When people enjoy the convenience and pleasure of having a car, there is a kind of threat that has not gone away, which is commonly known as "cloning". Although relevant departments have never interrupted their actions to crack down on cloned cars, this nightmare that troubles car owners still persists. Often we hear people say that their car has violated traffic rules multiple times in a certain place, and the fines have been sent to their home. Strangely, they have never been to that place, nor have they lent their car to anyone. Unfortunately, these car owners have been targeted by cloned cars.
What is a cloned car? A cloned car is a vehicle that copies the model and color of a real car, and attaches a fake plate with the same number to a car of the same model and color. Suppose a legitimate car has been targeted by a cloner, the person making the cloned car will find a car of the same brand, model, and color, and make a set of identical plates. They will then remove the original engine number and chassis number, and reapply them according to the archive of the legitimate car, thus creating two identical cars from one set of archives. Then, they forge driving licenses, and the cloned car can proudly take to the road. The benefits of cloning are obvious: it can avoid all fees that should be paid, and cloned cars can violate traffic rules without restraint, as the owner of the legitimate car will bear the consequences. In the face of this serious threat to legal car owners, how should we respond?
- How to prevent being cloned
Carefully preserve car purchase documents
One must be highly vigilant and properly keep all materials of the vehicle, including the owner's information, vehicle qualification certificate, invoice, insurance certificate, car sales proof, etc. These originals must not be copied or photocopied by anyone, as the vehicle administration office needs to recover the original related materials of the vehicle when registering the vehicle, and store them in the vehicle file.
Choose repair shops carefully
Do not seek convenience and take shortcuts during the process of registering a motor vehicle by entrusting non-official institutions with related vehicle materials for handling. This will lead to the leakage of vehicle-related information. Similarly, after obtaining the license plate through registration, do not entrust the vehicle to an unlicensed repair shop for repairs, otherwise it will also lead to the leakage of vehicle-related information.
The engine number and vehicle identification code cannot be leaked
The preservation of the imprint of the vehicle's engine number and vehicle identification code must ensure no leakage, because the hardest thing for cloned cars to do is to copy the engine number and vehicle identification code. Traffic management departments mainly rely on these two numbers to judge the legality of vehicles. Currently, most cars use two sets of numbers printed by the manufacturer using a unified laser equipment on the frame and engine block. That is to say, unless the manufacturer, it is very difficult to print two completely identical sets of numbers on different cars. During the process of registering vehicles, the Vehicle Administration Office will require the owner to make an imprint of the two numbers, which means to print the physical appearance characteristics of the two numbers with special imprints, and store them in the file.
Check violation records regularly
One should regularly check the traffic violation records of one's own vehicle, which can be done at the traffic management department. Look to see if there are any unclear violation records, especially after receiving the traffic management department's mailed "Vehicle Violation Handling Notice", one should pay more attention. Check if you had any violations at that location and time, which is also the main way that legal vehicles are exposed to being cloned. This requires you to provide the vehicle management office with a legal, valid, and true address and contact number during vehicle registration, otherwise, the mailed "Notice" will not be received and there will be no way to know about the vehicle's related violation information.
- How to avoid buying cloned second-hand cars
See through the seller's lies
Cloned cars in the second-hand car market have two relatively obvious characteristics: first, the seller guarantees annual inspections, second, unable to handle entrusted inspections. Guaranteeing annual inspections may sound good, but it is actually the most obvious characteristic of cloned cars, because they use someone else's license plate, so cloned cars don't need or dare to go to the vehicle administration office for inspection. Also, regular vehicles are allowed to handle entrusted inspections by foreign vehicle administration offices. Apply for a certificate at the local vehicle administration office, and the inspection can be done elsewhere. After the inspection is completed, send the forms back to the local vehicle administration office. Cloned cars cannot do this.
Observe the appearance of the license plate
Regular license plates are processed with high quality, and a one-time molding technology is used during the pressing process. Forged cloned plates may have correct numbers on the surface, but under the sun, they may appear reddish or yellowish. The font of regular license plates is a unique design with intellectual property rights, while the fonts of cloned plates are often thinner. Consumers should carefully observe these characteristics of the license plates before purchasing.
Feel the edge of the license plate
Since they are not formed in one step, the edges of the fonts on cloned plates will have sharp corners, even if they have been polished, it is difficult to cover up the traces. Remove the license plate, and there will be traces of hammering on the back. It may be hard to identify just by looking, but if you feel with your hand carefully, you can feel the existence of these traces.
Change the license plate
Currently, some car dealers in the second-hand car market like to sell the license plates of second-hand cars, and sell cloned plates with the car to make a profit. Given this situation, we can choose to register the license plate ourselves. On the one hand, we can choose a more satisfactory license plate number, and on the other hand, we also have the opportunity to review whether the car is cloned.
Relevant department checks
After choosing a second-hand car, record the license plate number and query the vehicle registration file online at the relevant management department. You can query dozens of pieces of information such as the owner of the motor vehicle, the registration authority, the registration date, the vehicle type, the engine number, etc. If you can find it, then it is a regular car. If you cannot find it, or the information is incomplete, there may be a problem, and consumers need to be vigilant.
Purchase cars in the official market
Consumers should buy cars in the official second-hand market, because the official second-hand car market has a relatively strict control over the car acquisition process, and consumers should not lose big for small gains, trying to save on car purchase fees, once something happens, the loss will be greater.
- How to deal with being cloned unfortunately
Collect evidence and report the case quickly
Once suspected of being cloned, the owner should report to the traffic management department immediately. If it is a private car, the owner needs to hold the original driving license, the original ID card of the owner, and the reporting car to register at the acceptance point. If it is a company or unit car, then you need to carry the organization code certificate, the letter of authorization, the ID card of the authorized reporter, the original vehicle driving license, and the reporting car to the acceptance point to handle relevant procedures. After reporting, the reporting materials will be uploaded to the black car database of the traffic management bureau, and the cloned car will be wanted throughout the province. Once the cloned car violates the rules in another place, the local traffic police department will confirm whether the car matches the list of cloned cars in the computer database, and the cloned car can be immediately detained. If it is verified that the cloned car and the reported car have different models or colors, the reporter can cancel the fine with relevant evidence at the place where the fine was issued. However, if the cloned car model and even the color are exactly the same as the real car, the reporter needs sufficient evidence to prove that he/she was not present at the time.
Make clever marks as evidence
It has already been said that if there is an obvious difference in appearance between the cloned car and the real car, then the reality of being cloned is easy to get confirmed by the relevant authorities. But if the real car and the cloned car are difficult to distinguish based solely on appearance, it is believed that the relevant authorities will not easily determine the cloning. Therefore, smart car owners, in order to prevent possible lack of evidence after being cloned, should prepare in advance. A special set of roof racks, spoilers, or rims may all become evidence to clear one's name.