It used to be recommended that either the VIN or the vehicle registration number was etched on all glass (including headlights). Is this still so?
What are the pros and cons?
e.g.headlights are not always glass these days so I assume glass etching fluid won't work but do the professional outfits mark headlight?
If it is to be done what are readers experiences?
I assume the DIY kits are still available but are they as simple and foolproof as the label will suggest?
If it is done by the "experts" what is the cost and the who is recommended?
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I was recently in Lagos, Nigeria, and there EVERYTHING gets etched with the registration number - mirrors, headlights, bumpers, wipers, wheels, starter motors, jack, you name it!
this stops cars being taken away and stripped for spares - allegedly.
Best to use one of those electric engraving thingies on the headlights.
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Some insurance companies used to issue vouchers which gave you free etching at a national chain, e.g.Autoglass. Don't know if this still happens, as new cars have usually had their glass etched on delivery. Sometimes you find a stencil in the glovebox so that a replacement screen can also be done.
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I once had a summer job etching windows of imported vehicles straight off the ferry before they went to dealers. I haven't seen any etching kits so I don't know what they are like but etching is dead easy, any idiot can do it (believe me!).
Plastic stickers were simply stuck on to the windows they had small holes in them making up the vin number. The etching fluid was warmed in a baby bottle warmer and just brushed over the sticker. Pause for a few minutes, remove the sticker and then wash down with liberal amounts of water in order not to damage paint work. Its been a few years now so I cant remember wether the sticker was removed before washing or after. I don't think it makes much difference.
If you have a good sticker stencil to work off then go for it.
It was a very interesting summer job I could tell you some interesting stories about what happens to new cars before they get to dealers!!!
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I used to do some work for Tolemans Delivery Service and some of the stories about what happened to cars, especially if they went by train, on the way between the docks/factory and the dealer put one off buying a new car forever.
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But didn't they all start as 'new', at sometime?
Mark
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>>> I used to do some work for Tolemans Delivery Service and some of the stories about what happened to cars, especially if they went by train, on the way between the docks/factory and the dealer put one off buying a new car forever. <<<
Some years ago, my brother and I were leaving Sheerness port at the same time as a load of new cars were being offloaded from another ship. To say that the n*ts were being thrashed off them is an extreme understatement, and I'm sure that it was actually a race to get from the ship to the compound! Some poor souls probably then spent the next 3000 miles running their new cars in, and posting questions on boards such as this asking for advice on how best to do!
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Sheerness: Volkswagens?
That's one of the examples, others included being left in sidings and having the radios and spare wheels nicked; falling off transporters; needing resprays after oil had dropped from the car above; standing on the seafront with the waves breaking over them; etc., etc.
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If you're in the AA you can get this done free at Autoglass but they only do the windows, no mirrors lights etc and it's not that obvious. When I had mine done I wasn't really impressed but at least it's done to some extent.
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Many years ago, I got a new lease car and it was about two years later that I noticed all the windows were etched (sand-blasted?) with the wrong registration number. Had a word with the local traffic plod and they weren't much interested, but let me know that the two registration numbers were registered on the same day by the same garage, so there's another one with my old reg out there.
The leasing company refused to do anything about it.
Martin
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It wasn't uncommon for the wrong vin number to be etched onto cars. When it was noticed the vehicle was sent to the "rec" department (rectification). It took me a while to realise that when people talked about it that they didn't mean "Wreck". I think that the glass was just polished out.
They were great days. I was a student with less than a years driving experience so I managed to scratch loads of cars reverse parking them up. I was a lousy driver then with no experience. One of my enduring memories was a workmate who was boasting about redlining a warm hatch in second. He just tore down the compound with the car having less than three miles on the clock! I laugh when I read about people asking Honest John how they should "bed the engine in" on their new car or whatever the phrase is. If the car is halfway sporty, someone who couldn't possibly afford the car new has probably ragged it to bits already.
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All cars may start off "new" but only one sucker pays the premium allowing him to boast about his new pride and joy and PRETEND that no-one has got to it first!
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