Opinions on VIN stickers
02-24-2017, 05:13 AM
#21
Do yourself a favor and take the time to educate yourself first. Read this. Good luck
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/new-york...d-off-1148423/
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/new-york...d-off-1148423/
02-24-2017, 08:20 AM
#22
They are very important to me. The VIN tags essentially ensure that at minimum all original panels / bumpers are on the car. They don't ensure nothing has been repaired or fixed, as a good shop can mask them very well. If the VIN sticker(s) are gone, it means either the repair was bad enough to warrant a replacement part (e.g. new bumper) or that a cheap repair was done and the VIN sticker was not cared for during the repair.
You have to ask yourself... if the VIN tag is missing, just how bad was the accident that is caused the repair to be done? Was it even fixed professionally?
My 04 has all VIN tags, has zero paintwork, and 50k on it. Its a garage queen under a cover on the battery tender. Unfortunately you need to find someone like me that is selling... hard to do these days and it takes time.
You have to ask yourself... if the VIN tag is missing, just how bad was the accident that is caused the repair to be done? Was it even fixed professionally?
My 04 has all VIN tags, has zero paintwork, and 50k on it. Its a garage queen under a cover on the battery tender. Unfortunately you need to find someone like me that is selling... hard to do these days and it takes time.
02-24-2017, 04:52 PM
#23
You have to ask yourself your goals for the car and purchase. I was going for the cheapest 06+ I could find. It was missing the front bumper sticker as it had been resprayed but from what I can tell it's an OEM bumper so guessing it's original as I could see remnants of the original sticker.
Point is the front bumpers being resprayed is not unusual, as I just had it done again. These cars seem to be little rock / stone magnets to the front bumper area. I'd get more worried about fender panels or the doors. So would I consider a front bumper VIN sticker missing a deal breaker? no not personally and ask for a bit of a discount. Of course look for for resprays to other parts of the car.
Point is the front bumpers being resprayed is not unusual, as I just had it done again. These cars seem to be little rock / stone magnets to the front bumper area. I'd get more worried about fender panels or the doors. So would I consider a front bumper VIN sticker missing a deal breaker? no not personally and ask for a bit of a discount. Of course look for for resprays to other parts of the car.
02-27-2017, 07:38 AM
#24
You have to ask yourself your goals for the car and purchase. I was going for the cheapest 06+ I could find. It was missing the front bumper sticker as it had been resprayed but from what I can tell it's an OEM bumper so guessing it's original as I could see remnants of the original sticker.
Point is the front bumpers being resprayed is not unusual, as I just had it done again. These cars seem to be little rock / stone magnets to the front bumper area. I'd get more worried about fender panels or the doors. So would I consider a front bumper VIN sticker missing a deal breaker? no not personally and ask for a bit of a discount. Of course look for for resprays to other parts of the car.
Point is the front bumpers being resprayed is not unusual, as I just had it done again. These cars seem to be little rock / stone magnets to the front bumper area. I'd get more worried about fender panels or the doors. So would I consider a front bumper VIN sticker missing a deal breaker? no not personally and ask for a bit of a discount. Of course look for for resprays to other parts of the car.
02-27-2017, 01:15 PM
#25
As others have said, are you going to daily it? Also relying just on the VIN is not enough. A good PPI should be your first measure. Engine compression test. Rust? Overall condition of the interior to me is big as well. A guy that has the time to treat his steering wheel leather with conditioner and cleaners is going to take care of his maintenance schedule and won't let just anyone work on their car even if it were in an accident. At the same time I have sheen some pretty shitty cars with all VINS present.
02-27-2017, 01:21 PM
#26
My car had all the VIN stickers intact.
That is not to say that it was a perfect car. 135k miles, rust, had been autocrossed (maybe tracked), had a tow hitch for dude's bike rack, inside of the trunk was scuffed up from being loaded to gills, etc.
But I did want the VIN stickers, if for nothing other than piece of mind that it hadn't been hit.
That is not to say that it was a perfect car. 135k miles, rust, had been autocrossed (maybe tracked), had a tow hitch for dude's bike rack, inside of the trunk was scuffed up from being loaded to gills, etc.
But I did want the VIN stickers, if for nothing other than piece of mind that it hadn't been hit.
03-05-2017, 06:24 PM
#27
Besides the missing VIN sticker, what are other tell tale signs of a repainted front bumper? I have a black AP1 and the front bumper VIN is missing. The area where the sticker normally goes is perfectly smooth, no remnants of the sticker or residues. Color match perfectly with adjacent panels to my eyes. No issues with figment either. I would like to think that the VIN sticker had just fell off, but that's probably not very likely. Why wouldn't the body shop mask off the VIN sticker for a repaint anyway? Is it more likely that the whole bumper was replaced?
03-06-2017, 07:53 AM
#28
Besides the missing VIN sticker, what are other tell tale signs of a repainted front bumper? I have a black AP1 and the front bumper VIN is missing. The area where the sticker normally goes is perfectly smooth, no remnants of the sticker or residues. Color match perfectly with adjacent panels to my eyes. No issues with figment either. I would like to think that the VIN sticker had just fell off, but that's probably not very likely. Why wouldn't the body shop mask off the VIN sticker for a repaint anyway? Is it more likely that the whole bumper was replaced?
03-06-2017, 12:55 PM
#29
I just found my 07 GPW with all the tags intact. In my mind even though they are hard to find they are out there and I held out for a car that had them all intact. Simply for the peace of mine that at the worst something has been repainted. Again as echoed above, no damage bad enough to need a replacement panel happened to the car.
03-06-2017, 02:08 PM
#30
You finally find your perfect S. All vin tags intact. The right color, miles, condition, etc. You can tell its pristine.
Then you get bumped in a parking lot. Bumper scuffed and plastic gouged. A new bumper cover is only like $300, so shop quotes a replacement. Its not worth doing bodywork on the old cover.
Wouldn't it have been better to pay less for a car that already had its bumpers replaced once? Now you don't have to be paranoid about parking it. About how close every car comes at every traffic light. You can actually enjoy driving and using the car.
There is an old adage about buying a car that already has a scratch in it. Its prescratched, so you don't have to worry and can just drive it.
Then you get bumped in a parking lot. Bumper scuffed and plastic gouged. A new bumper cover is only like $300, so shop quotes a replacement. Its not worth doing bodywork on the old cover.
Wouldn't it have been better to pay less for a car that already had its bumpers replaced once? Now you don't have to be paranoid about parking it. About how close every car comes at every traffic light. You can actually enjoy driving and using the car.
There is an old adage about buying a car that already has a scratch in it. Its prescratched, so you don't have to worry and can just drive it.