Where the hell is my VIN?! Missing Windshield VIN

[FatsWaller]

He said it came up with 3 visits to Palmetto Ford. My FordPass app shows the vehicle was taken to the dealer those times with dates and one says under services performed: “glass”. If the PO is lying he’s sure gone through a ton of hoops to get his story looking straight.

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[cbrenthus]

He said it came up with 3 visits to Palmetto Ford. My FordPass app shows the vehicle was taken to the dealer those times with dates and one says under services performed: “glass”. If the PO is lying he’s sure gone through a ton of hoops to get his story looking straight.

No way would every other VIN would match, nor would he be replying to you if this was a scam.

 

[Dadsquatch]

If the VIN was in fact there at one point in time, it doesn't seem possible that it "accidently" fell off. Something intentional had to happen, and my guess would be it happened at the shop it was in for the glass repair. Doubt the prior owner did anything intentional.

 

[brkdncr]

I’d drop that off at a dealership for warranty repair and claim ignorance. It’s not supposed to be removed that easily.

 

[FatsWaller]

I’d drop that off at a dealership for warranty repair and claim ignorance. It’s not supposed to be removed that easily.

I’ve been considering this. But without the title or registration yet, they may not even touch the car when its involving the VIN

My Raptor is at the body shop for repairs and the windshield is currently removed. I got them to snap a pic of the VIN tag to see if it's possible to determine if the VIN # is an overlay or if it's printed directly onto the FoMoCo background.

To me, it looks like the VIN is a transparent overlay applied to the FoMoCo background.

Thank you for posting this. I cant see the transparent overlay, to me it looks like it is printed directly on the FoMoCo sticker. If that is the case, I have that sticker, just nothing is printed on its surface, which would mean it came like that from the factory (which I know we have discussed is unlikely but, anything is possible). If its a transparent overlay, then I could see how it may have been removed during a sloppy window repair/exchange.

I tried to call the Dealer in South Carolina today but the Service manager was out so I left a message. I'm not even sure how to begin explaining this mess to them. Not as if they'll remember the car. The repair to the window for the recall was done on August 10, 2022.

My local Ford was baffled and said they have bever seen this before (obviously), but that the FoMoCo black sticker certainly looks official and there would be no real way to obtain that sticker on its own and place it there, nor would it make any sense. A scammer would just leave the area blank if anything and not go through the trouble to print a blank FoMoCo sticker without a VIN on it (fake or not).

By happenstance at the local Ford dealer was a California Highway Patrolman picking up his cruiser so I talked with him and showed him the missing VIN. He at first said the car may have been slated as a demo and manufacturers sometimes wont put visible VINs on vehicles that are used in commercials, etc. He said he has actually seen that a few times when doing inspections and investigations. I highly doubt that would be the case with this vehicle. He basically told me what a few have said, it may be a manufacturing error or was removed when the window was repaired but either way its Federal law to have a VISIBLE VIN in the window and so that I would have to get it inspected by them. They'll investigate and if all is well, they'll "blue tag" it. Essentially just place a new VIN tag on the car that is government compliant and official.

Ill keep you all updated on what the South Carolina dealership says when I finally speak to them...if anything.

 

[Ultraswip]

Checking updates to this thread is one of the highlights of my day

 

[FatsWaller]

Checking updates to this thread is one of the highlights of my day

Ha! I figure people are now invested. I feel like I need to just remove the windshield to see if the VIN sticker (if it even exists as a sticker) is under there like some type of big "move that bus" reveal.

Everyone that reads this just donate 50cents to the cause. kidding of course... maybe

 

[GI_Jo_Nathan]

Everyone that reads this just donate 50cents to the cause. kidding of course... maybe

I'm in for a dollar. I've gotten at least that much entertainment out of this...
Sorry OP.

 

[brkdncr]

I’ve been considering this. But without the title or registration yet, they may not even touch the car when its involving the VIN

Thank you for posting this. I cant see the transparent overlay, to me it looks like it is printed directly on the FoMoCo sticker. If that is the case, I have that sticker, just nothing is printed on its surface, which would mean it came like that from the factory (which I know we have discussed is unlikely but, anything is possible). If its a transparent overlay, then I could see how it may have been removed during a sloppy window repair/exchange.

