Just wanted to start a separate thread on this subject.


A car pops up for sale or is seen at a show and many times in the thread the subject comes up about whether or not the person grabbed* the VIN?

Many posters will be like the idea of seeing if the VIN is in the database, others get bent about it as if it is a violation of ones personal space.


Being these cars are getting more rare everyday I think it's a good thing to document these numbers.

Sooner or later we are going to see duplicate VINs or a rare car pop up for sale that is a known totaled or destroyed car.

*as if stealing a soul, hahaha

If you think this is odd, I have a Curta calculator that is in a database that I have no problem with my calculator being a part of.

http://www.curtamania.com/curta/code/type_..._your_curta.php

No. 516139 if you want to see it.


Back to the VIN, I cannot find a single thing where someone was injured, killed or robbed due to someone having access to a VIN number. There is way more information to get found from a license plate.

^edit, did something on snopes which has some credibility

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/vin.asp

Still for a 40 year old car I don't see getting a copy of someones key that easy at the Porsche dealership.

I remember hearing stories in the past to the effect of people illegally obtaining new titles in their name supposedly using a VIN number. Plus my work involves network security which makes me wary of giving out too much of any type of information.

Brett

The VIN number has to be visible from the outside of your vehicle. Any time it leaves your garage, someone can swipe your VIN.

In order to get a title (or replacement key) one needs a lot more than just a VIN number.

I like the VIN database. It's always fun to find a new car and enter it. As far as I'm aware, it's in the public domain if the car is out in public.

VIN to me seems like a license plate... If you expect to drive on public roads, it is your civil obligation to display it.

At risk of a derail, really cool to see someone else that knows what a Curta calculator is. One of these days I may shoot the lock off my wallet and get one on ebay... Otherwise, still trolling flea markets and hoping to get lucky.

I will provide another angle, but it is just my angle.

Some of us have more than one Porsche. I have 6 (all kinds of models, not just 914s). I like my privacy, and even if you do swipe my VIN, I will not enter all my contact info on some database or any other ownership details.

The 914 is not a rare car, and my particular 914 isn't rare at all, so I am not sure why adding its info to a database of a hundred thousand cars really matters to someone. I am not driving around in a 1949 Gmund Coupe after all....

License plates, VINs, and exterior home addresses are public because anyone can see them. However, you can successfully be prosecuted for misusing ANY of those for nefarious purposes.

I just don't want people to start logging the VINs of my personal property any more than I want people to photograph my kids. You may be able to legally do it, but that doesn't make it right.

For those that want to participate, great. But if I catch you snapping pics of my VIN, my long military career and paranoia will kick in and we'll probably be having a chat about what it is that you are up to exactly.

In case of the 914world VIN database, this is "what we're up to":
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=94572

You probably shouldn't go to any events than.

No opposing viewpoints - got it. I will try and agree with everyone next time.

And I wasn't talking about an event, I was talking about some VIN papparazi in my driveway snapping pics of my car like I have seen posted on this forum, or other such invasive behavior.

Events clearly are not part of this.

I dont think anyone will be trespassing on peoples properties just to get a VIN off another 914, but if they are seen in the wild, its usually a big deal so its cool to keep a log of them.

Im always trying to find history on all of my cars and if I could find a previous owner that would be great.

It's not so much just the VIN as it is the amazing social engineering that some are able to do with it or similar info. I do find it interesting to look through the vin database on 914world and will probably add mine too and have my car also be a part of the 'world, but at the same time it is hard not to be cautious and limit your information profile that exists on the net in this day and age

Brett

I don't have an issue having my VIN in the DB per say, but I also work a) for a bank, b) in IT and what feels like every day we get info on social engineering methods and how the scumbags find details on you personally, where you fit into the structure, how they will try and get info from you. All that info has modified my behaviour

My point it that little snippets of data here and there builds a picture, about you and where you live. Throw in a car details and they know you potentially have a nice and expensive car sitting in the garage

Classic car theft is seriously increasing in the UK, even what would have been regarded as low cost classics are now 'disappearing' for parts etc.

Maybe I'm paranoid but I no longer post on social media (not that I did much anyway) that I'm on holiday or away from home / generally post in 'real time', our families stuff is ours and I want it to stay that way

Be a sharer, just not a super sharer

I'm sorry but i'm not looking for another car at this time ...

Its never bugged me, Same with the weirdo people that think you can do something with a plate number.

It will be good for the next generation to have a database of valid vin number, and dead ones. I would be much more interested in the dead numbers to know how many are left.

Worried about your VIN?

Yet anytime you try to change your password anywhere it is...

What was your first pets name?

In what city did you go to High School?

What was your Mother's maiden name?

Nada Nada Nada....

Whoever is watching, knows more than you think.......

Throw in some credit reports, registrations, passport applications, and a photo id and now worry about identity theft.

Nobody will steal your car because they got your VIN for the database.

Why would a thief use your VIN? instead he would use an unregistered VIN to avoid a conflict.

There is a guy in Sweden who is having a conflict with a guy in Germany over the same VIN, but the guy in Sweden posted pictures and history 20 years ago...you know who everyone believe owns the real car.

I also do not understand why people blur/blacken their license plates


I see people post every meal, their location and everything about themselves on facebook, most Americans gave up their privacy a long time ago.

I have a cousin (that I love dearly) that won't do facebook or any real "internet stuff" because he doesn't want people to know where he lives or his schedule. That is cool and all, but for the past 30+ years he has had his name and address in the phone book.

I get the whole privacy thing, but fail to see how having a vin in the database here is a problem. I lost count, but I think I have close to 40 or more in the database. I have not owned all of them. Some were from ebay ads, craigslist, or cars I looked at and didn't purchase.

good thread - thanks MIke



exactly - we can buy fresh vin plates from Stoddard, we can get fresh made to order windshield tags from certain euro producers on ebay

we can also now buy almost every part needed to reproduce a "471" GT;

when a so-called "-6" or "GT" comes up at sale or auction, the VIN instantly tells me if "it is real"; if the seller does not publish the VIN, i am immediately suspicious it's a conversion of some sort - it's about "transparency"

I keep a personal -6 & conversions vin list with photos as i can find them mostly for purposes of tracking sales & value, partly to track modifications;

fwiw - 2 rusted out from bottom "real six" junkers that passed thru my hands have "reappeared" on solid shells - one as a "GT"

maybe one day we'll be able to buy newly minted full body shells again - just like we can with "heritage MGBs"

.

This is why the VIN topic is posted once again. A member did that, took a bunch of pics, and posted one that showed the house address with the statement "might be for sale I will let you know if the owner ever contacts me."

Personally I like the VIN database and I've put all the cars I've owned in there. But, I feel if a car is seen in the wild a note inviting the owner to World and encouraging them to add to the database is more appropriate than rushing to do it yourself for a pat on the back.

The database is more of a census than anything else. Very few people here know my last name or address (mostly tshirt sellers) so there is no concerns. Posting a $5k stereo build on CarDomain is a different story.

Most of us have seen so many 914 VINs that we don't need a camera to remember it. Lol.

here is another reason I keep my own list

ya never know when a car with covered up damage like this will show up as a "restored 100 pointer" for six figures ask

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=293995

i got a long list of these, with o.p. posted pics

Dion's car? Really? Don't even begin to lump him into the scammer pile. He found a poorly done repair while he was working on his 6 conversion.

Like your IQ..... it's just a number.

Thanks Mark. Just reading this. LarryM please get your facts straight before posting
erroneous crap. Cheers