Let's Make a SS Registry!

[drewriviera]

How about making a Legacy Turbo registry? A list of cars in order according to year and VIN #.... Maybe let the person also put in some comments about what their car came with stock (ie color, transmission, etc.) I would love to put my info in and I'm sure a lot of other people would too. Most American muscle cars have a registry, and I think it's cool to see the sequential car that was made before yours and after....kinda like a "where's george" only for cars.

[SubaruNation]

ya it was tried and didn't work.

its a cool idea but then you have people's VIN #'s floating all over, not that they are hard to find on these forums but we shouldn't make it any easier.

[James614]

Whats the deal with VIN anumbers anyways? I know you can lookup info about the person, but is it any more than you'd find in a phonebook?

[skid542]

The VIN # doesn't tie a car to a person directly. The local state registration does that.

What a VIN # does do, is allow any thief cruising the net to get that number and have a brand spanking new key cut from a dealer. Then all they have to do is find the car, not always a difficult thing if they're any good and which they probably are if they're doing this to begin with.

Posting a VIN # is the car equivalent of posting your Social Security number.

[entirelyturbo]

Whoa, hang on. We don't just give a nice shiny new key to any Joe Schmo who walks in with a VIN.

You have to have a registration or insurance card, and a driver's license, and all info has to match. It has to be you requesting it, and the name, address, bla bla, all has to match.

If we just gave a key to anyone with a VIN, we'd be in deep doo-doo rather quickly.

A VIN can have a lot of info attached to it, but it's not like a credit card number or anything.

You have your VIN in full display on your dash, and your license plate on full display on your trunk for thousands of people to see every day. But I'd bet that you don't have your SSN or credit card number pasted on the outside of your car.

[skid542]

I know the dealers are supposed to request all that information.

But not all of them do. There's a reason why people get their cars stolen on account of the fact someone scoped it out and read the VIN off the dash from outside. It is a theft that is becoming more prevelant.

It's no different than a pawn shop is supposed to report every serial number a car radio they get in. Yet there are plenty of pawn shops that are just a fence.

The thief only has to know one person who has access to that info and can get the key cut.

FWIW, I keep that VIN covered on my cars.

[Fkyx]

I didn't even know you could get new keys cut! Thanks!


If someone wants my car (which looks well over its age) so bad that they'd go through all that trouble, I think they can have it. But I haven't put all sorts of blood sweat and torn pants into mine like other guys have.

[entirelyturbo]

Oh, I'm sure that there are some dealerships that don't do it.

But if they give a key to a thief who steals the car and it comes back on them, well, in my opinion, they deserve it.

I've cut keys for two people without all that stuff:

1) My friend, RenMaxi, with the 91 turbo
2) My ex

However, the use of transponder keys is making this much more difficult. Not only does that make stealing it with a screwdriver impossible, but you can't just cut a key and sell it to someone. It has to be programmed, and that means bringing the car to the dealership and getting the service department involved. One slimy parts guy who's in on the whole scheme would have a helluva time pulling that off.

[James614]

People post full VIN #s on e-Bay most of them time when selling cars (and many other classified sites). And most anybody will give out a VIN if asked when selling a car. And that doesn't count the 99.999% of people who don't cover up their VIN, as someone said earlier.

It may be a popular theft in some specific areas, but in general your VIN has had so much exposure, and our cars are so old (BMW guys trash Sport Sedans for the hell of it, after all) that I doubt it generates any additional risk.


And, do registries have to have VIN #s?

[SubaruNation]

i have no idea but i think josh said it's bad to post em' and he removed them last time.

[Legacy777]

Yeah I believe I removed them last time it was brought up. If you want to create a registry that's fine, but from the "manegement" side of the board, we don't really want VIN #'s posted.

[SubaruNation]

amen, they are easy enough to find as it is