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“VIN is an abbreviation for Vehicle Identification Number, a distinctive set of numbers and characters given to every car upon production.”
An abbreviation for Vehicle Identification Number, VIN refers to a distinctive set of numbers and characters allocated to every car upon its production. It is a linear sequence of 17 characters without spacing, and excluding characters that could potentially be confused with numbers like Q/q, I/i, and O/o. Each segment of the VIN contains particular information about the car like when or where it was made and by whom.
VIN can be used when you want to buy a second-hand car, to obtain information about it. It can also be used to track the history of the particular vehicle i.e. if there was a safety issue or defect related to that model.
VIN can be found:
When decoding VIN, it is best to approach it by sections:
1. The first 3 digits are the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI):
2. The next 6 elements are the “descriptors”:
3. The last 8 digits are the “identifier”: