Vehicle Code § 10803 – Buying a Car with Altered VIN

If you unknowingly purchased more than one used car with an altered vehicle identification number (VIN), but are accused of knowing the cars’ VIN was altered before you bought it, this article is for you.

California Vehicle Code § 10803 makes it a crime to buy or possess vehicles or parts of vehicles with altered VIN’s for the purpose of engaging in their fraudulent resale or transfer.  

This section does not apply to legal motor vehicle scrap processors who do not remove the VINs before processing, meaning by crushing or compacting the car.

In other words, a prosecutor must establish facts that show, first, knowledge that one was buying or possessing such a car or parts of a car with an VIN that was “counterfeited, defaced, destroyed, disguised, falsified, forged, obliterated, or removed” and second, that such a buy or possession is for purposes of reselling it or transferring it to someone else.

This law is targeted at “chop shops” that disassemble automobiles, only to reassemble the car with different parts, for purposes of reselling the car, or simply remove car parts for purposes of resale.  This can be a lucrative business and is separately prosecuted under Vehicle Code § 10801 (“Operating a Chop Shop”) and is punishable by up to four years in state prison and / or a fine up to $50,000.  Operating a chop shop can also be prosecuted as a misdemeanor.

A violation is often established when the paperwork for the cars is not in order or looks suspicious.

A violation of this Vehicle Code section is punishable either with custody time in state prison for two, four or six years (to be served in county jail under AB 109 unless one is a registered sex offenders) and / or a fine of up to $60,000, or as a misdemeanor with custody in the county jail for up to one year and / or a fine up to $1,000 if a car if involved.  In other words, the judge has enormous discretion in how to punish defendant.  

Probation is even possible, as we resolved one such case with probation, albeit with a joint suspended and an enormous amount of Cal-Trans for our client.

If the violation involved possession or sales of automobile parts with an altered VIN, it is also a wobbler, with punishment being sixteen, two years or three years in state prison (to be served in county jail under AB 109 unless one is a registered sex offender) and / or a fine up to $30,000.  The violation may also be punished as a misdemeanor with punishment up to one year in county jail and / or a fine up to $1,0000.  Probation is also possible.

The defenses to this crime may be that one had no idea that the vehicles or vehicle parts had an altered VIN, or that one only bought one such vehicle or one such part.  The code section requires that one purchase or possess “more than one.”  The paperwork for the car may also look official.

This suggests one is not a regular, sophisticated auto purchaser and so the person had no reason to know the VIN was altered.

Another defense may be that the person had no intent to resell the car or part with the altered VIN.  For example, the person was restoring an old car that he or she intended to keep for himself or his family.

Lastly, a defense that is common is that the police found the altered VIN through an illegal search.  We find this is often avoided by police by using an undercover police officer who poses as a customer and asks to look over the car or parts and discovers the altered VIN and has a conversation with the client about the VIN’s not matching on the car or whether the client knows the VIN’s may be altered. 

Tampering or altering just a VIN is a separate offense punishable under Vehicle Code §§ 10750 or 10802 is punishable by up to three years in state prison and / or a fine of up to $25,000.  These sections are wobblers, so the person can also be punished with up to one year in county jail and a fine up to $1,000.