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Vehicle Indentification Number

Topics on this page:

  • Vehicle Indentification Number
  • Chassis number Volkswagen
  • Fraud

Chassis number:
A chassis number is also called VIN. That abbreviation stands for: Vehicle Identification Number.
Every car has a chassis number. This one is stamped somewhere. On most cars on the bulkhead under the hood, but sometimes also in the interior under the floor mat. Often there are also stickers present, but they are not official. A chassis number must always be stamped. The place where the chassis number is stamped is always stated on the registration certificate of the car.
If a car is imported from another country, it will have different number plates. The chassis number always remains the same, so it is therefore always traceable.

The table below lists the seventeen characters required by law and used as identifiers by manufacturers worldwide. The composition of the seventeen characters has been established internationally using ISO 3779. The first three characters indicate the World Manufacturer Identification (WMI), the Vehicle Description Selection (VDS) in the next six characters and the Vehicle Idicator in the last eight characters. Selection (VIS).

The first character of the chassis number indicates the code of the country where the car was produced. The table below shows the codes that are used worldwide. For example, the table states that the series 2A-20 stands for Canada, but only the 2 is shown in the chassis number. So you don't know if the first character contains a V, whether the car was produced in France or in Spain. For this, the factory code can be looked at in the eleventh character.

The second character indicates the brand. A number of brands are listed below. Some brands have different characters and not all brands are listed in the table.

The ninth character is the year of manufacture. This was applied from 1980. The year is displayed in a letter or a number. In the columns below you will find an overview of the production years.

The tenth character indicates the factory where the car was produced. Here each manufacturer specifies its own letter or number. Volkwagen uses the “W” here to indicate the Wolfsburg factory, but another manufacturer may use the letter W for a completely different location.

Volkswagen chassis number:
This section describes how the Volkswagen chassis number is structured. This clarifies the information given in the previous chapter with an example.

W

V

W

Z

Z

Z

3

D

Z

9

8

0

0

0

0

0

9

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

Position 1, 2 & 3: Factory Code:
WVW = VW AG/passenger cars
WVG = VW AG/ Touran
WV2 = VW AG/Transporter (Type 2) and LT
WAU = Audi
1WV = Volkswagen America, passenger cars
1V1 = Volkswagen America, pick-up models

Position 4, 5 & 6: Fill numbers:
(3x Z, except USA and Canada)

Position 7 & 8: Type designation:
2-digit abbreviated type designation, from the first 2 digits of the official type designation
eg 1J = Golf 4, 1K = Golf 5, 3B and 3C old and new type Passat

Position 9: Padding Number:
Z, except North America and Canada.

Position 10: Indicates the year of manufacture:
A = 1980
B = 1981
C = 1982
= 5 2005
= 6 2006
etc.

Position 11: Place of Production:

0 = Anchieta, Brazil
1 = Gyoer “Ungarn” from 1997
2 = SVW / Shanghai “People's Republic of China” from 1998
3 = FAW-VW / Changchun “People's Republic of China” from 1998
4 = Curitiba “Brasilien” from 1998
5 = Taubate, Brazil
6 = Düsseldorf “Bundesrepublik Deutschland” Volkswagen: LT
7 = Ludwigsfelde “Bundesrepublik Deutschland” Volkswagen: LT
8 = Dresden “Bundesrepublik Deutschland” from 2000
9 = Hino/Toyota “Japan” 1989 to 1997
9 = Sarajevo “Bosnia and Herzegovina” from 2002
A = Pacheco, Argentina
A = Ingolstadt
B = Brussels
C = SB Cambo Work 4, Brazil
C = Taipei, Taiwan
D = Ipiranga, Brazil
D = Bratislava, from 1995
E = Emden
F = Resende “Brasilien”
G = Steyr-Daimler Puch “Österreich” until 1995
H = Hanover
J = Jarkarta “Indonesian” from 1998
K = Osnabruck
L = Leipzig “Bundesrepublik Deutschland” from 2001
M = Puebla, Mexico
N = Neckarsulm
N = Mlada / Boleslav “Tschechien” (Skoda: 1U,6Y)
P = Mosel, Saxony
P = Anchieta “Brazilian”
R = Martorell “Spanien” from 1996 (Seat)
R = Resende “Brasilien”
S = Salzgitter “Bundesrepublik Deutschland” 1970 to 1975
T = Sarajewo “Jugoslawien” until 1994
T = Taubate “Brazilian”
U = Uitenhage, South Africa (until the mid-80s Westmoreland, USA)
V = Palmela “Portugal” from 1994 (Auto Europe)
V = Westmoreland “USA” 1979 to 1989
W = Wolfsburg
X = Poznan “Poland” from 1995
Y = Navara / Pamplona “Spanien” from 1986 (Seat)
Z = Zuffenhausen “Bundesrepublik Deutschland” 1995
Z = SKD für Ukraine “Ukraine” from 2005

Position 12 – 17: Serial Numbers
Starting with 000 001 for each new model year.

The fictitious chassis number in the above example is therefore of a VW Phaeton, produced in Dresden (Germany) in the year 2009.

Fraud:
It sometimes happens that the chassis number of a stolen car is changed, eg by a number of another (identical) damaged car that is a total loss and can no longer be repaired. The chassis number of the stolen car no longer exists and the damaged car is supposedly 'repaired' and then sold. This is called "catch-over".

Fortunately, it regularly happens that the thieves are caught and the stolen cars (with the new chassis numbers) are confiscated. If the owner of the insurance company has not yet been paid, the original chassis number is stamped somewhere in the car. No longer in the same place as where the number of, for example, the previously mentioned damaged car. That number is edited with X. Only X's can be seen, making the number unrecognizable. The original chassis number is stamped on a different spot on the chassis. A new registration certificate is then created on which the location of the new chassis number can be traced.