One of the worst things about registering and titling a car is…well, everything, to be honest. But seriously, it is usually a fairly unpleasant experience. And it is made all the worse when you have things that don’t quite add up. For example, one of the things that can cause major headaches is your VIN. If your VINs don’t match, you could have serious problems transferring the title. 

Which VINs, you ask? The ones on the:

• Title

• Bill of Sale

• Vehicle frame

• Vehicle engine

• Vehicle body

We’ve even seen VINs etched into window glass, and yes, some states have a problem if all the available VINs don’t match on a car.

Of course, this is only sometimes the case. If you buy a car from an in-state seller and the frame VIN matches the title, it will probably not be a big deal. But the stakes get much higher when you start talking about titling an out-of-state purchase. Many states don’t require inspections for in-state title transfers from purchases, so it never gets looked at. But vehicles are almost always inspected when titles cross state lines. 

Let’s look at what constitutes a problem and what doesn’t.  

My VINs Don't Match: Is This A Problem?

So, the logical conclusion is that you have a problem if your VIN doesn’t match across all available areas of your car and paperwork. Well, first and foremost, every state approaches this differently. But first, you need to know whether any of the vehicle's VINs match the title. 

If at least one of the VINs on the vehicle matches the title, then it is not a titling issue. This is because the title has the correct number on it. 

See, your car or truck has VINs stamped all over it. Usually, it is:

• In the door jamb

• On the dash, visible from the outside

• Somewhere under the hood

• SOMETIMES stamped on the engine block, but not always. More on this later. 

The reason for the multiple locations is simply to make it harder to intentionally commit fraud. That is the entire point of the VIN program: to reduce theft, or at least trace thefts back to a common criminal. VINs were standardized to help break chop shop crime rings decades ago.

This is most common on project cars and rebuilders

Of course, there are totally legitimate reasons why you might have mismatched VINs on your vehicle. For example, if you buy a wrecked but repairable vehicle from a salvage auction like Copart that has a wrecked front clip, you can rebuild the front clip using parts from donor vehicles. But when you do this, you might have mismatched VINs from the donor vehicle.

This is a fixable situation

This is not the end of the world. All you really need is one matching VIN on the vehicle with the title to be alright. Look, some cars have been wrecked and repaired with fresh or salvaged parts all over the roadways. However, it is improbable that all areas of the vehicle with VIN stamped have been replaced.

You’re best off to avoid it altogether if possible

If you are looking to buy a vehicle and all of the VINs have been removed or none match, you should move along. This is one of those key indicators that the vehicle is a basketcase, and you’ll unearth more problems with it the longer you own it. 

What Can Cause The VINs to Not Match?

The most common reason for an unmatched VIN is damage repairs. This is no big deal; several million vehicle accidents occur annually in the U.S. There are so many that it is hard to get a good count on how many, but it is a lot. 

A lot of those crashed vehicles end up totaled, but not all of them. If the repairs are just a little less than the insurance cost of scrapping the vehicle, they will send it to the shop for extensive repairs.

If the entire front clip is destroyed, along with all of the structural support, radiator support, etc., on the front end, the odds are good that at least that VIN will either not match or will be gone altogether, or will have been replaced in an obvious way.

This is why it is so important for you to request a VIN check before you buy any vehicle. Any accident history is on the VIN check, along with any title brands you should be aware of.

A VIN check saved me a major headache. You can read the whole article here, but the synopsis is that I looked at a truck with some minor flaws, and my gut told me to run a VIN check, and it saved my butt.

I’m happy I did because the VIN check came back as the truck had a V-10 gas engine when it had a diesel engine. Now, I doubt it ever had a V-10; I am sure it was a clerical error. The truck had changed hands many times, starting life on the upper East Coast and ending up in Missouri and Kansas. Somewhere along the way, it was labeled as a gasser when it clearly wasn’t. I have no idea how much of a headache that error would have caused, but I’m glad I didn’t find out. 

Is This a Sign of a Lemon?

Not necessarily. A repaired vehicle doesn’t mean it is a lemon. But you deserve and have a right to know the vehicle's history. 

It is on you if the seller does not know and fully discloses that they do not know, and maybe they don’t have paperwork. But if they don’t disclose, it is on them. 

You must conduct due diligence when researching the vehicle you are interested in. A repaired vehicle does not necessarily mean it is an unreliable vehicle. It just means it is a repaired vehicle. You need to know that it is repaired and to what extent it is repaired, and that those repairs won’t cause you headaches at the DMV when it comes time to title and register it.

Now, if there have been several owners since the accident and repairs, you might not be able to figure out the extent of the damage and repairs, and a VIN check won’t tell you that. It will just tell you IF there have been accidents in the vehicle's history. 

My VIN Says It Has A Completely Different Engine Than What's In It

This question directly responds to my VIN issue, which is laid out here.

The problem I ran into wasn’t a replacement engine but an entirely different one. In fact, it wasn’t even the same fuel type. 

I am under no false illusions that someone yanked a V-10 out to throw a 7.3 Powerstroke in there; that is crazy talk. However, it would be believable if the truck had initially had a 5.4 V-8 and someone had done the work to install a V-10. 

