Imagine: For two years you have owned a classic that you have known from your circle of acquaintances for fourteen years. And before that, the car also had a Dutch registration.
So that car has been to the garage a lot of times and you would say it is a child at home at the RDW.
The garage mechanic was notified of a sample during an MOT. He wasn't worried about that at all.
During the sample, the inspector noticed that the chassis number seemed a bit skewed. He took pictures of it.
A little later the owner was asked to offer his car for inspection because it was suspected that the car had been turned over.
To skip a few steps: The arguments that the car had for years carelessly passed all tests and that all administrative and tax requirements for the applicable registration number (and the corresponding chassis number) were met, plus the fact that the garage mechanic produce photos of comparable cars with roughly identical stamped numbers ...
Oops. Nothing to do with. The license plate was taken. The previous two owners were acquaintances. The seller for this was unknown and could therefore not make statements about the chassis number.
And so a neat, lovingly maintained classic turned into a planter or garden ornament for at least sixteen years in the Netherlands.
The parties are still bickering. But for the time being, the RDW is holding its ground. Strange. In recent years, the organization had become so much more transparent and realistic.
And let's be: this is not about a Bugatti or a Rolls ...
The number in the picture is for illustration. We do not want to cause any disturbance in the ongoing discussions between the RDW and the owner. But this is what an officially stamped number can look like.
To be continued.