I'm looking at buying a 4th Gen that has VIN window etchings that I assume a dealer put on at some point. So fxcking stupid. They look terrible and there are FIVE of them, two on each of the back windows and one on the rear window:



Has anyone had experience removing etchings or making them less visible? If there's no other way, how much would replacing the windows cost (at least the rear side windows)....?

 

Replacing the windows for that would be rediculous but you could cover them with some orgy stickers..

Derek

 

What can I say, I'm a perfectionist and this is seriously a factor in the purchase of my long-awaited Max...

If there was some way to get the white out so the engraving wasn't so visible, I might be satisfied.

Are the Org stickers interior or exterior stickers?

 

why would they even waste their time etching that ****...thats the dumbest thing ive ever heard of

EDIT: great idea! by the car, and on the insurance get full glass coverage, then break all the windows with the VIN on em!

 

It's done to deter chop shops from stripping stolen cars. Not as dumb as you might think. It has been around for several years.

 

Heh, that's an idea.

 

As much as it sucks, I think it helps lower your insurance...(I think)

 

Insurance fraud is an idea?

 

Why wouldn't it be an idea? I didn't say it was a good or a bad idea, or an ethical or unethical idea. Just an idea.

 

It's a bad idea unless you're a dishonest person. Of cousre, that's only one man's opinion.

 

well wow that is ugly. i would pass on the car if it bothers you so much.

you can't remove etchings, nor can you cover them up completely. you can paint them and put dark tint on top which should really help. if you want to replace them, 100$ a window sounds right.

 

I could probably pick up the door windows from a junkyard for less than $100 each, but they might be a pain to install. I dunno, I have to see these etchings in person to really decide, but the car's nowhere near me...

 

the dealer put them on my car, but you cant see them unless you look REALLY close. the ones on that car just look stupid...

 

Wow, this is funny **** Tom but sorry it ruins your possible buy. Is this on the Kentucky car or what. Windows can be had for about $70 at junk yards. Reedsburg Salvage specializes in Nissans. I have no idea about the install though.

 

i paid $180 to have some sort of ID characters (letters and numbers) etched on my windows so that the windows can be tracked when the thief tries to sell the parts.

 

Try gettin some tints. See if that helps.

 

The car is already tinted 20/35%, and as you can see, the tint just makes the white etched letters stand out MORE. The tint is on the inside and I think the etching is on the outside, so the darker the tint, the more it will show.

This seller says he got the etching done free by the sheriff's department. Why would you PAY to have this **** put on? The only possible benefit is if your insurance gives you a discount for it.

It's not much of a deterrent. Any buyer who is dumb enough to buy a car without checking the VIN on the engine bay plate, and dash, and doors is dumb enough to buy a car with VINs etched on the windows without running a check on the VIN! My point is, I don't think car thieves worry much about VINs. They can usually find someone dumb enough to buy an obviously stolen car.

Yeah, Broaner, it's the KY car... fxcking sucks.

 

you can get a piece of rock and start scratching on your windows

 

yeah... that looks pretty fukin stupid

i really cant think of any way to get rid of that besides replacing the windows or slapping a sticker over the top of it

 

for the guys suggesting that he cover them with stickers... remember, he's got VIN etchings in FIVE spots.

... and we all know what the popular opinion of excessive stickers is.

 

Exactly....

I will have to find out how much 4 replacement windows would cost because otherwise the car is great.

 

They strip the cars and try to sell the parts to body shops and other people.

 

Well the windows are worth probably less than 5% of the total value of the car, so I maintain that it's not much of a deterrent.

 

You have missed the point. they sell all of the parts of a chopped car, not just glass. It's pure profit for the thieves. You could chop a $20k car and get more than that by selling the individual parts. If you don't like the etching, just buy another car.

 

Well there are a few ways around this. One is the well not so legal way that someone said with insurance... the other way is to find the glass at junkyards. The glass isnt hard to install, at least not on the 5th gen from what i had to do. Oh on the security deal. Embeded in all the metal of my car is the VIN number and a sticker placed out of sight. It's even engraved in the frame. and can not be taken out of the metal is what it says

 

You missed my point: I was suggesting that if the glass has a VIN etched in it, presumably it can't be sold so easily, but if you're parting out the rest of the car, it doesn't matter if the glass was etched or not. You still have the rest of the car to sell, so the VIN on the windows doesn't affect the selling of the rest of the car's parts. Because the windows aren't worth much relative to the rest of the car, simply etching the VIN on the windows isn't much of a deterrent.

 

Thanks, that's good to know.

 

You got a problem with Ricer HP?

 

It's hard to pinpoint the deterrence factor unless you know how many Maxes were stolen with the etching versus how many without it. Most thieves won't care because they believe that they won't get caught. It's the person on the buying end that has to worry about having stolen parts in their possession with identifying marks on them. It's probably easier to sell the whole door than it is to take the glass out of it. I have it on my car and it is subdued for the most part. I would not have paid to have it done but it came with the car. I'm done with this dead Horse.

 

Yeah, my objection to this particular car is how d@mn big and prominent the VIN etchings are. Ridiculous.

 

can't a glass replacement shop/company fill the etching in? if they fill in chips, why would this be different?

 

the etching is also for police use...it helps them find the vin # easily without searching the vin plate...for instance if a car was reported stolen and cops saw a car on the street that matched the description they could check the etching to see if the vin # matched the one they were lookin for

 

There's a couple ways you can go about this...

1. replace: rear windows are listed for $30 each (and up) on car-part.com you're out a few hours of work and about $150 total. small potatoes compared to the price of the car.

2. try to fix. glass shops fill in cracks and chips. they might be able to fill those things in with some resin that make them dissappear. before you go in, simply spray some water over the numbers- if they look better, then likely the shop can make them look at least like that, if not better. expect to pay $20 a window or so for that (that used to be the standard price for filling a small rock chip in Oklahoma)

If you're really that bugged out about it, simply haggle with the guy and ask him to eat half the cost of fixing it- whether it's replacing the glass or repairing it.
that gives you leverage on the price of the car if you decide to buy it.

 

well, if you plan on keeping the tint, and making it a little darker, you could take off the light tint all around, then with a black marker/paint/whatever, fill in all the numbers. then get a darker tint to cover up the ink/paint. although i dont know how well the tint would stick with the stuff on the window.

 

i know they sell this stuff on TV that fills in sratches on eyeglasses and such. it's one of those AS SEEN ON TV deals so i'm kinda skeptical about it...

i'm thinkin if this stuff works at all it would work on this.
does anyone else know what i'm talkin about and know if it actually works?

 

I have it on my car, I got the platinum plus tint so you cannot see it unless you really try hard to see it.

can you change your window tint color to match it better? :>

 

95maxrider, I got a little lesson for ya. The tinting goes on the inside and etching on the outside. As Massacio explained earlier darker tint makes the etching more prominent. If tint was on the outside, what you proposed would work beautifully. If you weren't so dumb....

 

damn biatch...i know tint goes on the inside. skimming through this thread i wasn't sure if the etching was on the inside or not.
:spanish girl accent: dont talk to me like you know me :/spanish girl accent:
even so, he could still paint over it, and it would match the dark tint better.

 

LMAO you two

 

find some stuff that fixes scratches on windshield and try rubbing some of that on the vin numbers. it's just acid etched...so it just burned the top thin layer so the letter can be read. it's like buffing out a light scratch on your paint.