Need Some Assistance...

[chewie]

New member here and not a GN owner, but an admirer since the GN came out.

A little background of the situation. Currently I am a Police Officer in the central TX area. I came in contact with an individual in possession of this 87 GN. ALL of the regular ID VIN areas are gone. This includes the VIN plate on the dash, no VIN decal in door jamb, no spare tire cover or decals in the trunk (except jacking instructions). This vehicle did have a VIN plate on the dash, but it belonged to another year/type of Buick.

The Trim Tag on the cowl comes back to an 87 GN and the decal on the A/C - heater housing area states it is compliant to 1987 EPA standards.

What I need is any other locations where I would be able to find the VIN. I won't go into the details of this (ongoing investigation), but need to find the VIN to this poor car. Tomorrow I will be checking out the frame rails to locate one. Is there any where else I would need to look?

This car could have been stolen in the last 2 to 3 years ago. From where, I don't know, but believe its been up and down the Larado to Dallas corridor. I attached a few pics of what I'm working with, as the car has some aftermarket items on it, ie "CAI", steering wheel, rims.

For anyone with info, not willing to post up please feel free to call 512-930-3510 and just tell the dispatcher you have info about the GN. They will know what to do.

Thanks for any info.

 

[Boost231]

one place to look and im sure its there unless the took the body off the car and cut a section out of the frame and bla bla bla. but anyways its going to be hard to see. anyways on the passenger side right at the front of the passenger door look at the frame underneath. on the top of the frame the very top flat section before the tire the VIN will be stamped into the frame. you will have to get a mirror and look really hard. its going to take some time to find it as it might be covered in dirt and other road grime. this is the only place you will find it. also you could look on the block and the tranny and see if it the orignal motor and trans not sure if you want to do that. i hope this car is a board members and can be saved. i will try to find a picture of the frame so i can show you where im talking about.

 

[chewie]

Thanks for the response and the location of the VIN on the rail. Hopefully will get the VIN off of it and track down the owner. One of my favorite things to do, letting the owner know I have his/her car back.

I'll update when I'll get some more info.

 

[Boost231]

pic

im currenlty deployed so i dont have any pictures this is the best i can come up with. its going to be on top near the front hope this helps. I hope the owner is on TB.

 

[Boost231]

o one other thing if you get the vin off the frame you can bump it up to the tranny and motor and see if its all from the same car.

 

[chewie]

That pic is awesome. Will be the first place I go to tomorrow morning. Hopefully the body is off of the frame enough to get the mirror in there.

On a side note- that is a sweet looking frame up you got going on there. Deployed? where are you at?

 

[jasonstrempke]

So this isn't my account, it's actually by brother's, first off. That is our GN - and I speak for all my family when I say Thank You. Though that does not even come close to the gratitude and respect I have for the man who went so far out of his way to find the owners of 'just another stolen car'. It truly is something special, and very sentimental to us all, and in all honesty when I heard the news that it was recovered was like a relative who'd suddenly died 4 1/2 years ago just rang my doorbell. We'd bought it over 10 years ago when we lived in Iowa, and it had barely 25k on it, with plastic still on the seats, and that wonderful new-car smell also. It was our baby, until the day it disappeared while my brother and I were at a car-show.
Again, Thank You to you who found it, by whatever divine intervention or luck or anything else that had a hand in it! When I get a chance I'll try to find a photo from it's better days, which shouldn't be too hard since I had some of my senior pictures taken with it! She was a beauty - and will be again!

 

[chewie]

This is one of my favorite parts of this job. I'm glad I was able to locate your family and I will keep you posted on her status. You guys have my # and feel free to call with any questions you might have. Hopefully soon she will be back with her family.

 

[no-nos]

Outstanding !!

OUTSTANDING !! THANK YOU OFFICER, for being the type of person you are,
That car is definetly stolen you are 100% right about that, tthe fact that you went out of your wat to post picks and try to find this gn's rightfull owner is going above and beyond the call of duty that and the fact that you caught this LOW-LIFE , who obviously is in a stolen car is Terrific GREAT AWAERENESS! I wish you were on our local police department :smile: , police officers are always looking out for the well being of the general public, but officers like yourself that take that extra step are truly GOLDEN, the vin plate in the front where boost231 pointed out is what i was going to tell you about but i will check my gn real good and if i find another spot i will post ASAP. we will do all we can to help you out.

again thanks for doing what your doing we appreciate it more than you can imagine.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Glad the car was recovered, how did it come about for you to take the car away from the theives? Regular patrol stop and they had drugs, or was the car abandoned?

BW

 

[no-nos]

the blue air-filter is sold at pepboys still working on the rest. any RPO sticker

 

[SS_Sean]

Please contact NICB. They will send an inspector out to your location and inspect the vehicle. There are many hidden VIN's on vehicles, and they've got the list on all of them. They are a great resource! Any questions, or if I can be of any further assistance, please PM me. Good luck.

https://www.nicb.org/cps/rde/xchg/nicb/hs.xsl/index.htm

edit - ah....saw you located the owners. Good man. Good man.

 

[Boost231]

not my frame. im still deployed but will be home in a few days.

 

[Justins9571]

So I'm resurrecting this 15y/o thread with a hope and a prayer! After our GN was recovered, the insurance took ownership and auctioned it, and were not able to give us any information - even where the auction was (or if it was open to public for our chance to buy it back). I've checked the Carfax on it occasionally to try to locate it, and went cold in 2009 after a new Texas title had been issued.

Today I ran another report and the VIN came back with oil change / std service reports in Waco! She's alive and well! I've been hoping she wasn't just chopped up for parts...

My hope - is there anyone on here in Waco in possession of one who may own it, or at least possibly know the owner? It had been the car our mother bought for our dad for their 25th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, it was the same year he filed for divorce, and my mom sort of clung to that car as a last reminder of the better part of their marriage. It broke her heart when it was stolen, though the insurance payout did help her to buy her first-ever home after moving from Iowa to Texas. She passed away in 2015 from cancer and always wanted to be able to drive the car again but never got the chance.

I and my brother would love for the chance to buy the car back for the family, or at least just see it again and knows she's in good hands. It sounds crazy, I know, but that's where I'm at. It would really mean a lot to us!

Thanks you guys!

 

[Justins9571]

Quick update, I called the Valvoline service station (off China Spring) and asked if they could pass my contact information to the owner but no dice. I knew it was a long shot, but had to try!