UPDATED: Car Fax VIN number search

[Geek_Law]

Does anybody have an active carfax that they could run a VIN# on a Yamaha Vmax for me? The seller is emailing me the VIN right now.


Here is the VIN#JYA2WEEOOVA58796

Crap ... that's only 16 digits and CarFax and Wikipedia say that ALL VIN numbers are 17 digits. I wonder if I am being taken for a ride here.

Ok, so I compared his vin to a whole bunch of others, and it looks like he was missing a "0" near the middle. This looks to be the right VIN below. Car fax says 2 records are available. It would be nice to see what they are. In the mean time, I've asked the seller to confirm his VIN and re-send it to me.

Here is the VIN in which I have added a "0" after the "00VA" sequence: JYA2WEE00VA058796

 

[tdragger]

I thought you were buying a plane?

 

[Geek_Law]

So many options ... so little time.

I made the guy an offer on the C172. He countered. We went back and forth.

At the end of the day, it was a great price on a good plane, but I couldn't pay the market price because it had ... wait for it ... damage history. About 20 years ago it was in a significant crash.

On the one hand, it obviously is a clean flyer and has been for 20 years. On the other, the resale value for a plane with an accident is less then those without accidents, and so I just couldn't pay full value.

In the end, my wife and I decided to keep renting death traps and save up for the plane we actually want, which is a C210 turbo. So that's what we are doing now.

Anyway, this Vmax is only $3500 bucks.

 

[RocketandRollit]

Geek_Law,
I'll sell you my Beechcraft Musketeer. No damage history.
I'm planning on winning AOPA's Cirrus SR22. :!:

 

[Geek_Law]

Yeah, I was pretty upset when I didn't win last year's plane.

 

[Geek_Law]

Here is the VIN. If anybody happens to have the ability to run it I'd really appreciate it. Otherwise I'll just give in and pay for it tomorrow.

Here is the VIN#JYA2WEEOOVA58796

It seems to be missing a digit. I just added a poll too.

 

[Geek_Law]

OK, so I ended up guessing the correct VIN by comparing it to others of the same model year.

I paid $35.00 to run a car fax on it and it came back with an Alaska and an Alabama registration. He had told me that he bought it in Alaska and that he lives in Florida, but he says it's reg'd in Alabama because his sister lives and its a lot cheaper.

So ... it all sounds pretty plausible. I think I'm just overly paranoid.