Hi, Fred
> I sent them all the numbers I could find on the car - chassis,
engine,
>transmission and differential.
So were these numbers ON the car or from documentation you received with it
For some very complex reasons the car had no body nor
>commission plates left on it when I got it. Please believe me I did buy
this car from a
>reputable source.
> The last line of the 'certificate' concerns me though. It states:
"please note
>that we have traced this car only from the Engine Number quoted by you."
> Would they not have had record of something more substantial - ie, chassis
>number?
So this makes me wonder whether you gave a chassis number you'd found from
another source i.e a title or somesuch. Essentially, Gaydon searches on the
commission (chassis) number and then cross refers that to the engine number
on a microfilmed copy of the original tally card. Before the Certificate is
printed, the m/filmed detail is cross-indexed to the original sales invoice
from STI (UK) to STI (NA)Inc.
> Which brings me to wonder - do I really own FK5061L? What if some
PO had simply
>bought the motor out of FK5061L and stuck it into his car? And maybe FK
5061L lived
>on with a motor transplant of its own. And then the commission plates were
lost after
>that.
If all you could provide was the engine number, then they will have searched
on that and it would have taken longer to find the car in question assuming
your engine number and ergo FK5061L is your car. As Joe and others will
confirm, the engine number sequence was never too far distanced from the
commission number. HMC does NOT like searching a car purely on an engine
number for the reasons you have stated. The engine could have been switched
and this explains the 'rider' that they searched on the engine number alone.
One way you could check is to see if the ignition/door key numbers are the
same as yours. It's highly improbable your car was built on the same day to
an identical spec as another car with the same key numbers. The key
permutations were too large for such an occurence to happen on the same day.
That said, some DPO might have changed either the ignition or door locks too
and that will confound things.
Revert to me again off list if you want further info
> Having paid $40 US (closer to 60 Canadian!) for a piece of paper
'certifying'
>that I own #FK5061L based solely on an engine number, who is the bigger
fool - BMIHT
>for making the claim, or me for buying it?
In essence, Fred - HMC won't issue you a certificate unless it is pretty
sure your car as it now stands and the records held at Gaydon look as though
they are at variance. Incoming revenue is not more important fact on matters
like this. Simply, if Anders Clausager sees something that gives him cause
for concern, I feel sure he'd reject your application and send you a letter
giving his reasons.
Hope this helps
Jonmac
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