Complete with VIN. Complete with VIN - "Mercedes"

VIN is the vehicle identification number , which is a combination of seventeen digits and letters. "VIN" is unique for each vehicle and it is assigned to the machine on the conveyor by the manufacturer. Thanks to the decipherment of these symbols, many specialists can accurately determine the year of manufacture of the car, the country of manufacture, and also find out what equipment it was made in. How is VIN bundled? All the answers we will consider in our today's article.

What it is?

First, let's find out the features of VIN. In its essence, "VIN" is a long code, which, as we already mentioned earlier, can be mixed up both from numeric and from letter values. All this code is encrypted information about the car. It is also worth noting that the standard "VIN" standard was introduced only in 1980, therefore it is extremely problematic to check and decipher the data of the machines that were issued before that time.

VIN, like the fingerprint of a person, is absolutely unique. It is applied by the manufacturer in the form of a metal plate on the body of the vehicle. Why do you need to put different values on the car? All this is done to ensure that in the future the seller could not issue this vehicle for another, that is, it is a pledge of a "clean" purchase. Also, thanks to the decoding of this code, you can get detailed information about the engine, the body, find out which country the car was made in. And to adjust all these values to a single standard is simply impossible, otherwise there would simply be no use for VIN.

Why is it necessary to decipher it?

First of all, this is necessary when buying a vehicle (especially in the secondary market). Knowing the decryption, the buyer can independently, without specialists, learn the hidden information about this machine. And even if in the technical passport of the car it is possible to alter the year of release (although it is very difficult to do this), in the case of a 17-digit combination it is simply impossible. The only way is to cut a part of the body from another car and weld it into the one that goes for sale. Therefore, in the first place, the code "VIN" is necessary for the successful purchase of a vehicle.

Cheating in car dealerships

By the way, such a deception can happen and when selling a new car in car dealerships. Here often can hide the true year of the car (most often it's 1-2 years). This is done when issuing a technical passport at the customs office or directly at the traffic police. But what is most surprising, in Russia there is a legal way to change the year of release of the vehicle. But this is possible only under one condition - if the issue date for "VIN" corresponds to the last months of the year. Thanks to this, the auto show can legally "vparit" the distraught car of last year's model line at the price of a new one.

Where is the VIN of the car?

This number can be located in different places. Everything depends on the brand and model of the car, as well as on the car manufacturer itself. Most often on the machines of the European market "VIN" is applied to a special metal plate, which is located under the hood. It can also be located on the driver's side near the body pillar or on the doorstep.

On machines of the American manufacture "VIN" is placed under the windshield. This is very convenient, because you can look at it without opening the hood and not removing the salon upholstery. Although, on the other hand, that "VIN", which was applied to the glass, is much easier to change than the one that is packed with a sign and sealed in the body.

By the way, in expensive cars of prestigious brands this code is inside the dashboard.

But wherever VIN is located, it's still decryption - it's the same for all machines. Of course, with the exception of retro cars.

Decryption

So, how is the VIN equipment and the year of production of machines deciphered? Consider everything in order. The first 3 characters tell us about the make and model of the vehicle, as well as the manufacturer who produced this car. After that, the symbols (from 4 to 8) tell us about the equipment level of the machine.

This can be any design features of the car - and leather interior trim, and the presence of airbags, air conditioning, anti-slip system and everything else. What is the interpretation of the VIN BMW kit? This we will talk about a little later.

The ninth symbol of "VIN" is deciphered by a special formula, which is interrelated with other digits of this code. This symbol is necessary in order to verify the authenticity of VIN and to test it for forgery.

Year of issue

The tenth digit in the code indicates the year of manufacture of the vehicle. But, as we said earlier, the dealer has the right to legally change this value for a particular car. To do this, it is sufficient that the vehicle is released at the end of the year. And even if in fact this year has not yet come, the dealer has the right to make these adjustments.

Manufacturer country

The eleventh figure indicates the country in which the car was manufactured. Note that the majority of eminent companies have their branches in several countries. And even if it is indicated in the technical passport that this is a Volkswagen, does not at all mean that it is manufactured in Germany (at least, not always).

Other figures

The next 5 digits are the serial number of the vehicle. These values indicate the serial number of the plant. That is, you can find out how the car was issued - 325th or one millionth.

Note that the VIN number never includes letters such as O, Q, and I. The reason for this prohibition is a possible similarity to the numbers 0 and 1.

Checking equipment for VIN

To begin with, we note that in different countries automakers use a different format for marking and coding relative to the complete set of the released model and the availability of additional options. Let's take a closer look at the example of the number "HT82H".

The first letter - "H" - indicates the presence of active and passive safety systems that are installed on the car. In our case, the car is equipped with not only front, but also side airbags. Cars, on which there are only belts, are marked not as "H", but as "B".

Also, for example, take the "VIN" by the number WAUZZZ44ZJN247236. As we have already noted, the first figure refers to the producing country. In this case it's Germany. The following two symbols indicate the manufacturer itself. AU is the manufacturer of Audi. The figure J is the year of release (1998). The letter N tells us that the "Audi" was assembled in Necarsulm. Well, 247236 is the serial number of the vehicle. You can also check the equipment of the car by VIN. Below we give the most common option codes:

• 389 - electric heated exterior mirrors from the driver's side.
• 432 - antilock braking system for wheels. Now this is installed on all cars of the world market without exception.
• 476 - the presence of a full-size spare wheel.
• 998 - electric heated exterior mirrors on the passenger side.

How to determine the complete set of VIN and completely decrypt it?

Fortunately, with the development of modern technologies, you can decode the "VIN", even without leaving your own computer or laptop. How do you determine the configuration of the VIN ("Mercedes", say)? It's very simple - just go to one of the car portals that support the decryption option, and indicate in the appropriate box your number "VIN".

Most of these services do not take money for such a check. There are paid sites, but they are usually provided with more information about the level of equipment and equipment of the car. But not always the VIN package is decoded correctly. The reason for this is an unreliable database of a specific auto-portal.

The most common equipment for VIN (Opel including) is determined on the websites for the sale of cars. The principle of such verification is as follows. For each brand of the car, different bases are formed, which can indicate not only the equipment, but also the year of manufacture of the vehicle. Some services provide such a service as a free car check for theft. To do this, you do not need to enter anything new - all you need is the 17-digit "VIN" of your car. Note also that not all sites can have an equally extensive database for decryption, so the information received on them can differ significantly from each other. For greater confidence, you should check on several such automobile portals. Often they provide a generalized decipherment of the "VIN". But how then is the equipment for VIN checked ("Mercedes SLK 200" including) checked? To do this, just select the line "VIN + bundle". Then you will be asked to fill in the field, indicating the exact number of "VIN", and click the inscription "Full report".

The VIN itself should be entered, based on the data from the vehicle's technical passport. Agree, this is much easier than to search for it around the perimeter of the body and then rewrite all the values in a notebook. Remember that when you fill in the field only numbers and uppercase English letters are allowed (that is, as in the technical passport). How is VIN bundled? After that, many sites require a check through the input of "captcha". This is a set of numbers and letters in the picture. There is nothing terrible and dangerous in this, so enter it, press "Enter" and watch the results.

A full report of the car appears immediately on the page or in a new window. It can be printed or saved in pdf format. Similarly, the code is deciphered on most modern cars, and it is not important whether it is checked for VIN BMW, or Opel or Mercedes. Although for more information it is better to use special tables for decryption and to independently search in them all the necessary values.

So, we found out how the car is configured according to VIN and where this long code is located on the vehicle.