Your Car's VIN Is More Than Just a Number
The Vehicle Identification Number Is Your Vehicle's Library of Data
© Gia Gee
Dec 20, 2008
If you own a car, then you have either seen, heard of, or have been asked at some time for your Vehicle Identification Number. This number is comprised of 17 characters, either alpha characters, A thru Z, all capital letters, and/or numbers, 0-9. Its location varies depending upon the vehicle’s manufacturer, but usually can be found by looking through the left side windshield.
On Honda vehicles, for instance, you can locate the VIN on the right side of the fire wall and at the left side windshield. Each character has something unique to share about your vehicle. Since Hondas are manufactured in Japan and the USA, you would expect to see either a 1 thru 4, which indicates the country of origin as USA or a J indicating Japan as the country of origin. The following codes correlate to countries of manufacturing origin and are provided for your reference. 1-4 indicate the USA; 2 indicates Canada; 3 indicates Mexico; J indicates Japan; K indicates Korea: S indicates England; W indicates Germany and Z indicates Italy.
If you want to know the manufacturer, you would look at the second character of the VIN. If you own a Honda, for example, you would expect to see an H as the second character. For your reference, alpha character codes have been provided indicating the manufacturer: A indicates Audi or Jaguar; B indicates BMW; D indicates Mercedes; V indicates Volvo or volkswagon; H indicates Honda and N indicates Nissan.
The third character of your vehicles VIN tells you the type of manufacturing division for your vehicle and varies with different manufacturers.
The 4th through 8th character of your vehicle VIN tells you specific features about your vehicle, including the body style, engine type, model as well as other features. This will vary among manufacturers.
The 9th character is referred to as an accuracy check digit and is computed using a mathematical formula. This will either be a single number or an X.
If you are looking at a vehicle and the salesperson tells you it is a 2009 model year, you would look at the 10th character to determine If, in fact this vehicle was a 2009. It could be a 2008 and you would never know it until much later. If the vehicle was a 2009 model year, you would expect the 10th character to be a 9. If it was a 2008 model year, the 10th character would be an 8. Model years 1971 thru 1979 use character codes 1-9 respectively. Beginning with the model year1980, alpha characters were used and began with A indicating model year 1980 and ended with Y indicating model year 2000. There is no Z model year designation. Beginning with model year 2010, alpha characters will begin to be used, beginning with A indicating model year 2010.
If you own a Honda, for instance, and want to know the assembly plant the vehicle was manufactured at, the 11th character of the VIN will identify the plant for you.
The 12th -17th characters indicate the sequencing of the vehicle for production as it came off the assembly line. These characters are also helpful when identifying parts for emission and engine components.
Now that you have a little information about your vehicle’s VIN, you will not fall victim to incorrect information being provided about a vehicle. There are free on line services that provide information to you once you provide the vehicle’s VIN number. The VIN is more than just a number but it is a library of information about your vehicle.
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