"If someone gets a car and has a tag made with every available option and puts every available option onto the car correctly, then it now has every available option. Should they disclose that they did this? Perhaps,"
If they fail to disclose that information, that's fraud.. It is a prosecutable offence, they broke the law, to what degree, well that gets determined in the court.
If a young man told me that he can't tell if something like this is unethical, then i would say to him to choose his profession carefully.......But, I guess its too late for some people.
"Prosecutable offense" for not disclosing that they added option??? By who the Mopar police.. I suspect your point is if someone stated that all of the options were factory and that was the driving factor in the sale them perhaps (yes perhaps depending upon who has the better lawyer) it could be considered fraud. However, you know damn well that this scenario is fraught with all sorts of holes;
- first you have prove he lied and to do that you would have know or find someone who knew the car when brand new (like the original owner) willing to testify that the car did not have any of those options
- second you would have to prove that the seller was the one who installed said options and given the age and number of hands these cars have gone through there is no telling who did what or when
This is the typical "scare" tactic I've seen over and over again. "oh if you make a fraudulent fender tag you are going to prison"... BS!! I will tell you right now that I know for a fact that several very high end cars have repop tags that were not exact copies of what the car was born with. In some cases it was because there wasn't a tag and the resto shop had to take a stab at including the options they felt the car would have had, in others a tag was made to represent what the car currently has.
Lets be up front here; making a tag is not generally illegal, I say "generally" because there might be a state where it is, I don't know. Changing a VIN is illegal, its a felony, in fact when everyone is replacing their E body dash pads they are in fact technically committing a felony, but a fender tag is held on with 2 screws (3 if you have 2 tags) and that is not covered under the law in most states.
Now back to the "fraud" thing, if someone purposely builds a car and adds a butt load of options in order to maximize his profit and does not disclose this, then yes you would have a case for fraud in a court of law as his/her intent was to deceive the buyer for financial gain. However if Billy Bob adds a longitudinal stripe and has a tag made along they way that shows the code for that stripe and not the rump stripe or no stripe, well good luck in court over that one because neither you or Billy Bob know what that car actually came with (unless he/you is/are the original owner or knows him/her).
Every time this subject comes up on a Mopar forum this is the crap that come flying out as if anyone with a different opinion is out rebodying cars and making up fake fender tags just to increase the value of their cars. The truth is that is these numbers A holes who are so focused on the importance of the tag and sheet that have made those without them want them. The fact is that if you want a tag, there are places that will make you one, they will put whatever you want on it, have been for years. The numbers guys can stomp their feet, threaten everyone with prison all they want, but unfortunately the law is not on their side and to be honest, neither is reality.
Now before you come back with some obscure over blown example of why this is "bad" I will revert to my previous statement of "buy the car for what it is". If you are worried because you are going to buy or have purchased a highly optioned car and are worried that someone might have more options because they have a tag made, get over it.
Oh and one other thing, as Mopar guys we know that the tags never really told the whole story, some tags had almost everything whereas other tags did not depending upon where the car was made, who stamped the tag, etc. So that then throws another wrench into this issue which is why all of the diehards jump right to the broadcast sheet, well I hate to tell you but they have been forged as well and with the increase in technology and the big money out there for some cars, I suspect it will happen even more.
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck..... its a duck!
,
