The problem of counterfeit LVV Certification Plates (LVV plates) has reared its head again this year. A common counterfeit website has been offering for sale counterfeit LVV plates, and the information provided on the website shows that many have been sold. Because this is an overseas website there is nothing than can be done prosecution-wise, however after some communications to this particular website from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, they voluntarily withdrew the counterfeit plates. LVVTA advise that the engraved plate lookup (which is now live on their website) is the best way for anyone looking at a vehicle to tell whether a certification plate fitted to a vehicle is genuine, and if so, unaltered.
How to Spot the Fake Plates
There will, however, be some of these counterfeit plates circulating, and LVVTA asks the industry and enthusiast community to keep an eye out for them. The counterfeit plates may be distinguished quite easily if you look closely for the following giveaways:
• The larger ‘V’ in the LVV logo on the top right corner of the plate is grey, on the genuine LVVTA-produced LVV certification plates, but on the counterfeit plates the large ‘V’ has a strong purple hue; and
• In the stacked ‘LOW VOLUME VEHICLE TECHNICAL ASSOCIATION Inc’ text just to the left of the LVV logo (still looking at the top right-hand corner of the plate), the word ‘VEHICLE’ contains an ‘N’ instead of an ‘H’, and so reads ‘VENICLE’; and (Note as an update since the newsletter was published there are now counterfeit plates with Vehicle correctly spelt as well – see image)
• While a printed label on a piece of trimmed aluminium is relatively simple to create these days, it is much harder to achieve accurate and uniform engraving – the engraved information on counterfeit plates sometimes doesn’t sit neatly within each text field.
If you notice either of the first two features, it is certain that the plate will be a counterfeit plate.
Using these plates is a criminal offence
When some counterfeit LVV plates were discovered in 2013, the matter quickly ended up in the hands of the NZ Police. A Wellington man was later charged with a fraud offence, found guilty by the court and convicted of fraud and was sentenced to 100 hours of community work.
LVVTA would be very keen to receive any information, anonymously if preferred, about anyone involved in this sort of activity. Remember that people who use these counterfeit plates undermine the LVV certification system and thereby jeopardise our long-term ability to modify cars – and by avoiding the LVV certification process they potentially put people’s safety at risk.
If anyone thinks they might be looking at one of these counterfeit LVV plates, please feel free to send a photo of the plate to the LVVTA office at info@lvvta.org.nz and we’ll be happy to have a look.
New lookup system for engraved plates
Whilst the newer style (since February 2021) the Electronic Data Plates (EDP) have had an online lookup, LVVTA has now added a similar system for the older aluminium engraved plates. As well as enabling the public to confirm that the LVV plate is genuine, the look-up search function will also show whether the plate that the user is looking at matches the modifications details that were present at the time of LVV certification, and will confirm whether a plate, while genuine, has been tampered with.
The exact look of an LVV plate might vary from the sample shown online, because the plate design has changed several times over its almost 30-year lifespan, but the information displayed should match the LVV plate regardless of the variation.
How to use the look-up system
A member of the public can access the information on a vehicle’s LVV plate by entering the individual LVV Certification Plate number, together with the last six digits of the vehicle’s VIN number, exactly as recorded on the LVV plate into the fields shown on the LVVTA website.
