[blown96bird]

I had to replace my rear lift gate and rear bumper cover because of some very minor damage. I only used new subaru parts and the repair is perfect. I paid cash for the repair and no insurance companies were involved. The body shop does not sell there data. I want to replicate the vin stickers so that it will be imposiable to tell if the car was ever in a accident.

I am looking to trade in my ob in about 10 months on a 14 ob I want absoutly no trace of a previous repair which would make my vehicle worth thousands of dollars less.

 

[hallux]

Consider this, how would you feel if you bought a vehicle that had had undisclosed repairs made to it? Especially a complete liftgate replacement.

Ethics aside, the shop you used should be able to point you in the right direction but I imagine it woud be difficult to replace those (I don't recall there being one on the bumper though) without a flag being raised somewhere.

 

[blown96bird]

I backed into a u shaped pole going about 1/4 mph completly missing the rear bumper support tearing the rear bumper denting the rear tail gate. It is not repairable because it is alluminum. It did not damage the body of the car or the structure any way.

 

[Nickshu]

Consider this, how would you feel if you bought a vehicle that had had undisclosed repairs made to it? Especially a complete liftgate replacement.

Fine if the repairs were made with his level of attention to detail. Unfortunately most are not.

 

[G-Omaha]

I had to replace my rear lift gate and rear bumper cover because of some very minor damage. I only used new subaru parts and the repair is perfect. I paid cash for the repair and no insurance companies were involved. The body shop does not sell there data. I want to replicate the vin stickers so that it will be imposiable to tell if the car was ever in a accident.

I am looking to trade in my ob in about 10 months on a 14 ob I want absoutly no trace of a previous repair which would make my vehicle worth thousands of dollars less.

Hope that the Dealer treats you the same way. If there was damage "in transit", they can probably insure that "absolutely no trace of the repair is evident; thereby reducing the sales value of your new car". Integrity and ethics aside, I think you get my gist.

 

[AO River]

Not that I support the ethical decision of the OP, but if the repair is "perfect" isn't it unlikely that the dealership will be looking for the body panel VIN tag when evaluating your vehicle's worth?

In my experience when they're looking at a trade-in, they do a walk-around of the vehicle, take it for a drive and give you a value. YMMV.

 

[blown96bird]

I took my car to the same place that the dealership uses to repair there car. It was a very expensive repair. 2850.00 dollars. I tried to find a used factory hatch and bumper cover and called 300 salvage yards within 150 miles of tulsa with no luck on color.

 

[hallux]

Dude, we get it, you spent a lot of cheddar on the repair. Despite my concerns over the ethics of the situation I DID make a suggestion before, did you see that or did you stop reading before that?

FWIW, the presumably unmolested "jamb" on my 2011 tailgate does not have a VIN tag, unless I overlooked it when I just checked.

 

[upflying]

For obvious reasons there are no legal sources of replacement vin stickers.

 

[Euchre]

Might this be fraud in some states? Maybe all of them?

Of course, if I was shopping for a 3.6R Subaru Outback in the Tulsa, OK area, I think I'd steer clear of the blue ones now...

(Go-go Googlebot indexing! )

 

[hallux]

For obvious reasons there are no legal sources of replacement vin stickers.

I guess those are there for multiple reasons. The primary reason for the VIN tags on main panels/doors is to toss a red flag if the vehicle is stolen and stripped for parts, those panels can then be tracked. I never thought of the idea that they'd be used to identify if a part had been replaced from a collision repair.

One other thing I hadn't thought of. Despite them not "selling" info, I'm pretty sure a reputable shop (and one that wants to keep their license) has to report all body repairs. I had rust repaired on a previous vehicle and I'm pretty sure the repair was reported. There's no cost (or income) to the shop for doing this.

 

[Shadow 1100]

When you trade a vehicle in that is one of the question's they ask, has the vehicle ever been in a accident, then you sign off on that yes or no, that's why we have car fax because guy's like you.

 

[paulfolio]

When you trade a vehicle in that is one of the question's they ask, has the vehicle ever been in a accident, then you sign off on that yes or no, that's why we have car fax because guy's like you.

OP got served! HAHA

 

[DrD]

OP got served! HAHA

not really - a carfax would come back clean as a whistle on his car. Even so, the kind of accident you need to worry about is one where the frame is tweaked - replacing a dented liftgate and a torn bumper cover is a non-issue.

Personally, I think someone going over the top to repair some light damage says nothing but good things about how the car has been treated while in their possession, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Shadow 1100]

I think you watch to many commerical's it don't work that way

 

[blown96bird]

I treat the vehicle very well. I was going very slowly and it did not bend the body other than the tail gate. I spent the a lot of money to fix it right. They bought a new tailgate from Subaru and painted it installed the glass after it was painted. They also installed a new Subaru bumper cover. There is no paint lines anywhere. I am still looking for a factory bumper cover that has never been repainted and is perfect. I have done some research and looked at 12 other outbacks today and there is no vin stickers on any of them on the tail gate or the bumper so I am going to be all right.

There is a lot of people here that have had there ob damaged much more severely than mine and have had no problems with it.

Car fax will only show up it if was a insurance claim and or the body shop sells there information to them. They assured me that they do not.

 

[DrD]

I think you watch to many commerical's it don't work that way

Well - the commercials make it seem that a carfax report would tell you every little detail about how a car was treated over it's lifetime, which simply isn't true. Even carfax points out that their reports are not meant to be a comprehensive history of a vehicle - they have what's been reported to sources they have access to, which is not everything.

CARFAX®- See CARFAX® Car Data Sources | Comprehensive Car Database

 

[upflying]

Here is the federal law regarding the VIN decals.
Even if you could find a sticker, it is illegal to put a vin decal on a replacement vehicle part.
http://law.justia.com/cfr/title49/49-6.1.2.3.17.html

 

[hallux]

Car fax will only show up it if was a insurance claim and or the body shop sells there information to them. They assured me that they do not.

Again, the shop doesn't "sell" that data to CarFax. If they report it like they're supposed to it will show up. Maybe different states have different rules for body shops and what repairs require reporting.

 

[fatabbot]

I guess I'm at a loss here. Ok, it won't show up on a Carfax. What are the chances of an buyer (either private or dealer) actually checking the VIN plate on the hatch to begin with? A dealer's in-house buyer spends maybe 5 minutes looking over a car. A private party buyer has even less chance of discovering the discrepancy.

As stated above, a dealer might ask if the car has ever had body work done, so may a private buyer. If you lie about that, you're a dirtbag. If you go as far as fraudulently replacing the VIN tag, you're a criminal dirtbag.