Apologies for the delayed reply, was bogged down with work.
The most reliable method for determining a body swap is the vehicle's underside inspected by an experienced mechanic. In case that a body has been swapped, the body mounts on the underside would be modified and would most probably be missing rubber sealing around the body bolts. If the vehicle is presented to the nearest Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO), they could well easily determine a body swap as well.
There are other methods as well, as discussed on this thread including:
- comparing the chassis number on the frame with the riveted vehicle identification tag inside the engine bay;
- comparing the seat belt tags with the chassis number on the frame;
- decrypting the VIN to match the vehicle identification tag.
Another common symptom of swapped bodies are locally punched vehicle identification tags inside the engine bay (which are perfectly legal).
On another note, if you identify a swapped body vehicle, especially with an engine swap from petrol to diesel or vice versa, walk away while you still can. The plethora of swapped body vehicles impounded by Customs and put to operational use have time and again caused multiple problems such as failing drive trains, failing suspensions, leaky steering pinions and loose bodies tearing themselves from the underside bolts.
Hope this helps, please feel free to put up any queries.
Fahad Bashir,
Assistant Collector,
Pakistan Customs.