On the 10/08/08 I brought my S2, A20 LBP, formally C16MJD from Liam (butcherss2).
I paid £3000 for a 'Coupe Quattro with an S2 ABY engine'. All seemed ok and I was chuffed to be an owner of a near S2.
A few months later Bo (S2_Bo) and another forum member (sorry, can't remember who you were) came to have a look at the car. They recognised the car and suspected that it's history was 'checkered'. After reading a few threads regarding the car, I realised that other members also had their concerns.
There was a lot of evidence that suggested that the car was an original S2 from bumper to bumper. So why was it registered as a Coupe Quattro. If it was indeed an S2 the obvious, and really only answer, was that the car had a cloned identity.
I was now torn to what to do next. Play ignorant and just sell the car pronto. Pull it apart and sell it for parts. Or risk it all and try and get it all sorted. After much deliberation I decided to hand the car over to the Police. I was putting my car/3K on the line but I just hoped for a positive out come. I want to join the Police myself and cannot afford to any dodgy skeletons in my cupboard (buying/selling a stolen car or parts).
So I got things going and made the call. Within hours 2 local Bobbies turn up to look for a VIN etc. The VIN matches that on the V5 but agree the area on the bulk head, around the VIN, doesn’t look right. They leave saying they will contact the local Vehicle Inspector and let him decide what to do next. A few weeks pass and I then get a call from said Vehicle Inspector and am asked to hand my car in for a few weeks.
The car is scrutinised from top to bottom. He looked for any 'original' markings thus proving the car's current markings are not correct. He finds that the engine number has been ground off and no other markings. The end result is that the car has most likely had its identity changed but because they can find non of its original markings they cannot prove it. Good news for me! It means the car cannot be claimed by an insurance company etc and is now in limbo.
The police pass their findings onto the DVLA. They contact me to check the car has MOT and Tax. I guess to show that the car could be road legal as long as its identity is sorted. I tell them the car is in good working order and provide them with loads of evidence backing up my theory that the car is an S2.
Initially they say that because the car effectively has no correct identity they will not be able to definitively prove that it is an S2. My V5 will just read 'Audi' with no model. Legal, but not ideal. I convince them to look at the car themselves. On inspection the DVLA agree it’s an S2 body but cannot say that it has an S2 engine. They tell me that if I get a garage to verify the engine they put it as an 2.2 on the V5. I try 3 garages including an Audi main dealer but non of them are willing to put their neck on the line and confirm the engines cc. The Audi mechanic said he is sure it is an ABY engine but just refused to put it on paper.
.
The DVLA issue a new VIN which I then get put on the car.
Next I send of a load of paper work and money back to the DVLA and get back a new Tax disc, new MOT certificate (alas with the same expiry date) and a 'Number Plate Authorisation Certificate.
My car is now officially legal. Registered as an Audi S2 on 'Q' plates...Q439 ODV
My car has had a bad reputation for a while, and rightly so, but not any more.
One more thing, I strongly believe that Liam sold me the car in good faith.
Thanks
Nic
I paid £3000 for a 'Coupe Quattro with an S2 ABY engine'. All seemed ok and I was chuffed to be an owner of a near S2.
A few months later Bo (S2_Bo) and another forum member (sorry, can't remember who you were) came to have a look at the car. They recognised the car and suspected that it's history was 'checkered'. After reading a few threads regarding the car, I realised that other members also had their concerns.
There was a lot of evidence that suggested that the car was an original S2 from bumper to bumper. So why was it registered as a Coupe Quattro. If it was indeed an S2 the obvious, and really only answer, was that the car had a cloned identity.
I was now torn to what to do next. Play ignorant and just sell the car pronto. Pull it apart and sell it for parts. Or risk it all and try and get it all sorted. After much deliberation I decided to hand the car over to the Police. I was putting my car/3K on the line but I just hoped for a positive out come. I want to join the Police myself and cannot afford to any dodgy skeletons in my cupboard (buying/selling a stolen car or parts).
So I got things going and made the call. Within hours 2 local Bobbies turn up to look for a VIN etc. The VIN matches that on the V5 but agree the area on the bulk head, around the VIN, doesn’t look right. They leave saying they will contact the local Vehicle Inspector and let him decide what to do next. A few weeks pass and I then get a call from said Vehicle Inspector and am asked to hand my car in for a few weeks.
The car is scrutinised from top to bottom. He looked for any 'original' markings thus proving the car's current markings are not correct. He finds that the engine number has been ground off and no other markings. The end result is that the car has most likely had its identity changed but because they can find non of its original markings they cannot prove it. Good news for me! It means the car cannot be claimed by an insurance company etc and is now in limbo.
The police pass their findings onto the DVLA. They contact me to check the car has MOT and Tax. I guess to show that the car could be road legal as long as its identity is sorted. I tell them the car is in good working order and provide them with loads of evidence backing up my theory that the car is an S2.
Initially they say that because the car effectively has no correct identity they will not be able to definitively prove that it is an S2. My V5 will just read 'Audi' with no model. Legal, but not ideal. I convince them to look at the car themselves. On inspection the DVLA agree it’s an S2 body but cannot say that it has an S2 engine. They tell me that if I get a garage to verify the engine they put it as an 2.2 on the V5. I try 3 garages including an Audi main dealer but non of them are willing to put their neck on the line and confirm the engines cc. The Audi mechanic said he is sure it is an ABY engine but just refused to put it on paper.
.The DVLA issue a new VIN which I then get put on the car.
Next I send of a load of paper work and money back to the DVLA and get back a new Tax disc, new MOT certificate (alas with the same expiry date) and a 'Number Plate Authorisation Certificate.
My car is now officially legal. Registered as an Audi S2 on 'Q' plates...Q439 ODV
My car has had a bad reputation for a while, and rightly so, but not any more.
One more thing, I strongly believe that Liam sold me the car in good faith.
Thanks
Nic
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