Counterfeit LPG car in a second hand, cost involved ?

[FFR]

Hi all,

I'm new to LPG, I'm having a hard beginning.

Friday morning I went to Melbourne to buy a RR classic with LPG, after the seller confirmed that it had a compliance plate affixed.

Today I was investigating an small oil leak to have it fixed before NSW rego inspection, and I discovered that the LPG plate and the VIN number does not match. Car year is MA, while the plate is EA.

The seller's argument is something like "it is not my fault you didn't notice it". No comments.

So, to move forward, what is the cost involved in order to get a compliance plate, the cheap way ? (bit of a tight budget here)

I'm in Woy Woy, BTW.


Many thanks in advance,

Carlos

[FFR]

sorry,

I mean to say "counterfeit LPG plate", not "counterfeit LPG car", sorry for the typo, but it is a bit hard to keep calm in these moments.

[p38arover]

Is it just the EA that doesn't match or are all the numbers wrong, too?

[FFR]

Is it just the EA that doesn't match or are all the numbers wrong, too?

Hi Ron,

It is all the numbers (plus some letters).

[FFR]

Is it just the EA that doesn't match or are all the numbers wrong, too?

I have to check the chassis number, too (if I find it, as it is not in the same place where the defender has it)

[FFR]

Is it just the EA that doesn't match or are all the numbers wrong, too?

oh, and the engine number. If there are more mismatches then it is over.

[bee utey]

Any LPG installer can issue a new plate so long as the system is actually legal. Think of it as a safety check, no biggie.

[FFR]

Any LPG installer can issue a new plate so long as the system is actually legal. Think of it as a safety check, no biggie.

Hi,

thank you for your message. There is a LPG business close to my place, hopefully the system does not need big repairs or modifications. It works nicely, 20 L/100Km.

[Davehoos]

in NSW the Work cover plate is replaced every time major repairs are done like LPG tank-convertor.by the repairer and will need a workshop number.blueslip providers may not have a gas install number.

it will need a workcover plate for a NSW blueslip.
my Egas falcon has a dodgey Victorian plate fitted factory-going by the dates it must have sat in a yard without a tank.-it also looks very home made.

hardly anyone bothers if it wasn't from another state or Victorian. original installers plates are much better as it looks as if it wasn't bodged.
but any repairer if they convinced its legit will be ok to replace it.

I had the last 2 inspections done at Glendale shopping center.

[Davehoos]

LP Gas Compliance Plate | Caravan Labels | CaravansPlus (http://caravansplus.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=6036)

[FFR]

thank you for the info. The LPG workshop does blue slips as well. Let's see what they say...

[Pierre]

Carlos, I reckon the LPG compliance issue arose when the vehicle was purchased by the previous owner, and he didn't check it. It escaped my notice, too.

The vehicle was passed to the previous owner as the "wife's car". The original seller made no mention of the status of repairs to the vehicle prior to its sale, either. PO only found out about it by accident - no pun intended. So I'd reckon that the shonky stuff occurred prior to 'original dealer to previous owner' purchase.

I'm glad it returned reasonable economy, but I'm sure a dyno run will allow a better state of tune for better economy.

As all have advised, all will be well.

Cheers

Pete

[FFR]

Hi Pete !

Nice to hear from you. I'm very busy at the office (you know, these people with funny hats) but once I have a minute I'll go to the LPG workshop to ask.

In the evenings I'm cleaning the dog's smell and today I plan to clean the oil sump and filter housing in order to find & fix the oil leak.

My girlfriend wants to go to Melbourne in a road trip... we'll go to make you a visit with the rangie, for sure.

cheers,

Carlos

[FFR]

Pete,

I do not want to make an off-topic of that because this is the LPG forum, but I don't share your faith in the seller's honesty: today, I noticed that the cable that goes to the brake fluid reservoir wasn't fully plugged in. I plugged in, and I got the "BRAKE" warning in the dash. Obviously, he knew that the sensor was faulty and decided that it was easier to hide the problem rather than recognize (or fix) it.

Therefore, the LPG thing requires a good inspection... who knows what surprises might be hidden there... I bet you that that guy installed this LPG system while he owned the car. Just a theory.

I agree with the tuning of the LPG system, it seems to have no feedback from the engine, so I assume that it should be manually tuned to compensate for the ageing of the different elements involved. I'm a complete LPiGnorant....

[Pierre]

If you need a converter/mixer combination, I have a pair of those devices here at home and they are not required here. The converter has vac operated lean-off mechanism on it. Happy to send them up to you to help you stay on the correct (left)side of the road!:)

Check out the IMPCO site if you want some info, but BeeUtey IS the man!

Pete

[FFR]

Hi Pete,

Thank you for the offer. My boss is sending me to Germany for a couple of weeks, so I will not register (or try to register) the car until I came back.

I also noticed that the ABS light (or its relay) has been disconnected to hide an error condition. It seems that I'm going to have plenty of fun with this car !

Thank you again for your offer regarding the LPG bits

cheers,

Carlos

[FFR]

UPDATE:

Today I was cleaning the underside to start working in an oil leak. Noticed that the rivets that keep the fake compliance plate were brand new, shiny (they were not covered by dirt, lithe the other bits sprayed by the front wheel.

And looking a bit closer... I found one of the rivet "tails". They put the plate just before I picked the car. And the VIN number in the plate was "carefully" under the yellow airbag cable, just to conceal the fact that the plate was fake.

I can understand that someone does that if he is desperate, or if he needs the money to survive, doctors or the like. But, what moves someone to do this kind of things ? I'm really offended because the guy openly denies having any relation with the issue, and assures that the plate was there since he bought the car, more than 10 years ago.


Anyway: sorry for the rant, I'll post a couple of photos once I register the car, probably after Christmas. I'm happy because I managed to solve the ABS issue (the PO removed the ABS warning bulb to hide the fact that it was alarmed).

Carlos