In this video you will learn how to decode the vehicle identification number or VIN number for short.
VIN number is composed of 17 characters (digits and capital letters) that act as a unique identifier for the vehicle. A VIN displays the car’s unique features, specifications and manufacturer.
You can usually find the VIN number in the driver’s side door or in the lower corner of the windshield on the driver’s side or in the vehicle documentation.
This can be done online using igorweb.org/vindec
Tutorial how to use igorweb
The standard by which a manufacturer assigns a vehicle identification number, called a VIN (short for Vehicle Identification Number), to each car produced was first used in 1954 in the USA, but it was not until 1981 that the VIN format was standardised by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The VIN is a 17-digit code that identifies the car in a truly unique way, as the code can only be repeated after 30 years due to its composition. This means that a car made today may have a 30 year old “look-alike”, but this is quite unlikely. Skoda Auto has been marking its cars with VINs since the 1984 model year.
World Manufacturer Identifier
The shape of the VIN number is basically the same all over the world and can be used to read different information. In its basic form, the first three characters of the VIN are used to identify the manufacturer, while the first two characters of this WMI World Code identify the region and country of origin of the manufacturer and the third character is assigned to a specific brand.
“For the Czech Republic, the letters in the series TJ to TP are used, and Škoda Auto specifically uses the manufacturer code TMB,” explains Jiří Vašina of Škoda Auto, adding that, for example, India has codes starting with MA-ME, Japan starts with J, Chinese VIN codes have an L at the beginning, and in North America, countries are identified by a number, so the USA has the number 1, Canada 2, etc. Europe has codes starting with the letters S-Z. The Volkswagen car company in Germany has a W code, so the resulting WMI code is WVW.
The code is assigned to the manufacturer by the authorised approval authority in the country where the manufacturer is based.