When you are buying a new car, one of the only things that you may want to think is getting it on the road. When you are giving the car a full once over, you may spot things that your mechanic missed due to their small nature. One thing that you may find out is that the VIN seems to be tampered with. If your vehicle identification number makes you feel suspicious, here are some actions that you may want to take. 

Have your mechanic look again

Vehicle identification numbers are several different places on a vehicle. Have your mechanic take a look at the VIN numbers located on the vehicle, to determine the VINs that are written throughout the car. The VIN is likely to be in the dashboard, on the engine, near the wheel well , and more. These numbers should all match up. If they do not match, the most likely replacement was the one on the dashboard. 

Speak with the department of motor vehicles

The best way to figure out if the vehicle identification number has been tampered with for sure is to speak with the department of motor vehicles. The DMV in your town will know if the VIN for the car is appropriately matched. If the VIN and the number registered for the vehicle with the DMV do not match, you will not be issued registration and will be told the next steps to take to rectify the problem. 

Go back to older shops

If you suspect that there is some issue with the VIN, ask the previous owner of the vehicle for the records of any work that was done on the car. Go back to the previous shop to determine if the VIN number that you have on the vehicle. If this is the case, it may just be that the VIN was accidentally scratched or otherwise harmed. 

Ask your VIN to be run by the police

Though it is unorthodox, if you suspect that the vehicle that you were sold may have a fraudulent VIN number, you can report this to the police and ask for your VIN to be run. When police run a vehicle identification number it should report the make, model, and year of the vehicle that was run. If police run the vehicle identification number and it does not match your car, you will actually be able to report fraud and get the ball rolling to determine what happened to the original VIN.

For more information, talk to a professional like Quick VIN Verifications.