I am buying an ATV from a guy in Montana, and I live in Florida. I have the VIN # but don't know how to find information about it. He sent me a photo of the #. I looked in a government web page but can't find information.

Where can I look for information?

 

What do you want to check or know?
Call Kawi corp. They should have some kind of information.

 

This guy lives in Montana and says he has to go to Irak and don't want his 2007 Yamaha Raptor 700 to sit on his backyard until he returns. He sent me pictures, including a picture of the VIN #. After some research on Internet I found the Montana DOT web page. I called today and they can't find information on that VIN #. I think it may be a scam.

 

Call the police, both where you live and in MT. Kawi may also be able to help.

The VIN has a check digit that should indicate if the VIN is real (or at least makes sense mathematically). I can identify the digit, but I can't tell if the VIN is real or not.

 

Thanks for the tips.

I called and e-mailed the DOT in Montana, and as I told before, they can't find the quad registered there. He says it is. That gave me a feeling of a scam. I called Yamaha directly and they told me the VIN exists and match the description of the quad. I asked them if they knew if it was reported stolen and they did a research and said no report was found. They told me the quad was sold in a dealer in Miami, FL. I e-mailed the DOT in Florida but it was on friday, so I'll wait for an answer on monday-tuesday.

I asked him to ship the quad COD, because I had a feeling it could be a scam, and he said to do the transaction trough e-bay. He says I'll pay e-bay and after I receive the quad I have a 3 day trial period, then I ask e-bay to pay him. I know that I can't respond if he sends me an e-mail with a link to e-bay. That's a scam to steal your user/password and do transactions with your information.

 

I know if you pay with paypal, you have all the rights and seller has basically no rights.... Especially if you pay with a credit card. Its possible you could pay him, receive the quad, and then do a chargeback to get your money back and still have the quad. Illegal, immoral, unethical, but possible.

I'd still run the VIN by the cops in both states though. Can't hurt.

The odds are he is on the up n up. He could have bought the quad, but never applied for a tag or anything like that. So, the DOT may not know of the VIN. You and he may have the meaning of the word "registered" mixed up.

I don't know,,, I'm just throwing ideas out there. I've never been in that situation.