[Sisu]

Hello everyone,

I am sharing this on behalf of my brother-in-law who went through this rollercoaster of an experience.

My BIL bought a pre-owned Fortuner earlier this year. He was enjoying his newly possessed steed but unfortunately his car got stolen on 16-Mar-20 from outside his sister’s house in civil lines in Delhi when it was parked for the night.

Next day my BIL lodged an FIR with the local police station of the area and got the assurance from police that they are investigating and will let him know if anything turns up.

He had lost all hope of police finding the car as recovery rate in such cases is very low in India specially in the midst of a Pandemic. However, a couple of weeks back, one of his friends sent him a video link of a news story where-in a car stealing racket had been busted in Chandigarh and several Fortuners, Innova Crystas and Cretas were recovered.

https://www.cartoq.com/stolen-fortun...cretas-seized/

Based on this lead and on a hunch, he got in touch with the police team who had busted this racket and reached Chandigarh to check out the cars which were recovered. Upon reaching there, lo and behold he found his steed. He was able to identify his vehicle by some identification marks (like slight dot shaped crack on windshield at a particular place, pooja swastika symbol was at the exact place where his pandit had drawn it on the engine bay and various other identification marks).

Now comes the problematic part, the number plate had been changed and the VIN numbers stamped at all places had all been scratched/covered up using some form of acid or welding.

In the absence of these marks, there is no way of proving that the vehicle recovered is indeed the same as his stolen car. He has been in touch with his local Toyota Dealer and has even written to the Toyota directly but has still not been able to get a clear answer on how can the vehicle be identified in the absence of VIN details.

Request if anyone can give inputs which will help in the identification of the car. In addition, it would be great if anyone can connect us to the right persons in Toyota India who can help in the identification process.

Some pictures of his steed before the robbery.

[androdev]

I am sure hooking up to the dealer diagnostic tool will give all the details including VIN and engine number.

[OSH]

It is not very clear in the pictures but I think there is a Fastag on the windshield.

Very unlikely but if the tag was not removed after the theft, the serial number/barcode of the Fastag can show the owner details, registration number etc.

[iTNerd]

May be this might throw some light - http://www.evidencemagazine.com/inde...2036&Itemid=49

[SCORPION]

Even a basic OBD2 scanner tool should be able to read the VIN number of the car. Beg/borrow/steal/buy (not easily available off the shelf, but easily available on line) a decent OBD2 scanner. That should be proof enough. If the service centre can connect their OBD tool, then it can be proved beyond doubt. Not sure about the legality part of it and whether it would be treated as sufficient proof in a court of law. You can buy something like the one in the link below which will show the VIN directly on its screen.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07D1KH9SC/..._MMK8EbQM5QC57

But what I don't understand is how they manage/intend to sell/register a car without a VIN check on the chassis by the prospective buyer or the RTO?

[navpreet318]

The ECM would be linked to the VIN of the vehicle. Get a Toyota dealer technician to visit the stockyard and ask the dealer to provide you with a statement along with the screenshot of the scan displaying the VIN.
Have it scanned after written permission of the police personnel responsible for the case as well as the stockyard and have it scanned in the presence of more than one police personnel. Possibly also video the whole procedure with clear visuals of the scan display.

[agambhandari]

While the car should of course be identified through the diagnostics at any Toyota dealer, I don't see the reason why you want to do that.
The car was stolen and tampered with. Stay away from such a car, not to forget it would be difficult to get it legal to drive. Get the insurance money and walk away.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by iTNerd

May be this might throw some light - http://www.evidencemagazine.com/inde...2036&Itemid=49

This is a treasure trove of information, Thank you for sharing. I thought that once the number is welded, its simply not accessible. This article was brilliant at blowing my hypothesis out of the water. Was an eye opener to read the real life experiences of recovering the numbers in Indian conditions.

Of course the easier solution in this case seems to be the OBD, but it always helps to have this option in case its required. Thanks once again.

