Car wrecked, wrong title, PLEASE HELP!

[commie92]

I have a BIG problem on my hands. Anyone with some experiance please help. Basically i got into an accdient completely not my fault. My 1992 Camry V6 XLE with 140k miles. whole right side of car is broken in. I found out that the title of the car or the VIN number, says the car is a 4cyl DX. That is completely not true. That VIN also says the car has been salvaged. First of all the car isnt a 4cyl DX its a 6cyl XLE and when I bought the car I noticed that the windshield wasnt original. Could it be that the previous owner changed the vin number that is behind the windshield? I dont know what to do because since the title is incorrect, the insurance says the car was salvaged but it wasnt salvaged because they are talking about the DX which I dont own. Please someone give me some advice. I drove my car 2 weeks ago and now Im gonna have no car and not get any money for it because they say the car was salvaged before. I was thinking and the only motive for a person to change the VIN number would be as follows: lets say there are 2 cars, one V6 XLE and another I4 DX. The DX gets into an accident and is salvaged. The owner of the DX would switch the VINs of the XLE and DX to get more money as the XLE is worth about $1500 more retail right now. So the end result would be that the salvaged DX would have a VIN of the XLE to get more money and the perfetcly working XLE would have a VIN of the DX. And after the owner would sell me the XLE. I am just analyzing, PLease help me I dont know how to get my money. Maybe I should redo my title or something. Help thanks

[Dave's]

Or maybe your car was stolen at some point and a salvage title from a totaled vehicle was used to register it. Sure, you bought it not knowing this but you didn't verify the title information when you bought it either. Sounds like you've got a big problem on your hands. Good luck.

[Stillrunning]

For the previous owner to have tried to get more money from a salvage does not seem plausible or at least doable. I don't think their insurance company would have fallen for the scam as the original insurance would have been on a DX, not an XLE. I think you have been scammed by the previous owner or someone else down the line. Where is the previous owner and where did he buy it from? I would contact your DOT/DMV and explain the situation to them. It sounds like a something illegal took place. I also am having doubts about your insurance company as you would have described the car to them as an XLE so you would have paid for XLE insurance, not DX insurance. I don't think this situation is new to insurance companies. I would also contact your state attorney general and your state insurance commissioner. I doubt you will get quick resolution as these things take some time to clear up. It may come down to sueing the previous owner in small claims. You might want to discuss this with a lawyer as well.

[360glitch]

Does the VIN number near the windshield match the VIN #'s that are on the rest of the car?

[commie92]

Where else is there a VIN number on the car?

[94CoupeV6]

when you open up the driver door it's on the end of the door.

[Kingdom934]

The doors should have one. Also check the engine bay. There should be a silver plate on the firewall tha has the VIN. Body parts (front fenders, hood) should also have the VIN on em.

[skewe]

i know of a mechanic that rebuilds cars and he would cut and join cars.
Not saying that this is the case for you but I am not sure if that happened..

[commie92]

havent checked yet but is it possible for someone to change all the VINs by replacing the parts, or is that illogical and not worth the money for someone who stole a car perhaps? As soon as I check the VINS in all the places i might be more clear on the situation. IF they are the same then maybe a mistake was made by making the title and is there any waty the title can be relooked.

[geoff5093]

Originally Posted by commie92

havent checked yet but is it possible for someone to change all the VINs by replacing the parts, or is that illogical and not worth the money for someone who stole a car perhaps? As soon as I check the VINS in all the places i might be more clear on the situation. IF they are the same then maybe a mistake was made by making the title and is there any waty the title can be relooked.

Yes it's possible, but it's also possible that they forgot to change the VIN on one or more of the locations. Does the VIN saw you have the DX is the same color?

[toyomoho]

What insurance company refuses to pay off, yours or the person who hit you?

When you purchasd the car, did you base the purchase price on the actual car you saw and not the VIN. Don't see how the VIN had anything to with the purchase price if you inspected the car. If not a V6, any buyer would see this and pay less.

Who had the original title, you or the finance company? Did the title have the words “salvage” or something like this stamped on it? Does New York allow reregistering salvaged cars?

Get to the bottom of the title issue. Find out who owns the car with your VIN number and the VIN number on the title. Have someone look at the car to determine if it really was salvaged. If the VIN is wrong get some advice from motor vehicle registration. In most states selling a car with a modified VIN or a car that was once salvaged is illegal. Therefore you could be the victim here.

One you get all this info, contact an attorney who specializes in auto accidents and buy an hour of their time, see what your options are.

[360glitch]

Did they also have the VIN #'s on all of the original glass panels on the '92?

[Heat]

When you bought the car, didn’t you look at the title? If it was a salvaged vehicle it should say so clearly on the title, not to mention the number of cylinders, color, body style, etc.

Anyway, check the other VINs and see if they match up to what’s on the title.

…Im gonna have no car and not get any money for it because they say the car was salvaged before…

The insurance company is saying that a salvaged vehicle has no value? It’s value should be half of the non-salvaged value which, for you, would be that of a ’92 I4 DX, which won’t be too much (maybe $700 or $800?)

And stop calling it VIN number, that’s redundant. You are saying vehicle identification number number.

[commie92]

Alright guys thanks for your help so far, i wanna clear up a few things. Maybe the car didnt have a title all I have is the yellow registration sheet with the VIN on it. In the normal places where the VIN is supposed to be (under the hood, drivers door) there ISNT any! Perhaps this car was stolen before and the person took off all the VINs and replaced the one behind the front windshield with another SALVAGED VIN. Also, there are VINs on the glass panels????????????? do you mean like the windows?

[commie92]

The insurance company of the guy who hit me is giving me a value of $800 because they say that the car was salvaged as the VIN reports. the VIN is obviously incorrect because it reports the car being a I4 DX as the car is a V6 XLE. I am trying to get at is the insurance company doesnt have the right to assume the car was salvaged since the VIN is incorrect. My hope right now is to find the REAL VIN of the V6 XLE car which i have wrekced now. So is there VINs on the windows of the car, I saw it said TOYOTA and some numbers under it on each window. I probably have all the original windows except the front windshield. Thanks please respond.