How to decode a vin

[rickaren]

HOW TO DECODE A VIN

A Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN for short, is a unique, 17-digit, alpha-numeric identifier that’s given to every vehicle. They’re clearly visible on the driver’s side dashboard at the base of the windshield and elsewhere on the body.

Before 1980, VINs were not standardized and varied from company to company. In the U.S. today, they all follow the same format outlined by the government.

Lots of information is contained in these long strings of characters, from which manufacturer built a particular vehicle, to where it was made, to what kind of engine is under the hood. But they’re a jumbled mess unless you know how to decipher them.

Let’s dissect a VIN we pulled from one of the vehicles in the press fleet.

Starting at the front, the first three characters form the “World Make Identifier.” The “1” tells us this car was assembled in the U.S. The “G” tells us it’s a General Motors product, and the “6” identifies it as a Cadillac.

The next two characters tell us the model and trim level. Here, DP means our car is a CTS premium with a navigation system.

The sixth digit is the body style. “1” means it’s a coupe or a two-door.

The seventh character indicates what kind of safety equipment is installed on our CTS. Among other things, an “E” in this spot means it has front, side, and side-curtain airbags.

The letter “D” is in the eighth slot which is the engine code. It tells us we’ve got a 3.6-liter direct-injection V-6 under the hood.

The ninth number in our VIN sequence is called the “check digit,” and it has nothing to do with the car. It’s used to mathematically verify the accuracy of the VIN.

The next character tells us when our Caddy was built. In this case, “B” means it’s a 2011.

Next up, the 11th number is the plant code. The number “0” corresponds to GM’s Lansing Grand River factory in Michigan.

Rounding out our VIN, the numbers 12 through 17 serve as a serial number.

Characters will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and from year to year, but some parts of VINs are standardized, like the “World Make Identifier.” Here’s an easy way tell where a car was built by looking at the first digit. Generally speaking, a “1” means it was made in the U.S.; “2” it was built in Canada; “3” is Mexico; “4” and “5” are the U.S. as well; and “6” is Australia. “J” stands for Japan and “K” for South Korea. “S” and “W” signify Germany.

Interestingly, you’ll never see the letters “I,” “O” or “Q” in a VIN because they look too much like zeros and ones. It’s also important to note that different companies use different characters. For instance, in GM parlance an engine code of “D” corresponds to a 3.6-liter V-6 but to another manufacturer it could stand for a V-12, or a diesel, or nothing at all. And there you’ve got it. Now you too can read a VIN

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