V5 / VIN discrepancy

[popegregory]

Hi all

Have just sent car for MOT and been told by tester the car doesn’t exist. On further investigation the VIN he inputted from under the bonnet has two digits reversed from what the V5 says - all same numbers apart from two in the middle the other way around.

I’ve just had a replacement V5 so don’t know if it’s a recent thing (or if every MOT a 1999 car has had has been wrong!), but has anyone found this a quick and easy thing to get rectified before I have to try and battle with the DVLA tomorrow? I’ve owned car since 2009 and never had a problem til now.

[E-bmw]

Well, as you have owned & therefore MOTd the vehicle since 2009 it obviously has been correct before now, so my guess would be typo on the V5 has been inputted into the DVLA computer incorrectly.

[r3g]

popegregory said:

Hi all

Have just sent car for MOT and been told by tester the car doesn’t exist. On further investigation the VIN he inputted from under the bonnet has two digits reversed from what the V5 says - all same numbers apart from two in the middle the other way around.

I’ve just had a replacement V5 so don’t know if it’s a recent thing (or if every MOT a 1999 car has had has been wrong!), but has anyone found this a quick and easy thing to get rectified before I have to try and battle with the DVLA tomorrow? I’ve owned car since 2009 and never had a problem til now.

Something not right here. When we input the vehicle details to start the test it needs the reg from the plate and the last 6 chars from the VIN, usually taken from the passenger side placard through the windscreen, which is then verified with DVSA / DVLA records to make sure the details match. It seems unlikely to me that a simple press of the 'print' button to generate a replacement V5 would result in the last 2 digits of the VIN being transposed on the vehicle record . You will need to speak to a human at Swansea about it.

I can't remember if the input VIN details are stored on the system. If they are, you can get the MOT tester to pull them up and do a print out to evidence that the details were the same on previous MOTs which will be the proof you need for the DVLA. I will look on our system tomorrow and let you know.

[Tommo87]

What VIN does it show of you put the reg in for a car vertical check?

[popegregory]

Tommo87 said:

What VIN does it show of you put the reg in for a car vertical check?

It just says they want £30

[popegregory]

r3g said:

Something not right here. When we input the vehicle details to start the test it needs the reg from the plate and the last 6 chars from the VIN,

That’ll do it, its the first character of the last six that’s wrong (and the one prior)

[r3g]

popegregory said:

That’ll do it, its the first character of the last six that’s wrong (and the one prior)

Usually it's simply the tester's eyesight who can't read the numbers properly. I include myself in that as I can't see st and some of the VIN placards are so badly embossed it's hard work trying to see if it's a 3 a 5 or an 8 for exmaple. But this can be ruled out if the V5 now shows a different VIN to what's on the car.

What car is it out of interest? Have you checked that the VIN placard in the windscreen (if appl.) matches the one under the bonnet / door shut / boot? It may be that you have a mismatch there and the previous tester took the VIN numbers from a different placard. Just a thought.

[popegregory]

No, we couldn’t find another (and he was looking all over!). It’s an S1 Elise. What we’ve done before is give the old MoT certificate which they must have used, and if you check quickly then you may well not pick it up.

Guess I’m just hoping DVLA are feeling helpful tomorrow morning.

[zasker]

Is the VIN no actually stamp on the chassis inside the front wheel arch on the Elise, has been on the ones I’ve had?

[r3g]

popegregory said:

No, we couldn’t find another (and he was looking all over!). It’s an S1 Elise. What we’ve done before is give the old MoT certificate which they must have used, and if you check quickly then you may well not pick it up.

Guess I’m just hoping DVLA are feeling helpful tomorrow morning.

So this is the first time that the VIN has been physically read off the placard for an MOT test ? I can think of a few scenarios here which could spell some bad news for you depending on when and why this practice started. It's a requirement for the tester to take the reg plate and VIN details as presented on the vehicle. It's not permitted to take them from presented documentation for reasons which should be obvious.

Why has the VIN been taken from previous MOT print-outs on previous tests instead of the physical VIN plate attached to the vehicle?

[zasker]

Also if it’s an Elise the 7th from last should be H (Hethel) and the 6th is likely to be a C (RHD).

[popegregory]

zasker said:

Also if it’s an Elise the 7th from last should be H (Hethel) and the 6th is likely to be a C (RHD).

Thanks for this. It’s definitely a DVLA mistake then, it’s the C and the H the wrong way round on the V5

[popegregory]

r3g said:

So this is the first time that the VIN has been physically read off the placard for an MOT test ? I can think of a few scenarios here which could spell some bad news for you depending on when and why this practice started. It's a requirement for the tester to take the reg plate and VIN details as presented on the vehicle. It's not permitted to take them from presented documentation for reasons which should be obvious.

Why has the VIN been taken from previous MOT print-outs on previous tests instead of the physical VIN plate attached to the vehicle?

I see what you mean, but since being shown the image below about how they work I imagine it’s been done in a pragmatic way where they can see what the error is.

[Cold]

The VIN number stamped onto the actual chassis (rather than a plate or sticker etc) can be found inside the right hand front wheel arch on an S1.

Turn the steering wheel to full right hand lock and you should be able to see the number on the chassis rail between the two suspension mounting points.

[r3g]

popegregory said:

zasker said:

Also if it’s an Elise the 7th from last should be H (Hethel) and the 6th is likely to be a C (RHD).

Thanks for this. It’s definitely a DVLA mistake then, it’s the C and the H the wrong way round on the V5

This is very strange. Look at your previous MOT certificates. Is the VIN on the top left corner of the certificates the same on all, and specifically your latest one from today?

[popegregory]

After making a fuss on here, DVLA seem content for me to just post them the V5 back with a letter and picture of the engine bay so hopefully that gets it sorted. Thanks to all who explained what the issue was, especially the picture explaining how the whole VIN number breaks down and what it means.

[Bob T]

On my 1999 Elise S1 the vin is laser etched vertically onto the chassis inside the rear right wheel arch ahead of the wheel, probably need to get the wheel off to see easily.
Also has the plastic printout in the front compartment on the left side.

I guess every one left the factory different

[Tommo87]

popegregory said:

After making a fuss on here, DVLA seem content for me to just post them the V5 back with a letter and picture of the engine bay so hopefully that gets it sorted. Thanks to all who explained what the issue was, especially the picture explaining how the whole VIN number breaks down and what it means.

That feels a bit like an anti climax. Too easy.

[popegregory]

Tommo87 said:

popegregory said:

After making a fuss on here, DVLA seem content for me to just post them the V5 back with a letter and picture of the engine bay so hopefully that gets it sorted. Thanks to all who explained what the issue was, especially the picture explaining how the whole VIN number breaks down and what it means.

That feels a bit like an anti climax. Too easy.

It’s not done and dusted yet, plenty of time for them to think of something I’m sure

[andygtt]

did you resolve this? i've just discovered the same issue on my ford.... basically the car stamped VIN and VIN plate agree and match up to the ford database... however the V5 has dropped a Letter (that denoted the month) and added a new Letter at the end (when last 5 digits for a Ford VIN are sequential numbers) and thus isn't a valid Ford Vin number
All the other details are the same including the sequential number, body type etc etc.

So I will have to go through the same process you are... its a clearly a typo mistake that appears to have been present for some time.

Edited by andygtt on Wednesday 24th April 12:12