15Pony
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2014
- Threads
- 37
- Messages
- 463
- Reaction score
- 31
- Location
- Jackson, MS
- First Name
- Bruce
- Vehicle(s)
- 2015 Mustang V6
- Thread starter
- #1
Well this seems a little fishy. Last spring my '15 V6 was declared totaled after a storm. A tree fell on the left rear quarter, damage estimate was $14k which was basically for all sheetmetal on the left side from pillar to trunk. I always wondered what happened to it after the auction. mycarfax.com does not show anything after it was sold.
Well the other day I happened across a listing for the same model, trim, and color at a buy here pay here place about 80 miles away. So of course I looked at the listing. Identical car but different VIN number. Well they had some pictures posted and I was pretty shocked at a couple of them. I always record my odometer when I buy gas & reset the trip meter (I have the records stored in a database to track my expenses and mpg, its just habit). One of the pictures showed the odometer screen: 40,618 miles and 5,879 on the trip. That means it was reset at 34,739. The last gas purchase I made before I took it to the body shop was 34,739! I did not know it would be totaled when I put that gas in so I recorded it as normal; the shop had previously told me they could fix it so I fully expected to get it back. Also they had a picture of the key fob which has a piece of the silver strip missing. Well I remember that my key fob had the same piece of silver missing! Sadly the listing says "sold" though its still on their site, otherwise I would have gone to take a look at it.
To me it appears that they swapped the VIN number! That's very illegal if they did. The history on the other Mustang seems a bit odd according to mycarfax.com. Its from McAllen, Texas and was serviced at a Ford dealer there 3 times between June and August last year with only around 200 miles put on in 3 months and only 3,000 miles on it since. It had a Texas registration in 2016 but nothing since and no record of it being offered for sale.
If it really is a different car then its a hell of a coincidence that two identical Mustangs from different states can reset their trip meters at the exact same mileage! What do you guys think - kind of weird huh? I think its possible to swap VINs if you swap the ECM & BCM but where would the "good" VIN come from? It had to be an identical model without a branded title and no negative history. That's not too common in a junkyard for a 3 year old car. I was thinking since McAllen is down the street from Mexico there was some funny business going on with exporting the other car but I don't know. It sure seems fishy to me!!
Well the other day I happened across a listing for the same model, trim, and color at a buy here pay here place about 80 miles away. So of course I looked at the listing. Identical car but different VIN number. Well they had some pictures posted and I was pretty shocked at a couple of them. I always record my odometer when I buy gas & reset the trip meter (I have the records stored in a database to track my expenses and mpg, its just habit). One of the pictures showed the odometer screen: 40,618 miles and 5,879 on the trip. That means it was reset at 34,739. The last gas purchase I made before I took it to the body shop was 34,739! I did not know it would be totaled when I put that gas in so I recorded it as normal; the shop had previously told me they could fix it so I fully expected to get it back. Also they had a picture of the key fob which has a piece of the silver strip missing. Well I remember that my key fob had the same piece of silver missing! Sadly the listing says "sold" though its still on their site, otherwise I would have gone to take a look at it.
To me it appears that they swapped the VIN number! That's very illegal if they did. The history on the other Mustang seems a bit odd according to mycarfax.com. Its from McAllen, Texas and was serviced at a Ford dealer there 3 times between June and August last year with only around 200 miles put on in 3 months and only 3,000 miles on it since. It had a Texas registration in 2016 but nothing since and no record of it being offered for sale.
If it really is a different car then its a hell of a coincidence that two identical Mustangs from different states can reset their trip meters at the exact same mileage! What do you guys think - kind of weird huh? I think its possible to swap VINs if you swap the ECM & BCM but where would the "good" VIN come from? It had to be an identical model without a branded title and no negative history. That's not too common in a junkyard for a 3 year old car. I was thinking since McAllen is down the street from Mexico there was some funny business going on with exporting the other car but I don't know. It sure seems fishy to me!!
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