VIN Codes: Check Digits

Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Vehicle Identification Numbers:
Check Digits
Last updated January 16th, 2003

Position	Section	Information
1-2	WMI	country code
2-3	WMI	manufacturer

4-8	VDS	equipment codes

9		check digit

10	VIS	model year
11		manufacturing plant
12-17		serial number
or
10	VIS	model year
11		manufacturing plant
12-14		WMI suffix
15-17		serial number

The following algorithm is used for calculating check digits:

Each letter is assigned a numeric value.

character A B C D E F G H I

value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

character J K L M N O P Q R

value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

character S T U V W X Y Z

value 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Each number or character value is multiplied by the factor for that position.

position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

factor 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 10 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
The resulting products are summed.
The total is divided by 11.
The check digit is the remainder. If the remainder is 10 then the check digit is X (Roman numeral 10).

The only place where the letter "O" has been observed is in the WMI. Other letters that do not normally appear are the letters "I" and "Q" (because of the possibility of confusing them with the numbers "1" and "0").

Introduction

WMI
World
Manufacturer's
Identification

VDS
Vehicle
Description
Section

Check
Digit

VIS
Vehicle
Identification
Section