posted
I received this message and I am just passing it on. It does make you think about the potential of creative car theft.
VIN NUMBER
It seems that car thieves have found another way to steal your car or truck without any effort at all. The car thieves peer through the windshield of your car or truck, write down the VIN number from the label on the dash, go to the local car dealership and request a duplicate key based on the VIN number.
The car dealer's parts dept will make a duplicate key from the VIN number and collect payment from the thief who will return to your car. He doesn't have to break in, do any damage to the vehicle, or draw attention to himself. All he has to do is to walk up to your car, insert the key and off he goes to a local chop shop with your vehicle.
You don't believe it? It IS that easy. To avoid this from happening to you, simply put some tape (electrical tape, duct tape or medical tape) across the VIN label located on the dash board. By law, you cannot remove the VIN number, but you can cover it so it can't be viewed through the windshield by a car thief.
I urge you to forward this to your friends before some other car thief steals another car or truck.
PASS THIS INFO ON!!! Save YOU from giving someone else a ride.
My Reply to sender: Yes, I often take the VI Number down to the dealer when I want a new key. Instead of having a hardware store clerk make me a "close copy" of the key I have been using. That key has lost some of the sharpness of the tooth contours through everyday wear. I would be getting (no more begetting for me) a new key with all the wear from years of use. If that key was made from a copy of a worn earlier key, the wear would be a sum total of both keys, compounding the error. At the dealer, I either furnish the key code or have them look it up using the VIN. I have always felt the a reputable dealer should verify that the customer, in fact, has a lawful right to a key copy by producing proof of ownership or having existing service records for the car at that dealership. I never questioned them about this because they already know me at ( "I deleted dealership name here"), and I assume that they would have asked if I were unfamilliar to them.
While on this subject, Americans have become imprecise in there terminalogy, here. Even at the assembly plant, where they should know better, I hear the mistake of referring to it as a VIN Number. Actually, they are Vehicle Identification Numbers.
To refer to them as VIN Numbers is the same as saying
Vehicle Identification Number Numbers,
which , if you think about it, is reduntantly redundant, like USA of America, or CIA Agency or FCC Comission or CD Disc or ISU University or RVC College or UPS Service or MLB Baseball or ....you get my drift....
I most often refer to them as V.I. Numbers. Anyway, thanks for the tip.
For security, here is another tip that I thought of myself:
Many new cars feature Keyless Entry. You press a button on your keyring remote and transmit a code to unlock or lock you car. Professional thieves have been known to sit in busy parking lots with specialized scanning equipment to capture and record the code from nearby. Once you have parked and left your car, they can retransmit the code, unlocking your vehicle and disarm any security system. They then can either steal the contents or steal the entire car while posing as the owner. Two of the cars we drive have this feature and I avoid using the remote anywhere where they might be lurking. This reduces the feature's usefulness somewhat, but you can still use it fairly safely on residential streets and private driveways. I do not order the feature if possible on new cars.
[ November 07, 2003, 09:33 PM: Message edited by: Deb Fowler ]
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
The VIN thing is a hoax. Car dealers require a title plus I.D. before reproducing a key, and only when the car owner cannot supply the key code (a seperate number from the VIN). Even if a criminal were to use a fake title, or happen to find a dealer that doesn't require I.D. (which almost all do) it would be a pretty bold move. It's much easier to steal a car using a slim jim and a screw driver!
-------------------- Tim Whitcher Adrian, MI Posts: 1546 | From: Adrian, MI | Registered: Mar 1999
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Just did a search on the web, and the keyless entry deal is a hoax as well. Car manufacturers use a "code rotator" mechanism to prevent code grabbers from compromising them. It would be easier to watch through binoculars... again, a slim jim and screw driver always works!
-------------------- Tim Whitcher Adrian, MI Posts: 1546 | From: Adrian, MI | Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Covering up the VIN on the dash as suggested is in fact illegal.
If you've ever gotten a parking ticket or been stopped by the police you know they check the VIN and write it down on the ticket. If you cover the VIN and a cop stops to write a parking ticket, you'll be taking a trip to the impound lot.
As Tim pointed out, the remote systems change their code EVERY time that button is pushed. There is no possible way a thief could grab the code and use it to open the vehicle.
The thought that a thief will take the time to write down a VIN, go to the dealer to get a key, then return to the vehicle is just ludicrous. It's far less work to break a window, or use a screwdriver to bust out the key lock - they don't care, the vehicle is going to get chopped up anyway.
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
I will send this info to my brother who sent it to me, thanks for the tips. ( I have gotten keys for my mercedes several times with only the vin no. and they had to send away for them, never anything else asked.)
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
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""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3486 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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I know I am not "totally" wrong. And, yet, never claim to be totally right! Another option is to cover the vin no. if you are parked somewhere, but, remove the cover once driving again, as that could make it perfectly legal. Why take a chance, and hey, it's a shot in the dark. (some of my shots come out saving my butt... and if I save just "one" someone's butt once, then it's worth the effort. One of you in a million may be that one, and a vacation or trip to work, home or to that "special event" salvaged.
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
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