What does VIN-code mean and what it can tell us about the car?

 When you are buying an automobile in the car showroom or from the owner you must be maximally attentive and to give a lot of time to inspect the car. But. As you know, time is money. And in order to save both, you just need to know the VIN code of the car. Already thanks to the VIN code, you can find out the basic characteristics and understand whether the photo of the car responds to himself, thereby you securing yourself from the midges or from buying a stolen car.

As a standard, the VIN code contains 17 symbols. As an example, let’s take code WWD2174772A022040, where:

• WWD (symbols #1 - #3) it is WMI – world manufacture identification;

• 217477 (symbols #4 - #9) it is VDS – vehicle description section;

• 2A022040 (symbols #10-17) it is VIS – vehicle identification section.

So, the first three symbols are responsible for the geographical region, country and the manufacture, where the car was produced. Each region followed by special letter or number. Equally important, that the letters Q, O, I are absent, as they look the same with the numbers as 0 and 1. Thus, the first regional symbols are:

• A – H Africa

• J – R Asia

• S – Z Europe

• 1 – 5 North America

• 6 – 7 Oceania

• 8 – 9 South America

The second symbol presents the country of the manufacturer and inherently linked to the first. Also, there is a detailed and separate classification of VIN code characters for each country, what is more, some combinations of symbols are not assigned to countries, and are free.

The third point defines the concern, not the factory, but exactly the manufactory. Withal important to add that, if there are mentioned number nine on the place of the third symbol, it means that less than 500 cars are produced per year. Consequently, all manufacturers with this volume of output must specify this information in the VIN code.

Following from the above, in this example, WWD provides us with the information that the car is produced in the European region, and the country of relies is Germany, and the transnational concern - Daimler AG.

The next six symbols (VDS) are free in its encryption. The order of the parts configuration and features of the car depends on the manufacturer. For instance, the body type, each time, can be encrypted at different positions. The presence of the symbol Z in the VDS encryption indicates that any information is missing, so, this position in the cipher is empty. Most often, the manufacturer indicates here:

• Car’s body type;

• Motor and the engine capacity;

• four-wheel drive or front-wheel drive;

• number of doors, airbags;

• Class of car;

• Brand of the car;

• Type of the transmission;

• Car model.

The eighth symbol in combination with the second and the third usually includes information about flexible fuel vehicle. The ninth symbol varies in dependence on the other 16, so it is the control symbol, determined by the algorithm known to manufacturers.

The VIS encryption includes eight symbols, and the first symbol from this section (or 10th from 17), as usual, indicates the model year of the car. The model year begins six months after the actual, for example, if the model year 2002, the car could be released in 2001. The model year is encrypted with symbols 1-9 and A-Y, but Z, Q, O and I do not use, following this the encryption is repeated periodically for every 30 years. The next 11th symbol indicates the manufacturer's factory, in this example, it is Mercedes Benz. Starting with 12-13 characters - this is the serial number of the car.

In the final analysis, by having all this information, you would be able to know the encryption of the certain car brand, and could get basic data on the technical parameters of the car by asking the seller VIN code. Additionally, you can check the VIN code on individual resources, and thus significantly, protect yourself from making a transaction is not quality.