The craigslist car could very well have a bogus vin number - one from a scrap, wrecked, etc car of the same year. Easy to register the car with a bogus vin number. Not hard for someone to affix a bogus vin plate either. Someone needs to physicaly look this car over. With the VIN number off of the car, we could chase down a lot of info on it - carfax, registration, title info, etc.

Pat

[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 08-12-2008).]

The picture I posted above was taken in 2004 and I had known him a couple of years by that time. Seems that he told me that he bought the car before he came here.

I did find a number on him and called and left a message.

Here's the vin for Mr. Mooreheads car

VIN: 1G2PG1195JP204061

Pat

I see some key things.
Was it a 5-speed?
Did he have a short shifter?
Did he have the premimum radio?
It also has the rear defrost switch.

Jason

It's still worth telling the cops the VIN: 1G2PG1195JP204061. At least now they have something to check with to start. Stolen plates in Cali are TOO COMMON. That wouldn't be a surprise to me even if the vin tags were switched. I've tried calling everyone I know that may be able to get a hold of Chris.

HOPEFULLY WE CAN SETTLE THIS.

Steve's car is a 5-speed. Last time I saw it, it did not have a short shifter but that is easy enough to change. And he very well could have gotten rid of the Mr Mike's seats. Not sure about the other stuff.

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The 6th Annual California Coast Run
October 24-26, 2008

I think we all agree that many cars can look and even be the same. Only someone very intimate with a car can make a positive ID. That being said good catch. Hopefully this found someones car.

quote Originally posted by katatak: Here's the vin for Mr. Mooreheads car VIN: 1G2PG1195JP204061 Pat

Is this confirmed that this is Steve's?

pm sent to chicken mcnizzle. i got paranoid and got the "what if's" (what if it is stolen, if the thief is reading this, if i help him cover his tracks...)

also, i got a motorcycle back that i saw on ebay (compleat luck there) and was told by the police not to contact the seller. once i got them the info and convinced them it was my bike, they took over and ran with it like they were the bidding winner.

THe above VIN shows that this is an Illinois car, and registered owner information matches with who I spoke to this morning on the Craigslist number

------------------
Recanizin' Flat-Buns Since 2001

Eric Nelson
Internet Sales Manager
Power Ford Valencia
nelsone@autonation.com

Sounds fishy to me, the VIN I supplied shows registered to the craigslist car/seller? I got this number off the other thread that first alerted of the stolen car. Hmm... Was it really stolen? Something is not right here.

Pat

From other post:

Here is the latest:

The car was stolen out of a locked parking facility in Marina Del Rey, CA
The car was NOT running at the time to it had to be towed!
It has Kentucky Plates (see pics above)
VIN: 1G2PG1195JP204061

Thanks for all who are keeping their eyes peeled

[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 08-12-2008).]

quote Originally posted by fierobear: Yes, he was banned.

Any idea for what?... He must've acted liberal in OT... )

Here's a thought... Is he over on RFT at all? If he is, maybe a regular over there can help?

either way, hope if that's his car... he can get it recovered.

I've left a message for him at his house. He may already have found out about this through other channels but he'll call me back when he gets the message and if not, I'll let him know then.

I don't think Steve acted like a Liberal... He grew up in KY!

SON OF A ***** I"M STUPID - I forgot Steve's VIN was in the other thread!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm on it RIGHT now!!!

Just a quick update from me...
I still have not had a response from the seller to my email to him stating that I am very interested in the car and would like to fly out and drive it home, therefore needing the VIN to give to my insurance company.
Maybe later tonight....

I may have missed it, but we still do NOT have the VIN on the car in question...only the VIN of the stolen one, correct?

EXACT MATCH

The car was smogged days before it was stolen?

WTF?

CarFax shows it's lifetime in Illinois before 2005?

I'm callin shinanigans here

So are you saying that this is the stolen car?

Still very odd. The other thread said the car was not running at the time it was stolen so would have had to be towed away. How did a car that was not running pass smog?

Steve's line is busy now so someone is probably filling him in on the day's action.

[This message has been edited by Songman (edited 08-12-2008).]

