Tagged as technology as I assume there’s some tech voodoo they could use to find you. I don’t plan on committing any crimes in illegal cars any time soon, but I was always curious about how this sort of thing worked.
EDIT: To elaborate, I’m talking about USING a car in this state, not an abandoned one. Again, to idiot proof this, I’m not planning to do this, more just curious how the system works.
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If it was parked in private property, not used on public roads, it would be perfectly legal no?
Would they need to? Plates, insurance, and tax are required only for driving a vehicle on public roads. If it’s parked inside a garage, it’s just a piece of property.
Why would they track it down in a first place?
Carages and barns are full of such a cars.
If the car is in a lock up somewhere and impossible to see without being shown, and nobody saw you put it there, then they’d struggle to find it. But assuming that they did find it, even without plates, insurance or tax, the vehicle will have a VIN number printed on it in multiple places, and they’d use that to trace who owns or has owned the car.
Is the car just abandoned? If it is, they don’t bother finding the owner. If it is connected to a major crime, they use the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to find who originally sold the vehicle, and continue to investigate dlfrom there.
They would use the vin to confirm the identity etc.
It’s also hidden in multiple places on the car these days so it’s getting harder to manipulate
You hold the fob up to your temple for extra range and listen for the beep.
In all seriousness. Why would the police be tracking it down? If it was being searched for, for whatever reason, and then was found, the chassis will have a VIN which would be associated with any previous registration.
If they have already found the car, the vehicle identification number could help identify the owner, depending of the country you are in. You ask the manufacturer who the car was sold to and you follow the trail from there.
Well as soon as you use the car, then it’s not parked in a private garage. So if they are looking for the car or even just spot you not having plates.
The question doesn’t make sense if you’re using the car. They find and stop cars for not being plated, taxed and linked to insurance every day.
If you’re in Illinois they still require registration and insurance even if you have no plans on driving the thing. Ask me how I know
Many cars have a cell connection for things like navigation, software updates and service tracking (OnStar for example). Some vehicles are equipped with manufacturer or third party trackers (lojack for example). These can periodically transmit their location or be requested to transmit their location.
There is a YouTube video series from a company in the UK called “AutomatricsMTrack”:
https://www.youtube.com/@AutomatricsMtrack/videos
This company would hide trackers in cars, motorcycles and construction equipment. When stolen, an employee would be sent out to locate it. The main office could get him close (usually within a few hundred meters) using GPS or cellular triangulation then he would use a handheld radio antenna to locate the tracker. This method allowed them to locate the tracker even in garages and buildings.
Theoretically, the police could get a court order or permission from the legal owner for any of the above to locate a vehicle.
Based on sight? They would identify the make and color and the fact that it has no plates.
If they actually found the vehicle, they could get its VIN. Vehicle Identification Number. Every vehicle is assigned a VIN on construction. It’s one of the (many, many) ISO standards, specifically ISO 3779 (which says how VINs should be designed) and ISO 4030 (which says how, and where, VINs should be displayed on the vehicle.)
This number is generally visible on the windshield, so all they would need is a reasonably high-resolution photograph of the windshield to get an identifier, though there are other places it’s located as well.
They could check the last listed address or last listed owner and go to their address. Otherwise they won’t be able to find it. It’s hidden…