How to spot a cloned car (and use the VIN to check)
A cloned car is a stolen car wearing another car's identity, usually the number plates of a legitimate car of the same make, model and colour. It looks genuine on paper, which is exactly the point.
In short
- Cloned cars are usually stolen, disguised with the plates (and sometimes the identity numbers) of a similar car.
- The VIN (vehicle identification number) is your best defence. It should match everywhere it appears.
- View the car at the seller's home, at the address on the V5C logbook.
- If you buy a cloned car, the police can take it back, and you lose the car and your money.
How car cloning works
Criminals steal a car, then find a legitimate car of the same make, model and colour, often from an online advert. They copy its registration onto new number plates and sometimes fake its documents. A quick check of the plate then shows a perfectly normal car, because it's the history of the real one.
Warning signs
- The price is too good for the car's age and condition.
- The seller wants to meet somewhere other than their home, such as a car park, a service station or “my mate's place”.
- The seller pushes for a quick sale or a cash payment.
- The V5C logbook is missing, “at the DVLA”, or the address on it isn't where you're viewing the car.
- The V5C doesn't have a “DVL” watermark when held up to the light.
- There's only one key, or the keys look new or cheap.
- The car's details don't match its records: a different colour, engine size or trim.
Check the VIN
Every car has a unique 17-character VIN. Cloners can copy a number plate in minutes, but making a car's VIN match everywhere is much harder. Check it in all of these places and make sure they're identical:
- at the bottom of the windscreen, visible from outside;
- on a plate or sticker in the door frame (usually the driver's side);
- stamped into the body, often under the bonnet or beneath a flap in the floor;
- on the V5C logbook.
Be suspicious of a VIN plate that looks newer than the car, scratched or tampered numbers, or stickers that have been moved or replaced.
Compare the car with its records
Run a free check before you go. The make, model, colour and engine size on record should match the car exactly, and its MOT history should make sense for what you're looking at. A silver hatchback that shows up on record as a blue estate is a car to walk away from.
What happens if you buy a cloned car?
A stolen car still belongs to its rightful owner (or their insurer). If the police identify it, they can take it away, and you're usually left without the car and without your money. That's why checking first matters so much.
Think your own car has been cloned?
A common sign is fines, parking tickets or speeding letters for places you haven't been. Contact the police and the DVLA, and keep any letters you receive, along with evidence of where your car was at the time.
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