Change VIN on second-hand parts to match the vehicle?
Posted: 05 Feb 2025, 04:14
Hi,
So not all second-hand parts on Ebay are stolen. Damaged vehicles are broken into parts and the parts are sold.
I have a Jeep Renegade which is essentially a Fiat 500x and its Lane Sense module died - its caused a load of errors in the vehicle with the stereo, parking sensors and steering.
Jeep diagnosed the problem as a failed Lane Snes module, but they can't get one as they are out of stock and when they are back in stock they want £1500 to replace it.
I got one for £50 off eaby and all of the other faults disappeared when I plugged it in, but the Lane Sense won't work because it has a VIN Mismatch error.
It turns out that Fiat code their parts with the vehicle's VIN so you have to buy new ones.
Apparently, it stops people from selling stolen parts, but it also stops anyone from selling any parts!
Is there a way to take the VIN off my failed unit (or the car) and add it to the replacement unit? The garage that sold me the used part on ebay have all the documentation for the donor car to show they bought it legitimately and offered it to the Jeep dealer, but Jeep said they are not allowed to use second-hand parts at all.
Thanks!
Ant
So not all second-hand parts on Ebay are stolen. Damaged vehicles are broken into parts and the parts are sold.
I have a Jeep Renegade which is essentially a Fiat 500x and its Lane Sense module died - its caused a load of errors in the vehicle with the stereo, parking sensors and steering.
Jeep diagnosed the problem as a failed Lane Snes module, but they can't get one as they are out of stock and when they are back in stock they want £1500 to replace it.
I got one for £50 off eaby and all of the other faults disappeared when I plugged it in, but the Lane Sense won't work because it has a VIN Mismatch error.
It turns out that Fiat code their parts with the vehicle's VIN so you have to buy new ones.
Apparently, it stops people from selling stolen parts, but it also stops anyone from selling any parts!
Is there a way to take the VIN off my failed unit (or the car) and add it to the replacement unit? The garage that sold me the used part on ebay have all the documentation for the donor car to show they bought it legitimately and offered it to the Jeep dealer, but Jeep said they are not allowed to use second-hand parts at all.
Thanks!
Ant