If they did this, the owner who modified it should have gone to the DMV and asked what needed to be done in terms of documentation. If they didn’t, you could potentially have issues if you live in a state that stays on top of things like that. If they noticed the engine wasn’t gas and the title said it was, that could cause a hard stop on your titling progress.

What Registration or Titling Issues Will This Cause?

Here’s the thing: if you buy the vehicle in-state, you probably won’t ever have any issues. Since that Ford truck already had a Kansas title (somehow), it probably wouldn’t have been an issue because Kansas doesn’t require inspections on vehicles bought and sold in-state. And in a lot of cases, states just don’t check these things with a lot of attention – not that they shouldn’t.

In many states, only out-of-state titles require inspections. So, a lot of clunkers probably slip through the cracks in states like mine where that’s the case.

However, if you are in a state where you have to get a physical inspection done every time a title changes hands, you can certainly run into some issues. Even a rank novice mechanic knows the difference between diesel and gas engines. If those don’t line up on the VIN, you may not be able to get your title transferred at all.

Will The VIN Be Different If The Engine Has Been Replaced?

The answer is a definite maybe. 

The engine may have no VIN on it at all, or it might have a VIN on it. VINs on engines are not standardized because engine swaps are so common that it would inevitably cause problems.

Since there are VINs stamped on several parts of the vehicle, though, the least problematic is the engine. The scenario that could potentially raise eyebrows is swapping in an engine that is unlike the original, i.e., upgrading it or changing the type altogether. States like California famously scrutinize this to the 11th degree and often won’t title a car that doesn’t have matching original equipment under the hood.

This is not the end of the world because four-wheelers and hot rodders have been doing this for decades. There are entire companies built around this, like Advance Adapters. Off-roaders have been swapping small blocks into Jeep YJs and TJs for eons and repowering more unique vehicles like International Scouts, full-size Jeeps, etc.  

Again, this is on the owner who swapped to ensure the titling lines up. Most states have a section on the DMV website discussing what to do about engine swaps and other modifications. There is no guarantee that shadetree mechanics will do any of this, but it is usually a lot easier for the person who did the modifications to fix the paperwork as well. 

Can I Do Anything About Mismatched VINs?

The first thing you would need to do is talk to the seller. They may help you or return the vehicle (the latter is probably not very likely).

The best way to avoid this problem is proactively beforehand. Run a VIN check and see if anything stands out. Run far away if it has accidents or damage, especially title brands that the seller hasn’t disclosed. That is, unless you are in the practice of buying project cars. In that case, eat your heart out.

A VIN check is inexpensive insurance. Reddit is full of people asking what to do about a turd vehicle they bought that could have been avoided by just pulling a VIN check.

Assuming you are already in this predicament, let’s look at your options if you already own a vehicle that has mismatched VINs.

Can I Get The VINs To Match?

Here are two unique issues. First, if you buy a crate motor, it will not have a VIN. If it is a one-for-one swap and you are installing a brand-new crate motor, you will just lose the VIN on the engine. No big deal, really. 

Now, later model vehicles equipped with OBDII, which has been in everything since the 1990s, have all this information programmed into the internal computer system of every car. So now, here’s kind of how it works in a nutshell:

When you buy a crate motor, assuming it is a long block, you will strip off the intake, fuel system, exhaust, and everything else. You’ll pull the old block, pull off the fuel injection system and everything else, and swap it all onto the new long block. The onboard computer won’t ever know the difference because all you replaced was the block. The computer still thinks it is the same engine. 

So, matching up engines isn’t a big deal because VINs are not standardized across the industry on engines, and if you swap it out, nobody will know the difference anyway. Maybe you could get them to match if it bothers you, but that would have to go through your DMV, and there are no guarantees that they will care or know enough to help.

Swapping the ECU would be another task altogether. The question boils down to, which VINs don’t match?

Here’s What To Do About Mismatched VINs

There are two issues here that are different. 

1. The VIN does not match the title.

2. The VINs on the vehicle don’t all match each other, but at least one matches the title.

The first is far more challenging to work with if you have bought the vehicle. You could be the victim of a title-washing scam, and you definitely could get stuck holding the bag for a vehicle that you cannot get titled. 

The second is less of a deal. The main issue is that you need to try and figure out why the VINs on the vehicle don’t match. Was it wrecked? Does it have a salvage title brand? Ordering a VIN check must be a priority with every car purchase because you only see the car's title history and damage history before it becomes YOUR problem.

If the VIN on your car doesn’t match the title, you basically have two options.

Work with your local DMV

Work with your local or state-level DMV office to figure it out. Many times this involves driving to the central state DMV office located in the capital city – that’s how it works in Missouri, for example. Many people drive all that way to be told they can’t be helped, because many states are stiff about things like this, and even if they do help you, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for it to take six months to take effect.

Work with an independent title specialist

An independent title specialist, like us here at Dirt Legal, can fix these sorts of issues faster and more reliably than many state DMVs could ever dream of. Use our quick and easy Service Finder to learn the ways we can help you replace your title in a way that makes all the dots line up. Or, contact our team to find out how we can help you fix this problem, backed by our 100% Money Back Guarantee.