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Over the years, my personalized license plate has been on my car, motorcycle, Jeep and now my pickup truck. Take your pick.
Probably the last vehicle registered with that plate. CarFax gives you the VIN with the report, so it's easy enough to verify. You can even get the year, make, and model by plate for free; great way to tell if someone is a curbstoner swapping one plate from vehicle to vehicle.
Indeed, there's lots of that out there, too. I ran one on my Crown Vic before I sold it and it had a couple things listed that I had never had done....that is, misinterpretations of repairs that were actually done. Definitely buyer beware. A CARFAX is by no means gospel truth, but it is a generally helpful tool to augment your good judgement.
Yeah, the CarFax report for my car says "airbag replaced" when I had the rear air shocks replaced. There's also a minor accident missing.
Probably the last vehicle registered with that plate. CarFax gives you the VIN with the report, so it's easy enough to verify. You can even get the year, make, and model by plate for free; great way to tell if someone is a curbstoner swapping one plate from vehicle to vehicle.
I've never quite understood what point people see in hiding car license plate numbers in ads on Craigslist. Is there anything John Q Public can do with a plate number other than run a CARFAX report?
Those ads are repellents to me....red flags. If they don't want me running a CARFAX, I'll move on to a seller who isn't making a foolishly feeble attempt to hide their car's history.
On the other hand, here in the California market, ads that display plate numbers that match the owner's stated ownership history move up a notch or two in credibility. Since about 1988, the 1st digit on a California plate specifies a time range of issuing. So, if an ad for a 2005 car claims "original owner", It ought to have a plate number beginning in 5. If I see a 7 (the current number), likelihood is very high that ownership recently changed and "original owner" is a fishy claim.
Maybe there are other reasons for hiding a plate that I haven't considered. Comments?
I don't see how. Unless the car had a vanity plate in Ca the plate goes with the car.
The only time a new plate isciss Ed is if the original gets stolen, defaced or vanity plates which belong to the person not the car
As to why people do it? Who knows? So many scammers and bs out there they are just trying to protect themselves. I would just pixilated the area a bit.
I also don't bother talking to people in text or email. You can't send me money in a text or email
Because the VIN is also on the report. Eve without the VIN, you can compare the make, model, and color. Probably not too many sellers out there who would have a plate off a different but identical car to throw off unsuspecting buyers.
It's because someone could get your address. Also be really careful about giving a seller your address especially if you are buying from CL or the newspaper. Big scam here is they keep a set of keys then come back and steal it a week or so later. Then they sell it again, and so on, and so on! And they keep a duplicate title so the next buyer has no idea!!!
There are websites that charge a nominal fee. There may even be some free ones out there.
I thought license plate records were off limits unless you were law enforcement. Is that not the case?
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