2009 make car - Registered as 2010 make?

[MAS]

Dear Fellow Members,

Today, i had accompanied one of my friend to take delivery of a Swift VDI. The car was delivered today and the one thing that took me completely by surprise is the "flexible" registration process.

My friend wanted the car to be registered in 2010 (for obvious reasons) for which the Sales Manager agreed. He went on to add that he could also change the "Year Of Manufacture (YOM)" as 2010 in the RC Book. This is possible by paying just Rs. 5000/- to the RTO guys.

When i asked him what if anyone decodes the VIN, he responded that the "second-hand" buyers go by the RC book and not by decoding the VIN (which is true). He added that many cars that are being booked and sold in the last two months of the year have their YOM changed to the next year.

It is amazing how people and the government authorities "cheat" to earn money. Has anyone heard of this/similar stuff?

[bmw_m5_titus]

I never knew about this.
Why blame the officials alone? Demand creates supply!

[rr_zen]

Going by the logic, how can a car be manufactured post date ? Also, will it not look absurd to have the date of registration as 01-NOV-09 and year of manufacture as JAN 2010?

[MAS]

That is not the case here.

We are all aware that registration can be postponed by many weeks, but the point here is that along with the registering the car in 2010, the car's manufacturing year can also be changed to 2010.

[rr_zen]

Ok. I get you now. So your friend has just booked the car now and plans to take delivery of the same in 2010 and also have the year of manufacturing as 2010, correct ?

Also, it would be good if you can divulge the name of the dealer for the benefit of the TBHP community.

[MAS]

Hi rr_zen,

Kindly read my first post. The delivery of the VDI was done today. Registration would be done in 2010, with an "option" of changing the YOM to 2010.

I believe it is a general practice. It is the Maruti dealer in Vellore.

[thorpe]

We're planning to do something similar but legal. Booking in December (Huge discounts ) and taking delivery on 01-January-2010, so that its a 2010 model as per RC

[Gilead]

MAS, so your friend would drive an un-registered car for 2 months? There would be legal hell to pay is a mishap.

[MAS]

Originally Posted by thorpe

We're planning to do something similar but legal. Booking in December (Huge discounts ) and taking delivery on 01-January-2010, so that its a 2010 model as per RC

In this case, the RC would still show the YOM as 2009. Please check. Your car would be 2009 model registered in 2010.

@ Gilead: The dealer informed that a temporary registration would be done which would take care of any untoward incident (need to check on this)

[rr_zen]

Originally Posted by MAS

Hi rr_zen,

Kindly read my first post. The delivery of the VDI was done today.

My bad ! Thanks for the clarification though, mate.

[akhilesh51]

Originally Posted by MAS

Dear Fellow Members,

Today, i had accompanied one of my friend to take delivery of a Swift VDI. The car was delivered today and the one thing that took me completely by surprise is the "flexible" registration process.

My friend wanted the car to be registered in 2010 (for obvious reasons) for which the Sales Manager agreed. He went on to add that he could also change the "Year Of Manufacture (YOM)" as 2010 in the RC Book. This is possible by paying just Rs. 5000/- to the RTO guys.

When i asked him what if anyone decodes the VIN, he responded that the "second-hand" buyers go by the RC book and not by decoding the VIN (which is true). He added that many cars that are being booked and sold in the last two months of the year have their YOM changed to the next year.

It is amazing how people and the government authorities "cheat" to earn money. Has anyone heard of this/similar stuff?

I would like to raise a CAUTION here. To my best knowledge, whatever has been suggested is not just illegal, it may not have RTO involved at all.

My intuition says that the Sales Manager from dealer wants to make extra buck himself by charging you in the name of RTO. He would then simply change the date of manufacture on sale certificate, tax invoice and other documents. Not very difficult to do with a bit of scanning prowess and access to PDF editors et al.

He would then make you wait, at your own risk, for over two months and then cooly submit the documents when right time comes earning a good stump of cash. But, this would have serious repercussions in case this person (or his allies whether from RTO or not) are caught and you would be as much liable for punishment as them.

You might just lose your car altogether or pay heavy price for their scam, all to earn a bit of money during re-sale.

On a different track, I am sure a good second hand dealer goes by the VIN of car and there are lot of other factors that play into value of car like if it has been involved in accidents, etc. So, having paid all that money will still not guarantee return while re-sale, considering 5,000 is a big amount you are paying upfront and may not save so much later...

... I totally think that the sales manager of this dealership should be brought to notice of correct authorities or a lot of other innocent people may be pulled into scam and eventually run into deep trouble with the authorities.

[srikanths1]

Originally Posted by akhilesh51

On a different track, I am sure a good second hand dealer goes by the VIN of car and there are lot of other factors

This post is an eye opener. Now coming to the VIN point, that is always the problem, how do i decode it. Of-course there are posts in this website for specific brands, but it would just be good if we have a reliable mechanism to decode the VIN. In fact the RTO should be doing this verification.

A reliable mechanism to decode the VIN will help prospective buyers. Who know how many unscrupulous dealers palm off old cars using such cheap tactics to gullible customers.

[karizma_devil]

Originally Posted by MAS

In this case, the RC would still show the YOM as 2009. Please check. Your car would be 2009 model registered in 2010.

@ Gilead: The dealer informed that a temporary registration would be done which would take care of any untoward incident (need to check on this)

I can confirm it is absolutely illegal to drive with temporaty registration plates. also you do NOT HAVE INSURANCE COVERAGE ! In the event of accident / theft the monetary loss could be huge.

Suggest you friend acts in a rational manner.

The bottom line of doing these stunts would be to gain an edge on the re sale value of the car may be by 10 %.

But look at the risks.

Moreover for RTO registration the VIN/ engine number/ chassis number plate is stenciled on to a piece of paper with a pencil and is submitted to the RTO for registration. Even this is required during ownership transfer ( i have done so after buying my 2nd hand car).

I do not see these thing hapenning practically.

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by karizma_devil

I can confirm it is absolutely illegal to drive with temporaty registration plates. also you do NOT HAVE INSURANCE COVERAGE ! In the event of accident / theft the monetary loss could be huge...

WOW! That was one huge statement to make! So, all the vehicles we see going around with TR are driven illegally? Does that not make issuing TR's illegal???

You can drive with a temp registration. You can get insurance for the new vehicle also (without a registration number).

Heck, I know so many people driving with TR due to various reasons, more so when they are waiting for a particular number series to open! And that time frame has gone upto 3 months, in one instance!

[Axe77]

In any event, taking this instance into account, if you have a temp registration as of a certain date and insurance as of Nov 09, how can mfgr date be pushed to '10.

I can understand if a 2010 'delivered' car is manipulated to have a 2010 mfgr date (although i never knew this was being done, does not seem impossible i suppose), but if a car is delivered in Nov 09, I find it extremely hard to understand how they'll wing the mfgr date. There are too many records to manipulate - octroi receipts for instance, insurance etc.

either the dealer is lying about this, or there's some misunderstanding on what's up for offer or some serious risks if aspects like insurance etc are also being postponed.

IMHO, abide by the law - if he can afford to buy a swift, surely he can afford to absorb the cost of any nominal loss in resale on account of the YOM. If this is unacceptable, he should just have waited till Jan and then completed the purchase.