I tried to call the Dealer in South Carolina today but the Service manager was out so I left a message. I'm not even sure how to begin explaining this mess to them. Not as if they'll remember the car. The repair to the window for the recall was done on August 10, 2022.

My local Ford was baffled and said they have bever seen this before (obviously), but that the FoMoCo black sticker certainly looks official and there would be no real way to obtain that sticker on its own and place it there, nor would it make any sense. A scammer would just leave the area blank if anything and not go through the trouble to print a blank FoMoCo sticker without a VIN on it (fake or not).

By happenstance at the local Ford dealer was a California Highway Patrolman picking up his cruiser so I talked with him and showed him the missing VIN. He at first said the car may have been slated as a demo and manufacturers sometimes wont put visible VINs on vehicles that are used in commercials, etc. He said he has actually seen that a few times when doing inspections and investigations. I highly doubt that would be the case with this vehicle. He basically told me what a few have said, it may be a manufacturing error or was removed when the window was repaired but either way its Federal law to have a VISIBLE VIN in the window and so that I would have to get it inspected by them. They'll investigate and if all is well, they'll "blue tag" it. Essentially just place a new VIN tag on the car that is government compliant and official.

Ill keep you all updated on what the South Carolina dealership says when I finally speak to them...if anything.

hell no, I would not invite cops to look at this. They’re just as likely to hand you a ticket.

 

[FatsWaller]

hell no, I would not invite cops to look at this. They’re just as likely to hand you a ticket.

I don’t really have a choice my man. This is standard practice in California. Any vehicle that comes from out of state and is to be registered in the state of California must be VIN inspected by the DMV or the California highway patrol. If there are VIN discrepancies, then the vehicle is referred to California Highway Patrol for inspection. Otherwise you can’t register the vehicle or get your title. I have a temporary California registration, but it only lasts so long. The CHP does these VIN inspections all the time and has a special team that does it. They will validate the VINs on the car, find all the hidden VINs and then issue me a new VIN tag.

Side note: Like I said, I showed a CHP officer at the dealer and he was chill about it and said as long as I have the VIN inspection on the books, its fine.

My only other options are to remove the window and see if by some miracle the VIN fell or somehow convince the dealer locally to figure out how to fix this through a warranty claim (which I doubt, but can try).

 

[TrailRaider]

After reading this entire thread, I have my theory.
First is that the last 2 pages make it pretty clear that the company that Palmetto Ford brought in to do the windshield repair was the cause of the missing sticker. Unless the dealer is fully equipped to do glue retained windows, they likely contracted an outside company. I'd guess whoever did it used a cleaner that broke down the glue and it was either wiped away during the repair, or slowly loosened and slipped down in front of the dash.
Secondly, if it is in fact just an overlay on that FoMoCo sticker, it sounds like its time to call Stickerfab

 

[TrailRaider]

Also I just noticed that the picture that @Johnny Rebel posted does not have the 3rd piece on the very bottom of the FoMoCo decal in your original photo. If you enlarge your original, there is what seems to be the end edge of a clear sticker poking up from the bottom, kinda in between the 2 glue patches. But could be a liquid stain, hard to tell.

 

[KTP 30]

So a little update for everyone invested, I was able to get ahold of the previous owner. He confirmed that the VIN was in place when he bought the car. He seems genuine and is looking for the paperwork from the recall. Sounds like I am going to have to get the window removed to look (probably on my dime). Sigh.

I would say when they pulled the glass they used some kind of cleaner to wipe down before the reinstall and it ate off the vin #s

 

[cbrenthus]

Crazy idea - print out another sticker with the VIN, don't need the QR code, and go to a glass shop and have the window pulled and pop the sticker on! However, I'm guessing it is already in the CA system so you can't just go back and say "Oops, the VIN showed back up!"

 

[JerryC]

Crazy idea - print out another sticker with the VIN, don't need the QR code, and go to a glass shop and have the window pulled and pop the sticker on! However, I'm guessing it is already in the CA system so you can't just go back and say "Oops, the VIN showed back up!"

The form says "can't see VIN", not "no VIN" or "missing VIN" it might slide by.

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