I have not been able to find out what the law is on Michigan yet.
Anytime you remove the VIN plate you cast suspicion on the car. I would never buy a car if the VIN tag was removed and replaced. It often done by some people to fake high value cars but taking a VIN from a junker GTO and putt on a good car. aka - fraud. I beleive several have shown up selling on ebay with questionable VIN's. The VIN plate is not the only VIN on the car, so if you change the plate and someone ever checks the hidden COP vins, you could be in a jam. If its ever found you did something like this and were involved in an accident where they will check these VIN's, the insurance company could use that to deny any claims etc. All kinds of things can go wrong.
I you read this post you will see that some people figure they can do anything they want to the car because they own it, look at this thread . Also in Illinois is against the law to even to have Roset VIN rivets in your possession, see below.
(625 ILCS 5/4-102) Sec. 4-102. Offenses relating to motor vehicles and other vehicles - Misdemeanors. (a) It is a violation of this Chapter for: (1) A person, without authority to do so, to damage a vehicle or to damage or remove any part of a vehicle; (2) A person, without authority to do so, to tamper with a vehicle or go in it, on it, or work or attempt to work any of its parts, or set or attempt to set it in motion; (3) A person to fail to report a vehicle as unclaimed in accordance with the provisions of Section 4-107. (b) Sentence. A person convicted of a violation of this Section shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. A person convicted of a violation of this Section a second or subsequent time, shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony. (Source: P.A. 86-1209.)
(625 ILCS 5/4-103) Sec. 4-103. Offenses relating to motor vehicles and other vehicles - Felonies. (a) It is a violation of this Chapter for: (1) A person not entitled to the possession of a vehicle or essential part of a vehicle to receive, possess, conceal, sell, dispose, or transfer it, knowing it to have been stolen or converted; additionally the General Assembly finds that the acquisition and disposition of vehicles and their essential parts are strictly controlled by law and that such acquisitions and dispositions are reflected by documents of title, uniform invoices, rental contracts, leasing agreements and bills of sale. It may be inferred, therefore that a person exercising exclusive unexplained possession over a stolen or converted vehicle or an essential part of a stolen or converted vehicle has knowledge that such vehicle or essential part is stolen or converted, regardless of whether the date on which such vehicle or essential part was stolen is recent or remote; (2) A person to knowingly remove, alter, deface, destroy, falsify, or forge a manufacturer's identification number of a vehicle or an engine number of a motor vehicle or any essential part thereof having an identification number; (3) A person to knowingly conceal or misrepresent the identity of a vehicle or any essential part thereof; (4) A person to buy, receive, possess, sell or dispose of a vehicle, or any essential part thereof, with knowledge that the identification number of the vehicle or any essential part thereof having an identification number has been removed or falsified; (5) A person to knowingly possess, buy, sell, exchange, give away, or offer to buy, sell, exchange or give away, any manufacturer's identification number plate, mylar sticker, federal certificate label, State police reassignment plate, Secretary of State assigned plate, rosette rivet, or facsimile of such which has not yet been attached to or has been removed from the original or assigned vehicle. It is an affirmative defense to subsection (a) of this Section that the person possessing, buying, selling or exchanging a plate mylar sticker or label described in this paragraph is a police officer doing so as part of his official duties, or is a manufacturer's authorized representative who is replacing any manufacturer's identification number plate, mylar sticker or Federal certificate label originally placed on the vehicle by the manufacturer of the vehicle or any essential part thereof; (6) A person to knowingly make a false report of the theft or conversion of a vehicle to any police officer of this State or any employee of a law enforcement agency of this State designated by the law enforcement agency to take, receive, process, or record reports of vehicle theft or conversion. (b) Sentence. A person convicted of a violation of this Section shall be guilty of a Class 2 felony. (c) The offenses set forth in subsection (a) of this Section shall not include the offense set forth in Section 4-103.2 of this Code. (Source: P.A. 90-89, eff. 1-1-98; 91-450, eff. 1-1-00.)
