Meh, yeah I saw those threads.
Didn't chime in as it was clear to all that the guy wasn't a VIN swapper per se, he was a car thief.
Still, 'bout time we had another VIN Nazi thread, yes??
He is
exactly a VIN swapper. The only reasons to swap a VIN are criminal. Period.
Either you're trying to commit fraud by passing a car off as something more valuable than it is, or you're trying to hide a theft. And once the VIN is swapped the car wearing the swapped VIN can be very difficult to track if it's done well. So, even if nothing was stolen it can be difficult or impossible to prove that. Which is why VIN swapping itself is a crime, because it's a tool used by criminals to get away with their crimes. Either theft or fraud, doesn't matter.
Doesn't matter how many times you bring it up. There's no reason to swap a VIN if you don't care about the numbers or the value of the car, and if you're trying to take advantage of either by swapping a VIN you're committing fraud. Any example that doesn't involve theft boils down to -let the "rare" car that's beyond repair die, drive the /6 car with the upgraded drivetrain and represent it as what it is. If you truly enjoy the car for what it is now, it doesn't matter what the VIN says, so, there's no reason to change it. Simple, easy. So drop it.
I use different screen names.
Fabo is the best car Forum so i don't mind being friendly and sharing more about myself and my cars here.
There are other forums i am only there to buy parts and i don't care to share anything with them or be friendly. Sounds mean, i know but some forums still have a lot of cave men who i am not familiar with.
That's actually the reason I use the same screen name. I have accounts at pretty much all the larger Mopar boards, but I don't post at most of them so I either have a very low post count or none at all. I have bought parts on a few of them though, and the fact that I use the same screen name and can reference my trading profile here has helped me out some. It's a lot less intimidating to do business with someone if they have a good trading record, so if I buy parts on another forum where I may have a 0 post count I can refer the seller back to my profile here. Obviously that's not 100% fool proof because as Matt found out someone else could use that screen name at another board, but it can make things easier.
And if someone doesn't like me here, they're not going to like me at another board because I'm still "me", so, there's no reason to run a different screen name.
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