Possable trouble parting out a car.

My Lincoln LS died a few months ago and unfortunately the engine was berkeleyed beyond repair. It was certainly a nice car but wasn’t worth fixing.

…. So I cut it up and put the parts on craigslist.

I’m not 100% positive, but the craigslist ad seems to have attracted the attention of someone in law enforcement.

If it truly is the cops, what sort of harassment should I expect ? I have the title on hand to prove ownership.

have title and vin tags on carcass?

Proceed to have fun with the "law enforcement" by mentioning Nigerian princes, free cruises, etc

I don't see what they can do to you if you have the title...

If it is the PoPo, tell them to come on over. When they get there, show them the title and then ask them "Am I free to go?"

But I doubt the PoPo are looking at you. It is probably someone trying to scam you. The PoPo would just show up, I'd think, or buy parts for a year, then arrest you if you were doing something wrong or they were bored. You know, "Police arrested Mr. Dumb berkeley today for selling 1 oz of marijuana after an 18 month investigation...."

Well, I have the title but the car is more or less gone. The shell was hauled off a few days ago.

The body parts do not have VIN decals like newer cars.

I was going to say hang on to the body section that has the vin number on it until the rest is sold. Oops.

if you still have the title, I doubt there is a thing they can do to you. This is most likely a scam. Cops do not politely call you to ask if a car you cut up was legit or not.. they show up at your door with a warrent

You're worried about Jackson cops?

Kenny_McCormic wrote: You're worried about Jackson cops?

Slightly... They are pretty much ok but I have heard stories....

What sort of messages are you getting?

Have the title and the VIN. They come to you. You should really have no problems. Yes, it looks like a chop job, but its your car.

Next time you talk to them you need a name and a DSN.

They probably won't argue. They just want to do their job and be done with it.

The original message was " I need Lincoln parts. Call Mel at xxx-xxx-xxxx"

I ignored the email because it was poorly written and I don't want to deal with that type of customer.

Keep in mind, my ad has a lengthy parts list with prices.

Several hours latter I got a message You can call my cell phone at xxx-xxx-xxxx Thanks, Mel / Lincoln parts

I gave the phone number a call and got a message to call another number. Seemed fishy.

The number is local and I traced it back to an alleged collision shop about 20 miles away.

I'll give them a call latter this morning. I might just be paranoid but I figured I would seek advice from the GRM collective.

i never thought i'd be so sad to see a ford product cut up, but i think in this case the car was worth more in parts than as a whole.

i want to lsx swap one

bear in mind lots of people suck at the internet, so this mel guy might just suck at the internet and need stuff from your car.

Yeah, it was painful to chop it up but the car sat on craigslist for a month without any interest. Figured this was the best way to recover some of my investment.

I talked to "Mel" a few min ago, He sounded like a cop/detective, but it may be that I have seen too many episodes of Rockford files. Who knows.

He wanted to know if I had four specific parts but was non committal on whether or not he would purchase.

Still smells fishy...

You said that it died- which I would assume means that it was recently (or could still be) registered, right? I would think if you have the title and the registration and it matches the vehicle whose parts you're selling it would be a complete no-brainer. Sure, still having the VIN plate would be even more certain, but if you were chopping up a stolen car, it seems like a ridiculous amount of unnecessary work to have bothered titling and registering an identical car.

Also, if 'Mel' sounds like a cop/detective, what's to say he's NOT a cop/detective- but tht he's looking for parts for a car HE'S working on?

If fujioko was as efficient as a chop shop, the car would already be gone and unidentifiable. Not a worry. Either way the VIN will show negative for stolen.

What parts did he want to know if you had? Mel could also be a cop on the trace of a stolen car, or a scammer. Or maybe he really is just a dopey dude that watched too much TV and needs parts for his car.

Dude. You didn't do anything illegal. Don't sweat it.

Powar wrote: Dude. You didn't do anything illegal. Don't sweat it.

This!

Chopping up the Lincoln is totally legitimate and I have papers to prove ownership so I shouldn't have worry... but you never know. I'm sure to police could make trouble if they wanted too.

Mel was interested in the front and rear bumper and both front doors. I explained that the drivers front door was nice but had a paint blemish from a previous repaint. The blemish was from the filler/primer not gassing off long enough before the top coat was applied. Mel didn't seem to understand the gassing off issue which is common in paint/body work.... remember, I was able to back trace the phone number to an alleged collision shop.

This is a picture I actually used in the ad. Sort of looks chop shop-ish...

If it makes you feel any better, my friend and I stumbled upon a stripped GM truck chassis in one of his vacant properties garage.......we called the police, they looked it over and said "Well, we can't find any vin numbers to tell if it is stolen or not, so we can't do anything about it"

Mel may be wondering if you are trying to bait him with stolen parts.

spitfirebill wrote: Mel may be wondering if you are trying to bait him with stolen parts.

This is a good point. A legit shop should be just as cautious.

Got any neighbors? Hard to tell from the pics. One of them may have their knickers in a knot about you parting out your car in the yard and ruining their home's resale value. If it was indeed the cops, show 'em your papers, and let 'em know the mess will be gone soon. After that, they won't care, as long as you dispose of the large portions in a timely manner.

That rear end looks usable for a Locost.

Jerry From LA wrote: Got any neighbors? Hard to tell from the pics. One of them may have their knickers in a knot about you parting out your car in the yard and ruining their home's resale value.

Considering the tractor he has int he pictures, I'd assume that isn't the issue.