VIN check vendor

[Bill Pritchard]

Wish I could remember for sure how I ended up handling a similar situation with my wife's old 69 Impala convertible. Somehow the State of Illinois (where I lived at the time) changed the capital letter 'S' in the middle of the VIN on the title to the numbers '75'. Nowhere near as goofy as your situation, Mitch, but still not the proper format for a Chevrolet VIN of that era. I know I considered taking the car to my local Police Department and having them verify the correct VIN and submit their statement to the State of Illinois, but if I ever did that, I certainly don't remember it. Probably more likely that I just sold the car with the incorrect VIN on the title.

Hope you are stocked up on liquor and/or antacids.

[Big Block Bill]

I had the same experience with a Jaguar I sold to a Guy on ebay that lived in Israel. Illinois SOS gave me a title with an "S" instead of a "5" or vice versa, I don't remember. When it arrived on the dock in Israel, the customs guys would not let it in the country until the title read correctly. So (3) weeks later and $400.00 to cover DHL / Fed Ex and fees from Illinois SOS for a corrected Title (and it was THEIR Mistake) I finally got it resolved. All the time waiting on the dock, unprotected or covered, this original 40,000 miles V-12 XJS sat.

They also gave me a title with 18 digits instead of the 17 it should have for a Tow Truck I bought brand new off of an MSO. Their computer should not even have had the ability to accept an 18 digit VIN at the time. go figure. I had to take the truck to the SOS Police office in Villa Park Illinois for them to inspect it and then took the paperwork to the Lombard Illinois SOS location for correction and once again they tried charging me for a corrected Title when it was their fault. The sad part is, I towed for the Illinois Secretary of State AND the Illinois State police at the time! NO Respect what so ever.

Being a Licensed Rebuilder and Parts recycler with the Secretary of State in Illinois, they have never been the smartest, or used common sense in my past dealings with good old Jesse White's staff. Hopefully the New Guy, Alexi Giannoulias does a better job.

Bill

[Bill Pritchard]

Originally Posted by Bill Pritchard

Wish I could remember for sure how I ended up handling a similar situation with my wife's old 69 Impala convertible. Somehow the State of Illinois (where I lived at the time) changed the capital letter 'S' in the middle of the VIN on the title to the numbers '75'. Nowhere near as goofy as your situation, Mitch, but still not the proper format for a Chevrolet VIN of that era. I know I considered taking the car to my local Police Department and having them verify the correct VIN and submit their statement to the State of Illinois, but if I ever did that, I certainly don't remember it. Probably more likely that I just sold the car with the incorrect VIN on the title.

I went on the IL SOS website and searched both the incorrect VIN for our old Impala (nothing listed) and the correct one, which did show up. Last title activity shown was in 2005 (4 years after I sold it) and it is now listed as "Rebuilt". Not sure what that means, but it's probably not a good thing