VIN or the Vehicle identification number is the identity of a vehicle. It is a 17 character identity of a vehicle that can be very useful. The numbers in the VIN can reveal many things about the car. One can find the country of origin, engine size, model year, vehicle type, trim level, and plant name just from the VIN. Here is how VIN can help you find things.
The first digit in a VIN represents the country of origin of the vehicle. For example, cars from the U.S. start with 1, 4, or 5. But cars from Canada begin with 2. Similarly, vehicles from Mexico begin with 3.
It does not use numbers at all times; sometimes, letters are also used to represent a country of origin. Like vehicles from Japan start with J, South Korea starts with K, England starts with S, Germany begins with W, and Sweden or Finland begins with Y.
You can also check sites.google.com/view/vin-lookup-and-decoding/ for more information on VIN.
The next character in the VIN letter represents the manufacturer’s name. For example, A is for Audi, B is for BMW, G is for General Motors, L is for Lincoln, and N is for Nissan. The third digit, as it is does not have much meaning, but if combined with the previous two characters, gives the vehicle’s type or manufacturing division.
Next digits in the VIN Numbers, from 4 through 8, describe the car with information like vehicle the model, body type, restraint system, transmission type, engine code, etc. The next number 9 is crucial as it is the check digit. It helps check whether a VIN is invalid.
The tenth position indicates the model year of the vehicle, followed by that is the 11th number that indicates the manufacturing plant where the car was assembled.
The last six numbers of the VIN are the production sequence numbers, which are unique for every vehicle. Each car receives one on the assembly line. VIN can give a lot of information about cars. Using the search tool by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can help you see whether a vehicle is subject to a recall.
