Let me share my VIN story with the net, since that seems to be the big
subject this week.
I bought a 1969 MG Midget from a fellow on the eastern shore of Maryland.
The title seemed to be in order, and Virginia issued a new title, no
problem. When I tried to decypher the VIN number, GAN4V69#####, I dis-
covered that it should read GAN4U69#####, the U indicating United States
spec. The DMV had mutated the V into a U.
I sent them a xerox of the reference page of the manual that I used to
learn this, a xerox of the Maryland title that I had made before turning
it in to get the new Virginia title, and a xerox of the Virginia title,
along with a letter explaining what I thought happened, along with the
fact that the letters used in that position were (if I remember correctly)
U for United States, D for Domestic (england), R for other right hand drive,
and L for other left hand drive. Nothing even close to V, other than U.
After a ridiculous amount of time, and a number of non-sensical recaptiulations
of DMV dogma, they sent me a letter requiring me to take the car (remarkably,
enough time had passed that the car was running again after considerable work
to recover from the PO) to a police station, along with a notary, and have a
police officer sign a notarized statement to the effect that he had inspected
the car and found the VIN to be what-ever it really was. Serendipitously, in
there is also a notary public available at the particular police station I
picked. The officer was somewhat amused by the whole proceedure, and when I
showed him the documentation and provided him with a flashlight to view the
said VIN, happily signed the document which we had notarized on the spot.
So in the end, all is well, but that's the LAST time I'll attempt to tell
the Virginia DMV that they have made an error. One slip of a clerk's finger
and the delays could be considerable.
JFK - kolbj@ymv5.ymp.gov - Licensed Professional Engineer VA#19298
1969 MG Midget that runs - 1969 MGB that doesn't - Safety Fast ! - BRM V-12 !
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