Quote:
Originally Posted by c10sport
On that topic, what happens if the damaged truck already has an assigned VIN? Does the VIN get reassigned to another truck built later or does the replacement truck get a new VIN?
On my 1991 454SS list, I have a 454SS with the VIN 1GCDC14N3MZ153896 which was built on 11/26/1990 but 1GCDC14N3MZ153919 which is the next 454SS on my list that says it was built on 10/29/1990 and then 1GCDC14NXMZ153930 which has a build date of 11/26/1990. I have one other truck that the records say that it was also built on 10/29/1990 while all the other trucks around it were built on 11/26/1990.
Perhaps the records were wrong? All of the 4.3, 5.0 and 5.7 trucks around those VINs were built on 11/26/1990.
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New VIN. Every vehicle manufactured must have a unique VIN.
Sidebar: When I would travel for work I would occasionally meet up with my GM friends from other plants and the conversation would drift towards "misappropriation stories". Usually they are somewhat unimaginative: They told of workers that, when it was raining, would run through the gate and on to the parking lot with cardboard over their heads (presumably for protection from the rain) - only to find that there were pieces of window glass between the cardboard. Or the workers that would pass through security on the way in with an empty Thermos bottle - to return with the Thermos bottle full of paint. We had a guy that would cut holes in the fence and attempt to drive the new vehicle through the opening (that didn't last long).
I remember seeing a guy at a swap meet and thinking "man that guy looks familiar". After looking at his display full of chrome lug nuts, grease zerks and other shiny small parts it came to me: "oh yeah...he works at the Truck Plant".
My buddy Phil worked at the Ford Rouge Plant (the massive complex that Henry Ford himself built
http://www.thehenryford.org/rouge/index.aspxand) and told of a General Superintendent that was stealing cars.
It was their regular practice (...ours, too...) to drive a production vehicle home for an overnight evaluation. These vehicles would be set aside and a sticker and note placed in the glovebox to explain the additional mileage to the new owner.
This guy had some buddies that were in on the deal with him. What he would do was drive a new 5.0L Mustang home and park it in the barn. He would pull the VIN off the car, to come back later and strip the car down and sell it for parts. His wife would drive him back to work the next morning, where he would authorize the build of the exact same car, right down to the same VIN number.
Everything was going along swimmingly until his teenaged daughter broke into the barn and decided to take one of these cars for a little spin. As fate would have it, she got pulled over and, as you might imagine, problems arose when she was out on the road in a new car with no VIN on it. The authorities started asking a few questions and VIOLA: another theft ring broken.