70-442-W30

Been doing a little research and have seen a fair amount of the eBay cars over the past few weeks. In my browsing, I have found that many times the VIN is missing from the auction totally or only a partial VIN is listed. I've been trying to think of the reasoning behind this.

What are reasons why I would want to list the car with the VIN and are there any valid reasons why I shouldn't?

joe_padavano

I don't get it either, as the VIN is visible through the windshield when the car is parked anyway. Even more ridiculous are people who cover the license plate in photos. Do you also cover it when driving the car? Are you really worried about some type of scam, and if so, what could that possibly be?

oldcutlass

The foil hat crowd never ceases to amaze me either. But hey, they need love too...

70-442-W30

I get what you guys are saying. But, some of these sellers are retail sellers with much more experience than I have and they sell many vehicles each year. That's primarily the only reason why I asked. I got to thinking, "Do they know something that I don't know?" Like maybe in the collector car world, buyers don't appreciate their purchases being traced back to a price in case of future resale.

joe_padavano

You don't necessarily need the VIN to do that anyway. We've frequently traced bogus cars back to prior sales on this site. The yellow 1964 Faux-Four-Two convert with automatic comes to mind, for example.

70-442-W30

Well, I'll just put the VIN out there now then and I'll make it part of the eBay listing too. It is 166007.

And to any future buyer reading this...it will be tough finding an earlier 70 W-30 than this 10C car. I've seen a few, but they are without documentation in any pics I've seen. And I've searched many, many hours online.

To some this may not matter, as any 70 W-30 is definitely "THE RIDE"...but to me it has always been a cool tidbit of info on this car.

Here is what I've found along the way. A member here also shared some info with me:

VIN 166007
broadcast card date: 10/17
fisher body: 268314 10C

facebook vin: 168265
broadcast card date: 10/21
fisher body: 269757 cowl date unverified no pic

facebook2 thornton vin: 165442
broadcast card date: unverified no pic
fisher body: 266848 10C

RK motors thornton resto VIN: 160490
broadcast card date: unverified no pic
fisher body: 262500 10C

BlackGold VIN: 169xxx
broadcast card date: 10/21
fisher body: 10D

CO member verified W30#1 VIN of 163xxx,
no broadcast card
a fisher body number of 262xxx, date 10C

CO member verified W30#2 VIN unknown
no broadcast card
262xxx slightly higher than the car above - 10C

Diego

I think some people simply want to be expedient when listing auctions.

Other people may be unprepared and don't have it handy, so they ignore it or forget to update the auction with the info.

The reasons run the gamut, but I tend to assume there's nothing sketchy going on - if you don't see it, ask.

70-442-W30

Yeah Diego, it just seemed to occur more often than I had thought it would. I looked at the newer cars (last 10 years or so...) on eBay and saw they rarely had the full VIN missing. I saw a listing the other day that had the fisher body tag listed as the VIN. Could have very well been someone who just didn't know where to look.

droldsmorland

Agreed with BASIC ad info and do pictures sell, lack of does not. With this eye in the sky society we live in now less IS more IMO. These A holes will look for every opportunity to take from you, Im not assisting that. You never know what them dam spammers/scammers will come up with next...older is better-less is more is my motto. If I list an ad in Kraigslist I never put in my exact local and always use an alias email...general location, yes, but never specific. Its called street smarts... If the buyer is serious its up to me to conclude whether or not to give more info. Big Brother and his foil hats can all go straight to....while I attempt to keep some semblance of ambiguity. The K is on purpose!

quaddriver

always wondered about that as well...ok you have a pic of my car and plate....are you somehow going to 3-D print a copy and rob banks? anyone who wants to see my plate can just....um....look at it....

70-442-W30

Guess since I told the last 6 of the VIN in the earlier post, a pic of the VIN plate should be posted too. Was browsing through pics and just came across it again:

btw

With all the documentation you have on this car, and the solid history of Olds "folks in the know" on the W30 cars, a full or partial VIN should not be a concern. I'd make sure I've got some hi res killer photos from every angle and however you decide to bid price it for an auction to drive the $$$ up for what you want to accomplish.

I know you probably have access to good DSLR cameras but I'd be happy to lend a hand and give you good bright white warehouse space to shoot it.

70-442-W30

I guess that's a good point about the documentation. Got the vintage pics and the broadcast card, and owners manual and some old insurance and registration cards.

Do you know anyone that is good with a buffer, as Eric is suggesting? It would be hard for me to trust someone to do it, but if you have seen someone local that can do something like this, let me know.

btw

Well I fancy myself pretty good on my rides (I haven't burned any paint yet) but not sure I want to tackle yours. I do have a suggestion and I'll message you.

Rustbucket2

My take on it.
why they hide the vin numbers - I asked someone the same question at a car show, they had there's covered with tape. People have been scamming banks by getting a loan on that vin number, they take pictures of the car and vin, at the show at go in to get a loan on that car, when payments are not made, the bank sends out the repo guys to pick the car up. sounded dumb to me , but maybe this has happened.
The plate being covered- someone can run a check of plate, find out where you live, and steal your car.