Decoding Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)

anuprav · Oct 28, 2009

A vehicle identification number, commonly abbreviated to VIN, is a unique code including a serial number, used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles, towed vehicles, motorcycles, scooters and mopeds as defined in ISO 3833. VINs were first used in 1954. From 1954 to 1981, there was no accepted standard for these numbers, so different manufacturers used different formats. - WikiPedia.

Decoding Method

Engine Number Decoding

VIN Locations

RSM · Oct 28, 2009

Decoding VIN

For my Punto, VIN was - MCA1183550*******FPZ

If we decode, we can get details like -

MCA - I think it represents Fiat India
118 - Model - Punto
355 - variant - Emotion
0******* - chasis number
F - Month - June (A-Jan, B-Feb ....)
PZ - Year - 2009

RSM · Oct 28, 2009

Somebody can try this, i couldn't do though - VIN Decoder

vroom · Oct 28, 2009

RSM,

I did try this out, however it accepts only 17 characters and the VIN number for the Punto is longer than 17 characters. Did you have any luck checking out your chassis number against the code at VIN?

Cheers,
Vroom

Arun · Oct 28, 2009

If you input only certain units of the VIN and manipulate the rest, it does figure out the aspects. I manipulated a Maruti VIN ( Starts with Ma3) and manipulated the rest.It detected that the car would be from India and would be of a Maruti make. How ever when I tried it with a complete real VIN, certain aspects turned out to be "unknown".

Zinam · Oct 28, 2009

Hey Guys dont try to decode your VIN numbers using online software!

You might end up losing your personal information!

Arun · Oct 28, 2009

Zinam said:

Exactly. That is why I used a VIN I found on the net. We repeat, DO NOT disclose your VIN.

vijay · Oct 29, 2009

here's a example how to decode your vin number,
source:yahoo groups
Chassis Number :
A typical chassis no. is --- 600132CTZP78900.

The first 6 characters are the model code --- in this case, Indica DLE.

The 7th character --- 'C' in this example --- represents the month of
manufacture, according to the foll. table :
A --- Jan.
B --- Feb.
C --- Mar.
D --- Apr.
E --- May.
F --- Jun.
G --- Jul.
H --- Aug.
J --- Sep.
K --- Oct.
L --- Nov.
M --- Dec.
Pls note that ' I ' is not used.

The 8th & 9th characters together represent the year of manufacture,
according to the foll. table :
Z --- 0
Y --- 1
X --- 2
W --- 3
V --- 4
U --- 5
T --- 6
S --- 7
R --- 8
Q --- 9
P --- 10
and so on.
In our example, the 8th & 9th characters are ' T Z '. Reversing the order
makes it ' Z T '.
As per the table, this converts to ' 0 6 ', or the year 20 06, the ' 20 '
being assumed.

The 10th character represents the Plant location, with ' P ' for ' Pune '.

The last 5 numbers comprise the Serial No. of the chassis.

So, our example no., 600132CTZP78900, means the model is Indica DLE,
manufactured in March, 2006, at Pune, having chassis serial no. ' 78900 '.

Engine Number :
A typical engine no. is : 475IDI__03 CTZP12345.
The first 6 to 8 character group represents the engine type, as per foll.
table :
475IDI --- Non turbo diesel.
475IDI TC --- Turbocharged Diesel.
475MPFI --- Petrol MPFI.

The next 2 digit number represents the emission norms as per the foll. table
:
05 --- BS-2 from Jan 2005 onwards.
03 --- BS-3.

The remaining 9 characters represent the month, year of mfr., Plant, &
serial no. of engine, as per the chassis no. tables.
So an engine no. of 475IDI 03 CTZP 12345 will be a non-turbo diesel engine,
conforming to BS-3, manufactured in March, 2006, at Pune, & having serial
no. 12345.

nvs · Nov 12, 2009

Fiat PUnto inputs

Hi RSM,
Just bought Punto from Concorde, Bangalore. I needed your inputs on VIN. Is it possible to contact you to discuss any issues regarding the vehicle.

RSM said:

RSM · Nov 12, 2009

Sure buddy. You can PM me your VIN.

By the way, you have bought from Dairy Circle or from Mysore Road?

vroom · Nov 12, 2009

Hey nvs, Welcome to TAI. Now, that makes us 4 Punto owners [:)]

.

Cheers,
Vroom

Arun · Nov 12, 2009

I am fearing this place will be taken over by Punto owners and we'll be thrown out. :suspect:

vijay · Nov 13, 2009

Arun said:

dont say too loud else even punto would hear this and throw out owners and be here instead [:D]

good to see people getting their trust back in fiat brand and their products.This is what a coming back brand needs, support.

RSM · Mar 29, 2010

WMI Regions

WMI - World Manufacturer Identifier
The first character of the WMI is the region in which the manufacturer is located. In practice, each is assigned to a country of manufacture. Common auto-manufacturing countries are noted.

WMI Region Notes
A-H Africa AA-AH = South Africa
J-R Asia J = Japan
KL-KR = South Korea
L = China
MA-ME = India
MF-MK = Indonesia
ML-MR = Thailand
PA-PE = Philippines
PL-PR = Malaysia
S-Z Europe SA-SM = United Kingdom
SN-ST, W = Germany
SU-SZ = Poland
TA-TH = Switzerland
TJ-TP = Czech Republic
TR-TV = Hungary
VA-VE = Austria
VF-VR = France
VS-VW = Spain
VX-V2 = Yugoslavia
XL = The Netherlands
XS-XW = USSR
X3-X0 = Russia
YA-YE = Belgium
YF-YK = Finland
YS-YW = Sweden
ZA-ZR = Italy
1-5 North America 1, 4, 5 = United States
2 = Canada
3 = Mexico
6-7 Oceania 6A-6W = Australia
7A-7E = New Zealand
8-0 South America 8A-8E = Argentina
8F-8J = Chile
8X-82 = Venezuela
9A-9E, 93-99 = Brazil
9F-9J = Colombia

More Details - http://www.vinguard.org/vin.htm

RSM · Mar 29, 2010

Just to update, each manufacturer will have different kind of coding.

For Ford in India, it will start will "MAJ".

For Ford, month/year calculation, check below link -
http://www.btinternet.com/~madmole/vindecoder.html

Decoding Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)

anuprav

V6

RSM

V10

RSM

V10

vroom

V6

Arun

Suspended

Zinam

V10

Arun

Suspended

vijay

V10

nvs

V2

RSM

V10

vroom

V6

Arun

Suspended

vijay

V10

RSM

V10

RSM

V10