[landcruiser123]

Sorry to hear about the ordeal. Assume your BIL has the original keys- there is a code on the keys that can allow the dealer to make a duplicate key with the correct immobilizer chip.

Perhaps this duplicate key can be used by the police to detect who's who?

[Amrik Singh]

As mentioned, it was a pre-owned SUV, there is a probability that duplicate Keys were made by previous owner and used for theft.
Antecedents of previous owner must be verified if any other Car sold by him has been stolen later.

[GTO]

1. Diagnostic / OBD scanner tool to read from the ECU.

2. Use this fake new VIN in your favour. Run a search on it in Toyota's system and either it won't exist at all, or will belong to an entirely different legit Fortuner (also of another colour & location).

3. Submit all the pictures & videos you have to the police.

Your BIL is one lucky dude to have found his car . I know the feeling - had recovered my stolen Esteem in the 2000s.

[dhanushs]

It’s difficult(but still possible) to scrape off the engine number. Do check that. Also the chassis number.

[Sisu]

Thank you everyone for your invaluable inputs!

Originally Posted by OSH

It is not very clear in the pictures but I think there is a Fastag on the windshield.

Very unlikely but if the tag was not removed after the theft, the serial number/barcode of the Fastag can show the owner details, registration number etc.

Unfortunately, the Fastag has been removed.

Originally Posted by SCORPION

Even a basic OBD2 scanner tool should be able to read the VIN number of the car. Beg/borrow/steal/buy (not easily available off the shelf, but easily available on line) a decent OBD2 scanner. That should be proof enough. If the service centre can connect their OBD tool, then it can be proved beyond doubt.

Originally Posted by androdev

I am sure hooking up to the dealer diagnostic tool will give all the details including VIN and engine number.

Originally Posted by navpreet318

The ECM would be linked to the VIN of the vehicle. Get a Toyota dealer technician to visit the stockyard and ask the dealer to provide you with a statement along with the screenshot of the scan displaying the VIN.
Have it scanned after written permission of the police personnel responsible for the case as well as the stockyard and have it scanned in the presence of more than one police personnel. Possibly also video the whole procedure with clear visuals of the scan display.

Originally Posted by agambhandari

While the car should of course be identified through the diagnostics at any Toyota dealer, I don't see the reason why you want to do that.

This is a very good suggestion. Will pass on this info to my BIL. Since the car is outstation, it would take some time to organise this.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Sorry to hear about the ordeal. Assume your BIL has the original keys- there is a code on the keys that can allow the dealer to make a duplicate key with the correct immobilizer chip.

Perhaps this duplicate key can be used by the police to detect who's who?

So the original keys in the possession of my BIL worked to unlock the doors but the car wouldn't start as they have tampered with the immobilizer reader. That is probably their modus operandi to start the engine while stealing the car.

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

As mentioned, it was a pre-owned SUV, there is a probability that duplicate Keys were made by previous owner and used for theft.
Antecedents of previous owner must be verified if any other Car sold by him has been stolen later.

Possible. Will ask my BIL to talk to the investigating officer regarding this as well.

Originally Posted by GTO

Your BIL is one lucky dude to have found his car . I know the feeling - had recovered my stolen Esteem in the 2000s.

True that! Recovering the car is half the battle won. Let's hope to get the car in back in our possession is a painless affair too.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

It’s difficult(but still possible) to scrape off the engine number. Do check that. Also the chassis number.

Yes, we did check this. The Engine number on the engine block has been removed as well.

[nagr22]

I have a different perspective to this. Why do you want to recover a car whose Engine and Chassis numbers have been erased and immobilizer messed with? Even if you manage to recover it, down the line you will not be able to sell it to anybody and you might face issues with starting the car etc unless you spend money to replace the whole key and lock set. Why go through this pain? I would recommend to accept the insurance amount (Try to get the full IDV) and shop for good deals. You might find one for cheaper than that car considering the current market conditions.

[ike]

The battery serial number might help especially if the OEM battery has been replaced. The battery warranty card would have the serial number and that should check out. I hope they haven't tampered with the battery numbers.