Ananasfreak

When researching the history of a vehicle it is best to know its true origins. Whether you are planning to purchase a truck and need to know its history, or you are selling your vehicle and want to give the most complete information on it to interested parties, it’s important to know where to find this information.

Since the turn of the century every vehicle produced that is sold in the world includes an ID called a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). Each VIN number decoder consists of critical information that acts like a fingerprint for that car or truck. No two vehicles will ever have the same VIN number.

Prior to 1981 each car maker had control to create whatever system they wanted to use to identify their vehicles. Mass confusion ensued over the years with no easy way to determine what vehicle a VIN represented just by looking at it. The problem was solved by an industry standard 17-character identifier that was released in 1981. If you want to read the older formats there are several resources on the Internet, but only Decode This! (http://www.decodethis.com) provides a universal VIN decoder that will decode all early VINs from a single source.

The current VIN format is divided into several sections that allows certain information to be determined from the ID. Each manufacturer, for example, is identified by the first few characters. The VIN also includes an engine code, model year, restraint system, and a six-digit serial number. Together this code makes up the VIN. Again, Decode This! provides a comprehensive modern VIN decoder to allow you to automatically decode this information.

While the VIN includes quite a bit of information it is important to note what it does NOT include. There is no data on the specific optional equipment items installed on an individual vehicle. Since the VIN is assigned to the car or truck at the start of the assembly line, and the optional equipment items are installed later in the process, the VIN number has no information on this optional equipment. This means the VIN can tell you the probable equipment that was available for a particular model year, but it will not be a vehicle history report on a certain vehicle. The original manufacturers have this information in separate databases that they license for use to certain vendors.

VIN decoders such as Decode This! take the VIN and using a database of information provide the information contained in that identifier in an easy to understand format. Decode This! for example has an extensive on all the information available for each model year and manufacturer of cars and trucks in the US. You can get a detailed report of the information available for your vehicle.

Other sources can use this VIN information to provide a way to quickly identify a vehicle. WindowSticker.us (http://www.windowsticker.us), a custom window sticker application, uses the VIN to determine the make, model, and year, as well as what the standard and optional equipment was available for the model year. It also can determine the possible internal and external color choices that were available.

So when you’re looking for information about a vehicle the VIN is a great way to start the process.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!