Buying a land rover that has had chassis numbers welded on from an old chassis

Hi I am thinking of buying a land rover that seems to check out. In that it has a V5 and an MOT and the vin numbers all match and chassis numbers etc.

The only problem is the previous owner said he bought a rolling chassis from a friend, and used that chassis to rebuild the land rover - so his friend kept his chassis numbers which he cut out when he sold the chassis, then the new owner welded his chassis numbers into the used chassis so everything now matches as it should.

However how do I check this is all legit and legal and not a stolen vehicle or such? Some forums and info seems to say that second hand chassis' can't be used, while others say you need a Q plate registration with an IVA test??

Is there a way to ensure I can buy the land rover without getting into to trouble later or losing my money?

Yeah that sounds dodgy.

Who is to say the rolling chassis wasn’t nicked etc.

Plenty of straight defenders out there, no need to pick a potential dodgy one imo.

soydemadrid said:

Is there a way to ensure I can buy the land rover without getting into to trouble later or losing my money?

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Personally, I'd steer well clear of that one.

flat said:

Yeah that sounds dodgy.

Who is to say the rolling chassis wasn’t nicked etc.

Plenty of straight defenders out there, no need to pick a potential dodgy one imo.

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Or the one for sale is stolen with the id numbers off a crashed vehicle.

I would not buy it but, if you want to check engine number, has he photos of the rebuild most people do? talk to DVLA , I think you can email them and they will tell you what should be done as far as registration

agree I wouldn't buy

Thanks. He has given photos of about everything. Engine and gearbox numbers, all the vin numbers (including the dodgy welded in ones in the chassis)...

Is a comprehensive HPI check and a check of the engine and gearbox numbers to see if they match the VIN enough, or should I do something else to get this properly legal or checked out?

soydemadrid said:

Thanks. He has given photos of about everything. Engine and gearbox numbers, all the vin numbers (including the dodgy welded in ones in the chassis)...

Is a comprehensive HPI check and a check of the engine and gearbox numbers to see if they match the VIN enough, or should I do something else to get this properly legal or checked out?

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I would still try to check with DVLA to see where you stand with registration, another question , if you where rebuild your land rover onto another chassis would you not fit a new galv one why use a second hand one that might only last a couple of years?

I'm sure the numbers on this one match, that's the point of welding them on, but it doesn't answer the question as to the numbers that were taken off the chassis and it doesn't explain why this solution was chosen for the rusted chassis. The problem is that there must have been a "donor" vehicle with a good chassis that wasn't worth keeping on the road, which begs the question "why?"

Where's the old chassis plate with the number & a copy of the V5 to match with his mates name & address
plus a copy of a receipt to say he's bought it.
Sounds like bollocks to me forget it & move on.

Agreed, worst case is that the only orginal parts are the number plates and chassis plate.

Ok thanks for the advice, I'll ask the seller if he can register it on Q plate and get it legally verified. Otherwise it sounds like I'll have to leave it unfortunately.

I don't think that would help, the root of the issue is getting the reg off the donor vehile and checking its been written off or scrapped. If the reg shows it as stolen then a Q plate won't solve that.

If I had got landed with it the last thing I'd do is contact dvla. Check out the number plate and chassis numbers are OK then get a galv. Chassis and rebuild the whole thing. As said though avoid it and move on save yourself a lot of potential grief.

If you have any concern walk away.

Just walk away, what’s all this Q plate BS?

Defenders aren’t uncommon, just go and find a non-dubious one and safe yourself hassle and money or the vehicle being confiscated (and you loosing the lot)

Walk away mate

Regardless of paperwork... the vehicle can't be checked out. If numbers have been taken oft and others put on then you will never know if its a stolen chassis or not, unless theres a hidden secondary marking.

I wonder if said mate who cut out the chassis number tried to sell it and the log book on ebay.

Out of interest... how long has he had it on the road after the chassis change? Not unusual for them to be sold on when they realise what they have is dodgy. All them hours to do the work then sell it... I would report it but its history is well hidden.

Last year a guy posted a similar kind of problem, chassis changed, number changed etc and asked for advice as he was about to buy. We told him to beware and to ask a lot more questions and get some photos. He did and he got poor answers so we gave him some more questions to ask. In the end he got to the bottom of it, the vehicle was a ringer, the seller had tried to hide that by registering it in another country and concealing it as an import, obvously he walked away. This is looking the same.

If it's an import it should say so on the log book.