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Need Help with 2004 h1 and VIN #

2004h1

Probationary Member
Messages
4
Location
raleigh
Ive got a 2004 h1 and I am the second owner. I went to the dealership the other day to possibly trade it in and they noticed the vin number on the door sticker has an error that does not match the vin #'s that are stamped around the car and on the title. I don't know what I should do, because I have called am general many times with no response and general motors and they could not help at all because there wasn't a recall on mistaken vin #s for the H1. My friend owns the dealership and he said that he couldn't offer me much as it is now because it is a collectors item and they want everything to match, but it would be ok if I get proof that it was just an error when typing the vin on the sticker. The truck has only 18,500 miles and looks like the day it rolled out of the factory so its obviously a huge hit to the value if I cant get this fixed. I was told the DMV can take care of it but on the other hand it could turn into a nightmare because they could also come out and confiscate the car if they so choose and then lawyers have to be involved. So my friend told me to contact am general and have them resolve the issue but that has not worked out since no one will respond to my voicemails. So does anyone here know of another route I could possibly take to get this resolved.
 

3Hummers

Super Moderator
Staff member
Messages
10,398
Location
Central Texas
Call Mike Sabberese at Tustin GMC in Tustin, CA. Very knowledgable H1 guy and knows everyone at AM General connected with Hummers. Unfortunately most of them are gone since the last civi H1 was built 11 years ago.
 

scoreh3

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,024
Location
SoCal
Has it ever been crashed and repaired ? Is VIN on the door or the B piller ? Does the odd VIN come back to a salvaged H1 ? Or record not on file ? Crashed and repaired with used parts are a few of the reasons why a secondary VIN would be different than the public vin on the dash and the frame VIN. The DMV can do a VIN verification on the vehicle and correct the problem.
 

2004h1

Probationary Member
Messages
4
Location
raleigh
I will give Mike a call today, thank you for the contact reference. Its never been in a crash or repaired and the history report is completely clean. The sticker vin is on the b pillar and when you type it in, the vin says it does not exist. But when you type in the vin that is around the vehicle and on the title, the correct reports come up. When I took it to the dealer, they had one of those paint meters and went around the entire vehicle and said there were no signs of ever being repainted.
 

3Hummers

Super Moderator
Staff member
Messages
10,398
Location
Central Texas
AMG sold their executive and road course trucks to Tustin a few years back. They had everything from 94 to 06 models. All very nice. Wonder if it was one of those?
 

Paranormal

Well-Known Member
Messages
128
Location
Suffolk County, New York
Have you decoded the vin? Are the sequential numbers different than the numbers throughout the truck? Does the vin describe your vehicle type( Wagon, soft top, hardtop). If your vehicle was salvaged, DMV will assign a new, state issued vin that would look nothing like the sticker on your truck. That sticker on your truck, most likely came like that from AMG.
 

2004h1

Probationary Member
Messages
4
Location
raleigh
When I got the truck back in 2013 I had the vehicle history report and it said it was sold at the Chicago hummer dealership in 2004 I believe but I can't remember that dealerships name now. I bought it from a dealership just outside of Chicago where it was a consignment vehicle. But what's wrong with the vin is the first 3 characters are supposed to be 137 and mine are 123. Everything else is correct in with the vin. I spoke with mike today sending him pictures and he said yes the two numbers are wrong on the sticker and he would try to contact someone from am general about it. And if he is unable to find someone to help me, I will have to go to the DMV to get it corrected.
 

Paranormal

Well-Known Member
Messages
128
Location
Suffolk County, New York
FYI from previous experiences with NYS DMV. A VIN verification will determine the true VIN of your vehicle, which you already know by the public and secondary VIN. That label on your door jamb, can be considered as a federal sticker, which is not even required on some vehicles. DMV, may not do anything with this, there is nothing for them to correct.. From what I have learned since owning my H1, the first 3 characters of the VIN are 137, none are 123. If you choose to go to DMV, go prepared and educated. Not only are most of them uneducated idiots but none of them are going to be fluent with the H1. Your best bet is to have Mike try to help with this. AMG, may issue you a letter, indicating what the true VIN is if you are lucky. If not, leave it alone.
 

2004h1

Probationary Member
Messages
4
Location
raleigh
Thought I'd give an update in case anyone else runs into this in the future. I called the DMV and an officer/inspector came to the house and looked everything over. He looked at the two vin numbers by the windshield and under the hood as well as the door sticker with the error. He researched the vin codes to make sure nothing came up and made a phone call to one last place to double check. Then he wrote a report that it was indeed an error, printed it off for me and I'm good to go now. All this took only about 45 minutes.
 

Paranormal

Well-Known Member
Messages
128
Location
Suffolk County, New York
wow!!
Totally unexpected, shocking!!
I can't believe that an inspector responded to your residence and inspected the truck.
I am sure that as long as the public vin matched one of the confidential vins, the door jamb label was not important. Thank god that he did not make a big deal out of it. It was probably easier to **** can it. Hate to sound negative but as a retired LEO, I worked some cases with NYS DMV and I met very few competent people in that office. Glad it worked out for you.
 
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