I'm almost absolutely certain that this is the Fiero you all have been looking for....

Third Brake Light------------------------------

Steve's car


Craigslist car:

Red Fiero Door Tab (Covers the screw that holds the inner door panel on) + Dash pocket----------------------

Steve's car (Right door):


Craigslist Car (Left Door):


Red Engine Vents---------------

Steve's Car:


Craigslist Car:



Similarities are way too numerous!! Don't let this one get away!

On the phone with Steve now.. It is the car and there is a story... I'll give details once I get off the phone with him.

If the VIN in the other thread ( posted back in June ) is correct - then this is the EXACT same VIN that is on this Fiero for sale in Craigslist - KSR even confirms the owner's name and address in Santa Monica

He has had the car registered to him since 7/3/2008 and the CA tags are good until 5/18/09 -

CA plate in the above add reads "6ECG280" according to my resources here

This car was purchased new in Chicago IL 12/22/1987

2 title updates in 1988

passed emissions in IL in 93

again, IL in 96

again, Palatine IL 10/23/1998

again in 2002

THEN>>>>>>>>

@ 25,992 miles was smogged 6/2/2008 Santa Monica CA

Last and final record is a title update 7/3/2008

I show ZERO Kentucky history on this vehicle

HOWEVER, this is the SAME VIN for Steve Moorehead as posted in the "car stolen" thread back in June

FISHY

quote Originally posted by Songman: On the phone with Steve now.. It is the car and there is a story... I'll give details once I get off the phone with him.

Good to know, hope the story comes to a happy ending. We'll be waiting to be filled in.

quote Originally posted by Songman: On the phone with Steve now.. It is the car and there is a story... I'll give details once I get off the phone with him.

I have a feeling this will be an interesting story....

I am on the edge of me seat! Please Songman, fill us in!!!!!

[This message has been edited by Hulki U. My-BFF (edited 08-12-2008).]

OK.. Just got off the phone with Steve. And this story really kinda sucks.

This is the same car. The guy who has it listed is the registered owner in CA. But that is where the problem starts. Steve bought this car quite a few years back from the owner in Illinois. That owner is a friend of Steve's and since Steve intended to store the car and show it occasionally, he never registered it in his name. The car was legally still an Illinois car. Steve put his old KY plate on there because it matched the red paint and looked better at shows than having no plate.

This car has not been driven in quite a while. Steve had it parked in a security lot at his friend's apartment building. There is a normal parking area and then there is a 'storage' area. Steve's car was properly tagged and legally parked in the storage area. No one knows why yet, but a wrecker service came and towed the car away and sold it at a lien sale. Steve checked with the people at the apartment building and they never called anyone about the car and knew that it was there legally. So, the question falls to this wrecker service. They came onto private property with no permission and hooked up to a car and took it away. Also, they filed a lien against the car and sold it. If you have ever done lien stuff, you know that you have to try to contact the last registered owner. That is Steve's friend in Illinois. Steve checked with him and no such contact was made. So basically, it appears that some con job wrecker service stole the car and then illegally filed a lien against it and sold it.

But we don't know how this new guy got it. Was he involved with the wrecker service from the start or is he just some guy they duped? As we said earlier, the car was not running when Steve parked it there. So this guy bought it, fixed it, got it registered and smogged and is now selling it so quickly for a lot of money! Sound fishy to me.

Steve has been down at the Police Dept trying to get something done. They are giving him a hard time because a signature is missing off the papers from when he filed about the car being stolen. There is a precedent about stolen cars being sold to innocent people and even many years later when the car is found the original owner gets it back. That happened recently about an old 50s T-bird that had been missing for over 30 years. They found the original owner and gave him his car back. But I think Steve is going to need a lawyer to help him with this one. Worst case scenario, the listed owner is Steve's friend so they should give the car back to him and he would give it back to Steve.

FierOmar, where are you? We need legal advice..

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The 6th Annual California Coast Run
October 24-26, 2008

Wowzers! That's just plain crazy! I have heard of stories like this, but never knew anyone it happened to.


I hope it ends well for Steve.

