Question: Have you ever heard of a car dealer selling a new car with a salvage declaration -- even by accident?

June 22, 2005

Hi Tony

Have you ever heard of a car dealer selling a new car with a salvage declaration -- even by accident? This is what happened to me. Of course, I have no idea of whether it was by accident.

I bought a "new" Chevrolet SUV from a B.C. dealer only to find, after bringing it in for warranty work about a year later, that the warranty was blocked because it was "government reported salvaged."

It turns out, my VIN was cloned and put on a similar vehicle which was later damaged by water. The block was issued from a DMV in the U.S., thereby blocking my VIN. They have refused to withdraw it.

To make matters worse, although GM of Canada has agreed to honor the warranty I should have received, the in-service date is way out of whack with my purchase date. (The in-service date occurs some 8 or more months before I bought the vehicle, even though the dealer sold it as new, i.e., not a demo.)

Naturally, I have a bone to pick with the dealer. But I'm not sure about the best way to proceed. The dealer has refused to through me a bone. And litigation is costly. Besides, I cannot find any case law that is directly on point.

Any info or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Bob

Answer:

Hi Bob,

I have indeed heard of VIN cloning before. In fact I have a short article on my website dealing with the problem. You can read it here.

It would appear that your vehicle's VIN was copied by someone either right on the lot before you bought it, while in transit before the vehicle ever got to the car lot or even after you took delivery of the vehicle while it was parked or whatever.

The dealer you bought the vehicle from probably had no clue, and had nothing to do with it. No one would have ever known if the clone didn't get totaled due to water damage. You're an innocent victim, but I don't know who you could hold liable. I doubt that you would have much of a case against the dealer.

The least that GM could do for you however, is to adjust your in-service date back to where it belongs. You should stay on their butts about that. This is also an area where your dealer could help you since they have the sales records from when you originally purchased the vehicle. Perhaps instead of going after them you could ask them to help you with the warranty.

Here in the states each state has an Attorney General. Their office handles many auto fraud cases. Perhaps you could contact the Attorney General's office in the state where the car was totaled.

If not anything else perhaps they can track down the thief. Undoubtedly, the owner of the vehicle with water damage probably bought the vehicle without ever knowing it was stolen. Maybe the Attorney General could trace the vehicle back to it's seller.

Canada might also have a similar government office that you could contact for some help.

I hope this helps Bob. Good luck.

All my very best...

Tony Iorio