Vehicle marking

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

Over the last few months, the subject of disappearing ur-quattros has been 
occupying the minds of the UK quattro Owners Club Committee.  In one single 
month last year, three ur-quattros vanished without trace.  Over the year, 
perhaps a dozen have gone missing.

We have long known and recognised that the supply of 'used spares' greatly 
exceeds the number of vehicles being wrecked and subsequently parted out.  
We have perhaps 90% of the UK's population of ur-quattros registered to the VIN 
number and engine number level - any vehicle that is stolen for sale as a unit 
will _eventually_, even if the first subsequent owner realises it is 'hot', 
come back onto the register.  Some have done so.
 
One particular problem in the UK is 'ringers', where the identification numbers 
of a known and legal car are reproduced on a stolen one that is then sold.  We 
have discovered situations like this, when the new owner has tried to register 
a car that the Club apparently already knows about.  We know of one specific 
instance where this has occured, and we have now (assisting West Midlands and 
Strathclyde police forces) traced several engines through the supply route.

But the UK is a RHD country.  RHD to LHD conversion is too expensive for car 
thieves, and requires the use of traceable new parts.  The market for RHD cars, 
expecially those which the new owners would be warned not to register with the 
Club, is limited.  The conclusion is that stolen vehicles are being broken for 
parts, partly for export.  

We're trying to tackle this problem on behalf of our members.  One way is to 
mark parts that normally carry no serial numbers - such as differentials - with 
the last three digits of the VIN.  One way is to insist on 'provenance' when 
buying used parts - get the vendor to supply the registration mark or VIN of 
the donor vehicle, and ask either HPI Equifax (an independent register holder) 
or the UK Club for the status of that vehicle.  As it stands, unfortunately,
the purchaser of used parts from the UK stands a reasonable chance of buying a 
stolen part - contributing to someone else's misery and potentially opening 
themselves up to its recovery (or worse) at some point in the future.

We don't want to stop the trade in used parts - breakers such as Sanburn and 
Halls keep us all going.  But I _would_ ask anyone buying 'used' parts from 
the UK to obtain provenance.

-- 
 Phil Payne
 Committee Member, UK Audi [ur-]quattro Owners Club