bdonkersgoed Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Here is a bit about VIN codes that I posted on Benzworld.org . . . I thought that you guys might enjoy it as well . . . SAMPLE VIN CODE: 3VWFL81H7TM094929 The first character indicates where the vehicle was built (called the World Manufacturer Index or WMI). In our example, the car was built in Mexico. 1 = USA 2 = Canada 3 = Mexico 4 = USA 5 = USA J = Japan K = South Korea S = United Kingdom W = Germany Z = Italy Characters 4-8 indicates a vehicle description unique for each make and model of vehicle. Character 9 is a Check Digit and must be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, or X. It is calculated using a mathematical formula for determining the validity of the VIN. In our case, character 9 is 7, so the VIN is OK. Also, the letters I, O, and Q NEVER appear in a VIN. Character 10 is the Model Year Code: B = 1981 C = 1982 D = 1983 E = 1984 F = 1985 G = 1986 H = 1987 J = 1988 K = 1989 L = 1990 M = 1991 N = 1992 P = 1993 R = 1994 S = 1995 T = 1996 V = 1997 W = 1998 X = 1999 Y = 2000 1 = 2001 2 = 2002 3 = 2003 4 = 2004 5 = 2005 In our example, the car was made in 1996. Character 11 is the manufacturing plant code (can be a letter or number) Characters 12-17 is the sequential serial number and it MUST be numeric! I hope everyone has learned a little bit about VIN numbers now Have fun! Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amf1932 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Very interesting, but I still can't decode most of the stuff on my VIN code for a 2003ES. All I found out was my car was manufactured in Japan and it's a 2003 model. Example: The 2nd, 3rd, 4th. and 5th. letters mean absolutely nothing to me. They are JTHBF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex3486 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Cool man. Never mentioned digits 1 and 2 though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdonkersgoed Posted June 5, 2004 Author Share Posted June 5, 2004 I'm not sure what characters 2 and 3 are for . . . but character 1 is the country of manufacture. A lot of characters in the VIN a serial related, and I'm not sure how to decipher the actual serial codes. But you can see above how the VIN is broken up, and each character's purpose. Just for fun :) Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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