The key is part of the sentence is tracked and audited. It helps to make people whole after-the-fact and minimize repeat harm.

To give a few concrete examples: commit a crime while operating a car? Your plate is, in modern times, now in the databases of multiple police precincts. You will now find it difficult to operate on public roads without getting pulled over (which also impinges on your ability to easily flee from the scene of the crime). Steal a whole car and ditch or replace the plate? Your VIN is now flagged stolen, so good luck getting any legit operator to do work on that car. Crash a car and try to repair it and re-sell it with a damaged frame? Again, the VIN is logged if you had any professional do major repairs on the car. And if the cops pull you over on a public road and you aren't licensed to operate a vehicle on a public road... Oh boy, hope you didn't have plans this week.

Your car gets stolen, you report the VIN and the plate to the police, they get a warrant. No Database required.

Your parent was talking about a load of historical data that's available via your VIN number.

> History of fines tied to person or vehicle. Dealerships and insurance have records tied to the VIN. Who financed loans for how much...

If that's all true, that's absurd. All that is required for what you're talking about is, at best, a database of current owners.