10 replies to this topic

[MR77LX]

Hey guys,
I’m looking at buying this lx Torana unseen.
However the seller has told me that he has all the tags for the car but the vin number does not much.
He said that when he bought the car, the previous owner had told him that the car has been in a front end bingle and the plate that has the vin was damaged and replaced with a second hand plate. Hence that’s why it has 2 vin numbers.
Now from my understanding if that plate has been damaged then I would suspect the chassis has been affected as well?
Any advice would be great.

[yel327]

VIN is the skinny plate. Pretty big crash to damage it.

[hanra]

I’d be requesting pics of all 3 plates and the body number and posting them up on here.

[MR77LX]

That’s what I thought. Then he said the car is in primer but the floor pan needs work. He said the driver side floor has been fitted incorrectly and needs replacing because he thinks they have used a hq floor pan.

[hanra]

Run.

[Bigfella237]

Everything depends on the price I guess. It's not uncommon to have to go back and fix other people's dodgy repairs!

 

As for the numbers... What exactly does he mean? The (skinny) VIN tag is not supposed to match the chassis number.

 

The stamped chassis number should match the number on the Compliance plate, but it's not the end of the world if it doesn't, you can still get it registered with only a chassis number, provided of course that it's not stolen or on the WOVR (not that it would be with something as old as a Torana).

 

Just go without the compliance plate altogether. You just have to prove that the chassis number has been previously registered somewhere in Australia, which should be easy unless it's an import.

 

The other two GMH plates (the skinny VIN tag and the Body Plate) have nothing at all to do with registration. You can leave them off and it won't make any difference.

 

The problems begin when you start assigning value to what those plates say, if it's just an "S", or "SL" (or even a Sunbird) then who cares, the value of the car won't change much whether the plates are there or not.

 

But if you're talking about an SL/R (sedan) or an SS (hatch) then that's a different story. One missing plate is a PITA but still okay, providing the remaining plate actually belongs to the car (I'm saying don't even bother with the replacement, you'd be better off with the plate missing).

 

If you're looking to buy an 8VD but can't prove the vehicle's heritage then I'd say walk away and keep looking!

[MR77LX]

Thanks for that info. I’m also concerned about its structure. I don’t want to buy a shell
And spend thousands restoring it and knowing that’s it’s been cut in half or chassis has been played around with or re welded.
Is that something likely to happen if the hit has been on the front where the chassis number is?
Is there c chance that the chassis has not been touched and the hit was from the guard area at the front beside the head light?

[purrlx]

I would say it’s time to see it in the flesh yourself, or walk away from it if worried.

[gtrboyy]

It would have to be super cheap with a lot of fact checking to even consider buying....then you'd have inspect it up close with panelbeater who will be the sod to repair it.

 

Too much bs to deal with especially damaged tags yet chassis number on rail is ok or vice versa sounds suss.

[MR77LX]

Yep it does sound very suss. 

Thanks again guys for all your help!

[rexy]

Suss. Just hopeless.

 

Often hard to tell apart. You really need to have a look or get someone you can rely on do so for you.