Every vehicle has its own identification number. It consists of seventeen digits - numbers and letters, thanks to which you can find out the entire "inside" car, and not only information about when, where and by whom it was released, but also to track whether the car was in hijacking and accident, Did he drown or burn? Possessing such information when buying a used car allows you to avoid the risks of buying a "problem" car.
Uniform international regulatory documents that are necessary to establish the principles of building VIN, are absent. Any manufacture must arbitrarily form it. The construction of the system is such that the numbers in no case should be repeated - the signs for 30 years are equally combined. The vehicle must have only one VIN. It is usually assigned by the final manufacturer, that is, those from whom the exploited car leaves, and no matter how it is made - from scratch or assembled from large units. Checking the vin number must be performed without fail.
The identification number has sections (parts), in which there are significant symbols - Arabic numerals from zero to nine and Latin letters (except for I, O, Q, because these symbols can easily be forwarded to others). You can also use delimiters that mark the beginning and end of the code, or several parts that separate each other from each other. These signs must be different from the others. There are only three sections in the room:
The first piece is the World Manufacturer Index. (WMI - World Manufacturers Identification). It has only three symbols, and it denotes who made the vehicle, the geographical area, and the country in which it is located. If there are no more than 500 pieces per year, the third WMI digit is numbered nine. The car manufacturer does not have to assign WMI. Taking into account the geographical area and the countries, the authorized international agency is under the control.
Thus, the first sign is the producer country (for example: 1, 4, 5 - USA, 2 - Canada, 3 - Mexico, 9 - Brazil, J - Japan, K - Korea, S - England, V - Spain, W - Germany, Y - Sweden, Z - Brazil, Italy, X - CIS).
The second sign is a manufacturing company (for example, 1 Chevrolet, 2 or 5 Pontiac, 3 Oldsmobile, 4 Buick, 6 Cadillac, 7 GM Canada, 8 Saturn A, Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover B - BMW; U - BMW (USA); D - Mercedes Benz; J - Mercedes Benz (USA); F - Ford, Ferrari, Fiat, Subaru; H - Honda; M - Mitsubishi, Skoda, Hyundai; N - Nissan, Infiniti ; O - Opel; S - Isuzu, Suzuki; T - Toyota, Lexus; V- Volvo, Volkswagen).
The third sign is the type of car (truck, car, etc.).
The second section of the VIN code is called VDS (Vehicle Description Section) and it consists of six characters that show the characteristics of the vehicle (model, engine, cab, body, brake system, axle). The manufacturer himself chooses in which order and how this information will be coded taking into account the general restrictions that are taken while the identification number is being generated.
If the characteristics are not completely described, symbols that contain meaningful symbols should be placed on the free ones. They are used when VIN is being built (for example, the digit zero).
The third section of the VIN code is called the Identification or Distinction (VIS - Vehicle Identification Section). It indicates the complete set of the machine and includes symbols from the 10th to the 17th.
The 10th symbol represents the model year of manufacture, for example: Y-2000, 1-2001, 2-2002, 3-2003, 4-2004, 5-2005, 6-2006, 7-2007, 8-2008, 9-2009 , A-2010, B-2011, C-2012, D-2013, E-2014, F-2015, and so on.
The 11th sign indicates the plant where the vehicle was assembled.
The 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th symbols denote the production sequence of the car and the progress of the assembly conveyor. The last 5 digits are different in Europe and the USA. So, in Europe it can be letters and numbers, in the US - only numbers
There are many resources on the Internet that offer free VIN-code verification, but, as a rule, most of them can not provide the correct information. As a rule, after entering the code on these resources, a message is displayed that the code is entered incorrectly. Therefore, in order to obtain reliable information, it is better to contact specialized companies that provide services for verifying the VIN code.
