Vehicle cloning – fraudulently changing a vehicle’s identity – has always been most commonly associated with prestige cars. However, it seems that vans and pickups have become equally popular targets.

The Ford Transit has been the second most cloned vehicle in the UK for the last 4 years, with the popular van accounting for a surprising 11% of cloned vehicles in 2007-8. Vehicle identity check specialists HPI have issued a warning to anyone looking for a used van to beware of the possibility that it will have been cloned – stolen and then given a new identity.

If you are looking for a second-hand vehicle of any type, it’s essential that you follow a few basic precautions:

1. Check that the VRM (Vehicle Registration Mark) and VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) both match up with those on the vehicle’s registration document (V5).
2. Perform an HPI Check on the vehicle you are buying (if the seller has not done it for you). This will check the vehicle’s history, identity, recorded mileage and other information. An HPI Check only costs £19.99, can be done instantly online or over the telephone and provides you with a £30,000 guarantee should the vehicle turn out to be stolen or cloned.
3. Know the approximate value of the vehicle you are buying. HPI advise that if you are paying less than 70% of a vehicle’s normal market value, then there is probably something suspicious about the deal. Remember: If it looks to good to be true, it probably is.

Finally, remember that if you by a cloned or stolen van without realising and the vehicle is subsequently identified, the van will be returned to its rightful owner and you will receive zero compensation – so you will lose everything you paid for it.

This is why a HPI Check is a bargain at twenty quid…