I'm a bit of a newby, and it would appear a bit of a numpty!!!!!
Bought an 01 Disco TD5 recently, twas cheap but not suspicously so considering it needed a few bits sorting ,there was no real history and it came back on an HPI report as CATD.
I thought I'd change oil & filters and get the local Landy man to sort anything I couldn't, hoping there was nothing too major.
A risk I know, but buying any vehicle has it's risks.

So tonight I get the Haynes manual out and start having a browse and hit on the section detailing VIN plate location!!!!!
Now when I bought it I checked the plate behind the screen, and it matched and showed no signs of damage.....but didn't realise there was a further plate under the bonnet!!!!! I just assumed it was stamped on the body/chassis somewhere.......so I look and there are a couple of holes where the plate should be!!!!!!!! Sh**......
I then look for the engine number, the manual is a bit vague about the location but I can't find anything, just looks like a smooth blank plate (No sign of having a grinder on it though) I'm really worried now, so I take of the engine cover, and there is what looks like a factory build sticker with an engine number that matches.......
Help........ have a bought a moody motor?
Is the chassis number stamped anywhere else?
Is the engine number stamped anywhere else?
Can I get a replacement plate if it turns out not to be nicked?
Will HPI cover me or have I blown £6.5k............
Sorry for the ramble but I am a bit wound up

Ta

If you had an hpi and it tiurns out to be nicked you can put in a claim like wise if you paid for it on a credit card and it turns out to be dodgy you can claim back off the card company

check chassis by nearside front wheel for number

Thanks Battenberg,
Where abouts on the chassis is it stamped?
Obviously somewhere near the front wheel, but should it be fairly obvious?

Thanks

AFAIK only the Disco 1's have the chassis stamped/punched behind the nearside front wheel (geee... how I hate this nearside/offside driver-side/passanger-side way of saying a simple left/right, specially when it's not LHD/RHD dependent info).

The Disco 2's have it punched behind the RIGHT D) rear wheel. Click the picture.

No, it won't be obvious. You will have to use a wire brush to clean the chassis or even some sand paper if it's too rusty.

as far as i was aware replacment engines i have bough in the past-(not LR) havnt had an engine number on them, its a possability it was a front end impact resulting in engine damage and or chassis damage resulting in possibly a re shell or chassis repair, saying that the numbers that you do manage to find should tally up with the V5 from when it was VIC tested and the number plate re assigned to that veichle and the repairs road worthy. am presuming its a new style V5 you have for it so hold it upto the light and it should reveal a water mark and at leaste you will know that the docs are genuine and to back it up the docs would have been issued to the new keeper direct from the dvla as it would have been bought without any in the CAT D state. just a few bits for yer to work from really mate. dont raise any alarms yet as it will only be confiscated from you while its looked into and you may not see it again.

Thanks Chaps,
I'm off home later to find chassis numbers!
I'm hoping they match otherwise I may have a real problem.
As far as VIC check is concerned I am not sure whether the damage occured prior to the VIC system coming in to effect, I called VOSA and they confirmed there was no note that it required a VIC check, therefore VOSA will not check for me!!! If that makes sense.
I can only assume that the damage occured either prior to needing a VIC or there has been a VIC but I have no paperwork or record to substantiate it.

I only have the new keepers slip at present but prior to buying I did check the V5, as far as I could see it appeared genuine, and matched the address and identity of the seller.
That's not to say that it wasn't a genuine V5, just not for the vehicle I have bought!
I just took the plate behind the screen as confirmation that all was correct, this may turn out to be a very costly mistake.

I must say I do feel a proper mug, having bought a fair few cars in my time, I thought I'd spot a potential wrongun.

If I can substantiate that it is the correct vehicle then I'll try and find out how to get a replacement chassis plate, if not then I suppose it may be a visit to the cop shop, as I can't in good faith have my wife and kids driving round in a stolen car, with the risk of invalid insurance etc.......

Dont worry too much, sounds like it probably had a re-shell and the bodyshop forgot to put the chassis tag on the new shell. check the chassis number for peace of mind if it is worrying you.
There are companies that can make up chassis plates if you can prove vehicle id with logbook, if your car was a wrongun i would have thought the people who did it would have got a plate made up to make it fully convincing!!

One option of course is that your genuine VIN Plate is now sitting an someone elses vehicle and they've got the wrong un. I had it happen to me with a ford escort I brought from Simpsons salvage near york It was an S&R and they'd dented the front wing and bent the wishbone. I fixed it up and tried to put it on Greenflag Breakdown. but they wouldn't do it as they had another car already listed with the same reg no. I reported it to the police and they sent someone to give it a good look over. mine was kosher but the other one wasn't. turned out there were 4 other stolen escorts all running round with the same number plate and Dvla hadn't picked up on it.

redhand said:

One option of course is that your genuine VIN Plate is now sitting an someone elses vehicle and they've got the wrong un. I had it happen to me with a ford escort I brought from Simpsons salvage near york It was an S&R and they'd dented the front wing and bent the wishbone. I fixed it up and tried to put it on Greenflag Breakdown. but they wouldn't do it as they had another car already listed with the same reg no. I reported it to the police and they sent someone to give it a good look over. mine was kosher but the other one wasn't. turned out there were 4 other stolen escorts all running round with the same number plate and Dvla hadn't picked up on it.

Click to expand...

"there were 4 other stolen escorts all running round with the same number plate and Dvla hadn't picked up on it"

what do you expect, its goverment run isnt it

If the car had previously been written off because of a front impact, perhaps the existing vin plate was damaged and therefore not not re-fitted.

Hopefully it all work out fine for you.

Perhaps the car has had a new engine, chasis & shell?

Morning,
Checked the chassis number last night.......and it matches!!!!!
Appears untampered and genuine.
Heart was pounding as I cleaned it up and I had to check it three times to make sure...
A big thanks to you all for your advice, I can now start my Land Rover ownership properly....where's me spanners.

Oh I forgot to say, my wife mentioned the drivers side door glass had stuck in the down position.
So I strip the door pad (only three screws and a couple of clips in evidence Hmmm) When I remove the membrane I discover a piece of mdf screwed to the inner skin of the door!!!
After removing it I realise it's being used as a bodge to stop the regulator running all the way down and jamming in the bottom of the door, but it had worn so much the bottom channel was pushing past it.
I didn't have time to strip it all and find out why it's running too far, but it does make me wonder what other little bits of adaptive engineering have been used.......Oh well I've had plenty of motors held together with cable ties and duct tape, so I don't see why this one should be any different.

Thanks Again

quote:
but it does make me wonder what other little bits of adaptive engineering have been used.......

It's a LANDROVER!!!

Every part of it is "adaptive engineering!

That's why two things:

1. they do the job, and
2. we love them

CharlesY