VIN 3695 - Dutch Rob's Car

[RobvdVeer]

I don't think that plate will have any history of your car Rob. Licence plates aren't tied to cars for life in the US, they go by VIN for everything, and if the car was registered in another state it would have another plate with a different number.

Yeah but what if the US plate belonged to a first owner?

[KMC-DMC]

Rob check out www.carfax.eu and you'll get the history of your car.
DMCH have the original warranty cars from the dealers and you can use that as a start to find the previous owners.
My car came with old insurance documents and that's how I traced the PO's.

[RobvdVeer]

Rob check out http://www.carfax.eu and you'll get the history of your car.
DMCH have the original warranty cars from the dealers and you can use that as a start to find the previous owners.
My car came with old insurance documents and that's how I traced the PO's.

Tried that before but my VIN is unknown there. Probably because my D was imported before they invented the carfax thing.

[Dangermouse]

I don't think that plate will have any history of your car Rob. Licence plates aren't tied to cars for life in the US, they go by VIN for everything, and if the car was registered in another state it would have another plate with a different number.

Yeah but what if the US plate belonged to a first owner?

I see that your car was initially sold at a dealer in NJ, so it is just possible that this is both the first and last NJ plate for the car- a one owner (US anyway) car before it was exported to the Netherlands. When was it exported, do you know?

As Dan says, the plate doesn't usually stay with the car, unless it is a one owner car. Here in GA, the plate is issued to me as a person, not the car. When I sell a car, I am supposed to take the plate off and either use it on the next car I buy, or trash it (or hang it on my garage wall, as I do). In Alabama, where I used to live, they sometimes issued a new style of plate, with new numbers, every few years just to raise tax money

Have you run a carfax.com report on the car - it may show some of the US history.

btw "Garden State" is the New Jersey state motto.

[RobvdVeer]

My car was imported in '86, so i very much could be the first owner. The carfax has no info on the full vin.

[RobvdVeer]

D is at the A/C man right now. I hope it is ok.

[RobvdVeer]

Lo and Behold.

Got the car back from the A/C man. Last R12 refill was in '94. NINETYFOUR!!!

The A/C was pressure-tested and re-gassed. No problem whatsoever. Its been refilled with R413a as a R12 replacement. No parts were exchanged. It's so cool! He also added a UV tracer for future leak detection, but considering the car didn't leak a lot since 94 this baby is pretty leak-free.

Finally some good news on the money pit

[arranj]

Good to hear Rob. Hot weekend coming up too, so just in time!

[RobvdVeer]

Finally! My passenger side door closes good and proper.

I had to grind away some material to allow enough lateral movement of the striker pins. The forward pin used to 'catch' first, but the alignment of the door was basically ok. So I both moved them. Forward one a bit down and to the inside, the rear one out and up a bit.

One more to cross of 'the list'.

[RobvdVeer]

Thank you Tony!! Your plate has found a spot in my garage! I'll bolt it down next time I can make noise with my drill.