The fact the car was five grand cheaper than others available would have made be suspicious

Nik 2015 Golf R DSG
Gone 2013 Mercedes C220 CDi AMG Sport Plus
Gone 2008 2.7 RRS HSE

sportnewby wrote:

I was stupid. Like I said I rang up. I questioned the fact if it was priced low due to the possibility of being damaged repaired. But fell in the story of urgent need to sell. Look, sometimes you do get a genuine bargain but you should fully inspect the car inside out. Buy from a home/registered address. Etc.

But too many out there to make a rip on innocent buyers

I was watching a caravan on ebay that was £5k below book

When I asked the seller some questions he started throwing in free delivery (without even asking where i was). and the van was advertised as in North Scotland.

Major alarm bells.

I found the same van (well pictures of) in my local trade it, different location, so contacted ebay.

They pulled the ad and then the trade it ad dissapeared too.

Plenty of crooks out there. RRS gone
Audi SQ5...Gone Audi Q7 S-Line 240 3.0TDI Gone
Audi A6 Allroad Sport 270 3.0TDI

There are various approaches to detect a suspicious vehicle I’ll mention one that is most relevant to the cloning and this post.

Principle: Good quality copied VIN stamps aren't that difficult to come across with the right connections or even with a little good research. Eastern Europe and the Far East haven’t really helped the situation. Body filler and paint can hide mistakes i.e. weld marks, grinding/cutting marks and touch-up on copied VIN’s to the naked eye, But the quality in materials (namely surface coating) and processes are slightly more difficult to mimic.

Also don’t be fooled by on-board computers and dealer ECU readers most ECU’s can be edited.


The quickest way to identify a suspicious vehicle (after doing all your standard checks) is to check the VIN stamp!


Check VIN surroundings, VIN letter formation and abnormality in paint work around the main chassis VIN stamp comparing it with the areas around, use a dab of liquid thinner on a cotton cloth swipe over the indented 17 digit VIN number and see if any excess paint has come off?? If so, now check the opposite side doing the same procedure (Be sure to wipe the dirt of first).

Match the difference

If original and untouched the paint will be reluctant to come off straight away and nothing should in fact come off, unless excessively rubbed which should never be done.

If not then a reasonable amount of noticeable dye should be on the cloth which should prompt you to investigate further.

Whichever side the dye has come off that area has previously been disturbed. CAUTION this could be purely innocent and due to repair work or a paint work blend that a body shop has carried out. Nevertheless there is a concern.

When amateur criminals clone vehicles (which are a big percentage) they don’t have access to high grade materials and the detailed processes like the manufacturers, the same can also be said for so called approved dealer body shops.

This is basically down to making more money for the body shops and the criminals only having access to local procedures and materials. If the approved body-shops cant get the task right then how would you expect the average criminal to.

Hope this is of some help.


The information above is for reference only and a professional should always be consulted. Glohh.
Automotive light designers and manufacturers.
Available now The GL-3 Taillight for the Range Rover Sport.

www.glohh.com

www.facebook.com/glohh

Forgot to mention the fluid name will find out the correct name. Glohh.
Automotive light designers and manufacturers.
Available now The GL-3 Taillight for the Range Rover Sport.

www.glohh.com

www.facebook.com/glohh

Stryke wrote:

npinks wrote:

I'm meaning that you didn't bother ringing the police regarding the RRS con

Even if he would have called the police, they wouldn't have done anything. The OP has no proof, there is no solid evidence, and info from a civilian isn't worth anything to the police these days.....

I dont mean to be rude but you are quite wrong!!!
i wont go into details here but theres more than enough info and what can be developed in this situation. I have dealt with incidents such as this for the past 29 years and there are more than enough 'specialist' officers out there that would love to get handed something like this on a plate.

If this ever happens again, please contact the Police and I would urge the OP that if this was fairly recent, then please contact your Stolen Vehicle Unit or PM me the details.

Stryke wrote:

npinks wrote:

I'm meaning that you didn't bother ringing the police regarding the RRS con

Even if he would have called the police, they wouldn't have done anything. The OP has no proof, there is no solid evidence, and info from a civilian isn't worth anything to the police these days.....

I dont mean to be rude but you are quite wrong!!!
i wont go into details here but theres more than enough info and what can be developed in this situation. I have dealt with incidents such as this for the past 29 years and there are more than enough 'specialist' officers out there that would love to get handed something like this on a plate.

If this ever happens again, please contact the Police and I would urge the OP that if this was fairly recent, then please contact your Stolen Vehicle Unit or PM me the details.

Tonyrec wrote:

Stryke wrote:

npinks wrote:

I'm meaning that you didn't bother ringing the police regarding the RRS con

Even if he would have called the police, they wouldn't have done anything. The OP has no proof, there is no solid evidence, and info from a civilian isn't worth anything to the police these days.....

I dont mean to be rude but you are quite wrong!!!
i wont go into details here but theres more than enough info and what can be developed in this situation. I have dealt with incidents such as this for the past 29 years and there are more than enough 'specialist' officers out there that would love to get handed something like this on a plate.

If this ever happens again, please contact the Police and I would urge the OP that if this was fairly recent, then please contact your Stolen Vehicle Unit or PM me the details.

You can only speak from experience, hopefully it's not always a bad one.

Glohh wrote:

Forgot to mention the fluid name will find out the correct name.

This happened to me in Bury 3 years ago with a honda civic unfortunately i didnt walk away eveything checked out even thelog book numbers, everything was changed number wise all info present it was cloned to a car down south that had been sold 2 months previously i lost £13k and the car it was traced as stolen through a faulty alarm fob wish i hadnt took it in to be fixed A very expensive alarm fob be careful guys even hpi didnt pick it up as stolen it was done that well they had obviously bought the car stole another then sold both i got the nicked cloned one Bas:censored: if i could get my hands on them "Remember its easier to say sorry than it is to get permission " especially off the Mrs !!