I have the physical address and full name of the new registered owner, if that means anything

Have you guys checked the THIRD place they have the VIN number on the car? It's under the drivers side front speaker. When I got mine registered here in CA. they couldn't read the one on the door so the State Police told me to lift off the speaker cover on the drivers side and he checked it in there. If the thief DID change the VIN numbers I bet he didn't change THAT one!

quote Originally posted by Trekker: Have you guys checked the THIRD place they have the VIN number on the car? It's under the drivers side front speaker. When I got mine registered here in CA. they couldn't read the one on the door so the State Police told me to lift off the speaker cover on the drivers side and he checked it in there. If the thief DID change the VIN numbers I bet he didn't change THAT one!

Uuuhhmm.....dude............read back a few posts, the car was not stolen like that. They already figured out what happened.

OMG I hope he gets his car back.. what a crazy set of circumstances...

quote Originally posted by Hulki U. My-BFF: Uuuhhmm.....dude............read back a few posts, the car was not stolen like that. They already figured out what happened.

OOPS! Read the whole thing now, sorry guys!

First....if the car were legally impounded, wouldn't that show up when it was reported stolen? A friend of mine once got home, noticed his car gone from the drive, called the police to report it stolen, and as soon as he gave them the VIN number they said the car had been impounded, who called it in, and where the car was curently located. How can anyone sell and register a vehicle when the vin number is reported stolen? I would think that would throw up red flags at the DMV.

As for the current "owner", I don't feel sorry for him even if he was duped into buying it. Any time you run across a deal like this, you have to check it out. Hope Steve gets it back.

I would be willing to bet that the guy selling it is connected to the wrecker service. As stated earlier, someone noticed a car parked for a long period of time, hooked and took stashing it in an impound yard only to rack up daily impound charges until the wrecker/impound yard puts a lien on it. Then they falsify docs showing that they made several attempts to contact the registered owner but could not. Then they sell it for whatever they can get out of it. I've seen this happen a lot back East. If the owner comes out during the hook, they simply act as if there was a mistake in the paperwork, set the car back down and leave. No one is the wiser. A good police department would be all over this.... There has to be something this community can do to right this wrong.

If we could get a copy of the original police reports that the car was stolen, then do whatever we can to put it out there that this car is stolen property - sour anyone thinking of buying it to buy time to get it straightened out... do something before the situation gets worse with a new owner invloved, etc.... Man this is frustrating. Not even my car or concern but it pisses me off to see people get away with this stuff....

[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 08-12-2008).]

The problem is that Steve does not have a leg to stand on, the car was never registered in his name, it went directly from original Illinois owner to new Santa Monica owner that is now selling it on Craigslist.

The issue I see here is that there is no lien reported ever for the car

fishy fishy

------------------
Recanizin' Flat-Buns Since 2001

Eric Nelson
Internet Sales Manager
Power Ford Valencia
nelsone@autonation.com

I'm with you Chicken - this does not smell right. Is there more to the story here?

The only problem with that is that the original owner in Illinois would be the one to have to claim the car instead of Steve. The car was still legally parked and illegally taken. Obviously, the wrecker service faked the lien to be able to sell it. The speed at which all this has happened makes me think the Craigslist guy is in with the wrecker service. If that proves to be wrong, I will owe him an apology.

Im with Dale, having been around lien sales before they are a total ***** and absolute brain damage. Last I heard the length of time before action could be taken was 90 days, then I heard 120 days ( can we confirm this? maybe DMV.org? )

5/27/08 - thread states that car was recently stolen from garage

6/02/08 - emissions test transmital to DMV office

7/3/08 - title changed to new owner in Santa Monica

hmmmm

To me this looks like it was snatched up, tested, worked on until passable, smogged, then quickly sold off

We need to get ahold of Insta Tune in Santa Monica to see who paid or signed off for the smog test on this car at 11:42am on 6/2/2008

From there see if that traces back to a towing company, I.E. the smog test must have been paid with a Purchase Order through a company ( possibly, but not necessarily ) as at this time was not registered until a month to the day later

Must be cool working at a dealership so you can check all that stuff! haha