Nick Dow's blog : Why do they hide VIN
On modern online car sales platforms, it has become standard to hide the number of the car being sold. Against this background, requests from potential buyers to provide them with data from the registration plate and VIN may seem unnecessary and even suspicious: after all, if they advise hiding them, then there are reasons for that. But is it really worth keeping the number plates, VIN and other data of the car being sold secret and is there a risk in giving them to buyers?
The tradition of hiding the license plate of a car for sale appeared even before large Internet platforms developed algorithms for automatically hiding all alphanumeric data in photos in an ad. What are the reasons? In fact, many do it simply by succumbing to the mass instinct: if everyone does it, then it must be done. There are, however, some objective reasons: for example, the desire to hide the fact of selling a car from a friend or relative. For mass-produced cars without any distinctive features, simply hiding the license plate may be enough. Another option is selling a car to a reseller, not the owner. A hidden license plate allows the reseller to hide the owner's data from the buyer, and the resale value of the car from the owner. However, all this only helps to lure the buyer to view it: during a face-to-face meeting, the fact of selling the car not from the owner will still be revealed. The same applies to attempts by the seller or reseller to hide the car's past - serious accidents, legal restrictions, work as a taxi driver, and so on. And finally, another far-fetched scenario is the seller's desire to protect himself from fraud. Some people are genuinely worried that someone might track down their transaction to sell an expensive car and, for example, steal the money.
However, the real key reason for hiding numbers in ads these days is not related to sellers, but to online platforms. Large classifieds have their own paid services for checking cars, and they are interested in buyers using them. And by the car number and VIN, the buyer can get some information for free, so hiding this data allows you to slightly increase the demand for a paid service. In fairness, it should be noted that such services can often be really useful, providing data not only on the registration history, liens and restrictions, but also on registered mileage, accidents, insurance payments and other details that cannot be found in free government resources. However, you need to understand that for VIN check, you can simply ask the seller for data on the VIN and license plate - frankly "unfavorable" cars will be filtered out at this stage.
Is it possible to provide buyers with the VIN, vehicle number and other information?
So, we have found out that the tradition of hiding car data when selling has little practical sense. But is it possible to disclose to every potential buyer not only the registration plate, but also the VIN of the car? In short, the answer is yes. Let's look at why in a little more detail.
First of all, it is worth understanding that both the car number and the VIN are open information, accessible to almost anyone. In modern cars, one of the locations of the VIN is the area under the windshield, so you can get a combination of two numbers by simply approaching the car. Accordingly, its transfer to third parties is quite safe. A little more questions are raised by the buyer's requests to send a photo of the PTS or vehicle registration certificate, but even here the risk of deceiving the seller by the buyer is minimal. In fact, one of the most unpleasant scenarios can be the creation of a "double car" copying data from another car of the same model. But the likelihood that the fraudsters will directly target the car being sold is negligible. Of course, a buyer who immediately requests a "full dossier" of the state number, VIN, photos of all the documents for the car and the seller's passport may seem suspicious, but in fact, all this data can be used for a detailed check of the car before inspection.
Moreover, the detailed answer to the question of whether it is worth disclosing car data to buyers sounds not like “yes, you can,” but like “yes, you should.” An experienced buyer who is seriously interested in a car, but has already tried several options, will probably ask for the VIN and state registration number, so as not to waste time on another bad example. And the seller’s refusal to disclose basic data about the car can be regarded as a desire to hide some dark spots in its biography. So if you have nothing to hide, you can safely disclose data about the car to all potential buyers so that they have the opportunity to verify the transparency of its history.
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