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1) I am not a lawyer but the way I interpreted the statute is that VIN tampering is only illegal if it is done to conceal a previous crime (Theft).
2) I also see that it could be very difficult to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a VIN was swapped and not just removed and re-installed... If the restorer... errr BUTCHER cited the Repair / restoration exemption and said that the firewall, dash, etc was damaged beyond repair and in order to fix it a section had to be cut from another car and welded in then the VIN had to re-installed in the Replaced section.
3) Now to take a different road to the same destination...
What if the car was clipped through the door posts and across the floor board and welded into another body.(basically using the bare minimum of the car with the VIN's)? Would this be considered VIN swapping or would it be considered a "repair"?
Half and Half piece togethers used to be common place in the 70's...
4) NOW 1 more...
Would decking an old VIN off and stamping a different VIN back on an Engine or Transmission fall under this? It appears as though it would if using your explanation of the law, because any obliteration or alteration of any VIN would be illegal whether someone was the legal owner of the part/ car etc.
Am I correct with this reasoning?
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1) Lawyer? I am one (allegedly) and it doesn't matter what reason you do the VIN tampering for. It is something of an automatic pass/fail statute: if you do any of the above listed things, you committed the crime regardless of your reason (other than the listed exceptions, of course) The only intent required is the intent to physically alter the VIN, nothing more. In other words, you knew that you were cutting out that VIN and you didn't do it while sleepwalking or during an epileptic seizure.
2) The experts that are used by law enforcement are many times NICB automotive insurance fraud agents who are most often, retired car guys who know exactly what to look for. I've met a few and they know their sh$t.
3) Very slippery slope here. But your scenario would probably be seen as legal and not a VIN swap if the majority of the original car's chassis/body remained and just the rusted areas were replaced.
4) A legitimate decking process by an engine repair facility that grinds off the VIN as a byproduct of the machining process is not seen as VIN tampering. Stamping VINs on engines (like vintage Corvette "Restoration Engines") are something of an untested area. That is more for the civil liability arena (suing for $$$ damages if you're defrauded) than the criminal arena, since cars are traditionally register by chassis VIN and not engine VINs.
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