Every vehicle has its own ID number, which consists of characters and letters. If you know what this number means, you can tell a lot about the car: the manufacturer, the date of release, the car-crash reports, etc. These facts are especially useful for those who are going to buy a used car because it will help avoid many problems in the future.

One Car – One VIN-Number

There are no single international standards that establish the rules for VIN number creation, so it is made by the manufacturer independently. However, there is a rule saying that the numbers should not be repeated for 30 years. Therefore, when doing auto title check for a particular car, there is no chance for VIN-number duplication.

Each VIN consists of three sections with Latin letters (except I, O, Q) and numbers (from 0 to 9):

The First Section

The first section indicates WMI – the world manufacturer identifier. It contains only three characters, specifying the place and date of a car assembly. The factory does not establish this combination because it is prescribed by the International Organization for Standardization.

car-vin

So, the first character tells about the country of production:

  • J for Japan;
  • W for Germany;
  • H/L for China;
  • S for the United Kingdom;
  • 1 for the United States,
  • 6 for Australia, etc.

The second character shows the company that produced the car:

  • 1 – Chevrolet;
  • A – Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover;
  • H – Honda;
  • T – Toyota, Lexus, etc.

The third character in the section explains the type of vehicle body: a passenger car, truck, etc.

Car VIN

The Second Section

This section is called descriptive. It includes six characters that give a full description of the car: model, engine type, cab, body, brake system, and axles. Every manufacturer determines the order of characters, as well as how the encoding will be performed. At the same time, it has to comply with the established general restrictions.

The Third Section

The last section of VIN is distinctive. From this part, you can find out the vehicle equipment. For instance, the 10th character tells about the year of release: Y – 2000; 1 – 2001; 2 – 2002, A – 2010, etc. The 11th character specifies the factory where the car was made. The remaining characters from the 12th to the 17th indicate the progress of the car assembly. The last five characters in the VIN code may differ in Europe and America. So, for example, a European manufacturer can use both letters and numbers in this part, while an American factory will insert only numbers.

In Conclusion

It is very difficult to remember all about your car. However, there are many Internet resources that allow you to check VIN-numbers online for free. In order to get accurate information and be sure of the reliability of the provided data, we recommend contacting reliable services. Good luck!

NCS
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