How to decode your VIN Number

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Thu 10 Jul 2003 19:33
How to decode your VIN Number - Armitage Shanks{P}

Some of you mihgt find this useful (I hope!)

Tips to understanding your vehicles serial (VIN) number

They are as follows:

1st character- Identifies the country in which the vehicle was manufactured.
For example: U.S.A.(1or4), Canada(2), Mexico(3), Japan(J), Korea(K), England(S), Germany(W), Italy(Z)

2nd character- Identifies the manufacturer. For example; Audi(A),
BMW(B), Buick(4), Cadillac(6), Chevrolet(1), Chrysler(C), Dodge(B),
Ford(F), GM Canada(7), General Motors(G), Honda(H), Jaquar(A), Lincoln(L), Mercedes Benz(D), Mercury(M), Nissan(N), Oldsmobile(3), Pontiac(2or5), Plymouth(P), Saturn(8), Toyota(T), VW(V), Volvo(V).

3rd character- Identifies vehicle type or manufacturing division.

4th to 8th characters- Identifies vehicle features such as body style, engine type, model, series, etc.

9th character- Identifies VIN accuracy as check digit.

10th character- Identifies the model year. For example: 1988(J), 1989(K), 1990(L), 1991(M), 1992(N), 1993(P), 1994(R), 1995(S), 1996(T),
1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000(Y)------2001(1), 2002(2), 2003(3)

11th character- Identifies the assembly plant for the vehicle.

12th to 17th characters- Identifies the sequence of the vehicle for production
as it rolled of the manufacturers assembly line.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 10 Jul 2003 19:54
How to decode your VIN Number - John S
AS

A number of these can be checked on line at:

www.autobaza.pl/ab/en/web/homeaa0100

but it's useful to have the info on what each character means.

Regards

John S


Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 10 Jul 2003 23:30
How to decode your VIN Number - IanT
The exact meaning of the characters seems to vary with manufacturer, though keeping a generally similar structure to that given by AS.

For instance Ford Fiestas (and possibly all Fords?) use characters 11 & 12 to specify the build date. For instance 3C means built in January 2003. The "3" meaning year 2003 is pretty obvious, but Ford like to disguise the build month for some reason - in 2003, "C" means January, but it doesn't in other years.

Ford's full list for 2003, January to December in order, is:
3C 3K 3D 3E 3L 3S 3T 3J 3U 3M 3P

Use the autobaza site to check when your car was actually built!

Ian


Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 16 Dec 2015 09:48
How to decode your VIN Number - NikWilk

Hi there. I found the most comprehensive information about reding and finding your VIN number and all things VIN from a blog I read from a salvage company called AFF Vehicle Services who sell damaged repairable cars and salvage veicles for sale. Their guide can be found at affvehicleservices.com/blog/vin-number-a-complete-.../

Hope it covers everything you need to know. Simple diagrams.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 11 Jul 2003 11:38
How to decode your VIN Number - Andrew-T
AS - not certain about the first character identifying country of manufacture - French-built Peugeots show V, and I think British-built ones (206, early 306) do also. Characters 4 & 5 show body type (van, saloon, 5-door, etc) and 6,7,8 the engine code.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 11 Jul 2003 11:44
How to decode your VIN Number - Armitage Shanks{P}
Andrew-T and IanT, thanks for your inputs. I merely cut and pasted the info from a US Classic car web site. Clearly it is not as simple as we would like! If anybody has the full definitive answer on all this I'd be please to see it
Reply | Report as offensive | Link