How do chop shops work

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Misconduct Hearings Misconduct Hearings. Useful Links Useful Links. Chop Shops. What is a chop shop? What are the signs of a chop shop? I think a chop shop is operating near me, what should I do? Chop shops rarely work independently; they are usually part of large criminal organizations. Thankfully, the answer is yes. In fact, car theft rates have been decreasing in the United States for several years. Although the number of vehicles sent to chop shops each year cannot be calculated, the Insurance Information Institute reports that only Despite all their efforts at secrecy, police forces have successfully busted many chop shops and sent both owners and workers to jail.

Some examples include:. Criminals working in chop shops are interested in two things: making money and not getting caught.

A dismantled vehicle is much harder to trace and identify than one that is still intact. Selling individual parts brings a much higher profit too. That makes it a win-win for shady crooks who want to steal your car and make as much money off it as they can. But they also unload parts through legitimate channels, either by selling them to mechanics or salvage yards who turn a blind eye, or through salvage yards of their own that appear legitimate to the public.

To avoid having those parts traced back to the stolen cars, they can counterfeit or obscure the serial numbers that identify them. Car engines and transmissions , while they can be sold for a good price, are often destroyed or dumped. The same is true of the car's frame. Those parts are tagged with vehicle identification numbers VINs in cars manufactured after [source: Carfax ].

VINs, unique numbers assigned to every newly manufactured car, are trouble for chop shops. Among other uses, the VIN helps law enforcement trace stolen vehicles and their parts. Chop shops deal with VINs in several ways.

Some simply dump the parts with the number after burning the VINs with a torch to destroy evidence. Some etch counterfeit numbers into the parts using special tools. Others purchase wrecked cars at salvage auctions so they can use the VIN from the wrecked car on the stolen car's parts [source: U.

Some chop shops get more creative, completely replacing the VIN on a stolen car so that the car can be sold intact, not for parts. This process is called re-Vinning.

Chop shop operators purchase cars at salvage auctions that have been destroyed in accidents or fires. Chop shops want these vehicles mostly for their VINs. Once they have the car and its VIN, they steal a car of the same make and model.

Then, they can switch the VIN plates found inside the door and on the dash on the two cars and claim that they have repaired a totaled car [source: Statistics Canada ].

Another method, called a " body switch ," requires taking the frame of the totaled car and using parts from the stolen car to replace the damaged parts and make the car usable [source: U. Cars that have been re-Vinned are frequently shipped out of their country of origin using forged customs documents. They are then sold in foreign countries either on the black market or in the open [source: Statistics Canada ]. The market for automobiles in underdeveloped countries has been increasing in recent years.

Once the cars have been exported, it is extremely difficult for any law enforcement agents to track them down [source: McClearn ]. This is another reason why so many stolen cars remain unrecovered. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots.

Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Auto Basics. What does a chop shop do? Most cars stolen by professionals are taken to illegal chop shops where they're dismantled and sold as parts.