags on mopar collector cars is that they were essentially an "official document" created and attached by the original manufacturer to a specific vehicle listing unique information for "that" vehicle. they are "generally" NOT treated the same as the official VIN tag or plate or stamping, however, they "could" be so treated given the right District Attorney or angry buyer. as we all know, certain options add value to mopars and those options are coded on the factory fender tag. a 4 speed mopar is worth more money than an automatic. so if you convert a car to a 4 speed and then "create" a fender tag that has the manual transmission code on it, that tag makes the car worth more because the fender tag makes it seem like the car was an original 4 speed car - thus being more valuable. anytime a person "creates" or "manufactures" information about a vehicle that is not accurate or true - that is called "fraud."

the bottom line is with fender tags - you can do ANYTHING you want with a car YOU OWN. but if you attempt to sell that car, you must disclose everything you did to the car including the addition of a fender tag or any options and get that disclosure in writing from your buyer. and of course you MUST NOT use a fender tag to obtain a title. as to the "value" of a fender tag? for all the reasons i've noted, i cannot imagine any tag being worth much money. IF you are buying a tag that has a lot of "valuable options" so you can "create a car to match that tag" - YOU ARE ASKING FOR PROBLEMS unless you intend to keep that car yourself IN YOUR OWN NAME for the rest of your life. I forgot to address your question about you selling a VIN or fender tag you have. I WOULD STRONGLY advise you NOT TO DO THAT!! anyone with a collector car knows what a "VIN number plate" and/or fender tag are used for. you would NOT be able to say to the police - "i thought that VIN plate and fender tag was just another part off the car." these items are NOT "just another part" and would not be treated that way by a Prosecutor. theoretically, you could be charged with "aiding and abetting an attempted felony" by selling a VIN number or fender tag to someone. just DON'T DO IT!