Basically you have what could be a nice car once resoted, but under the circumstances a car that is by no means #'s matching. I'd bring these different vin #'s to the owners attention and ask him why the discrepancies, then ask him if any sale could be made upon your ability to get a legal title for the car. Also I'd have to say that 17K for the car with these problems and needed body work is high, with not seeing the car you probably can expect to spend another 10K to get it running and on the road, perhaps more depending on what your after. But if a title can be obtained it is a car that could be a lot of fun, just not a #'s car, and we all know there are a lot of those on the street, right?