> You do not have to meet the seller to check the VIN of a vehicle sitting on the street.

You're assuming the vehicle remains where the photo was taken.

> Well yeah, because you only filtered on 2 of the dozen or so attributes that you might know.

Those were the only attributes that were apparent in the photo. I said I ignored Wagon because that was a cherry picked unique filter. If it wasn't a wagon, your analysis is the same as mine, >100 vehicles in the SF bay area (I only filtered on 100 mile radius). But again, why steal a vehicle and post it for sale in the same city you stole it from? Criminals already move stolen vehicles, this is all but obvious.

Basically, this helps you catch the dumbest of the dumb criminals. Someone that steals a very unique car and posts it for sale in the same area they stole it from and also leaves the car parked in the same place they took the photo. There's also a time element, if they hide the vehicle for a few weeks, then post it for sale it's more likely the initial active investigation has faded and the cops aren't actively hitting refresh on marketplace.

Glad you believe this is useful, I'll continue to disagree - it might have some value but it's usefulness is being exaggerated in the article.