HOW TO USE CHASSIS NUMBER aka VIN TO IDENTIFY:

*If a vehicle is stolen,
*flooded,
*involved in an accident and
*the actual year made. Etc

Chasis number or VIN is a combination of numbers and letters (17 characters in all starting from 1981 when it was made compulsory) used to identify a particular vehicle, place/country/region made, the maker, model, security code, year of production and serial number.

VIN could basically tell you the history of a used vehicle as well as other crucial information even if brand new or used.

The VIN or chasis number serves as the fingerprint of the car. No two vehicle have the same number. And it is different from the engine number. Chasis is the body or frame of a vehicle.

REASONS IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW HOW TO CHECK ARE:

i) To identify a vehicle

ii) For record purposes

iii) History or background of a vehicle. In case you're buying a used vehicle, to be sure its not a flooded, accident, stolen, salvaged or a vehicle wanted because it was involved in a crime etc.

There are dedicated websites one can visit to input any vehicle VIN to confirm its history from vehicle databases.

Some of this websites will give you few details for free and charge you for the full report, others may charge you completely. And there are some that are for free but we all know anything offered for free comes at a cost that may not be too obvious or in manner beyond monetary payment.

Example of one of such websites is CARFAX. You may get a free VIN check at the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), VehicleHistory.com or iSeeCars.com/VIN etc

iv) To ensure you're buying a vehicle of a particular year as advertised by the seller and not an older or a newer model.

This last reason is important in Nigeria as most sellers or buyers have no idea the year model of the vehicle they sell or want to buy. They simply believe the seller who could be genuinely ignorant or intentionally misleading.

Some dubious sellers will deliberately overstate the year model to be more modern than the actually year. This is so the value is increased and they can justify the price put on it.

Some even write the wrong year in the vehicle purchase receipt or sales agreement and will gladly show it to you as proof when in fact the chasis indicates a different year altogether. This is why it's important you must verify from the chasis to be sure it conforms.

However, beware some go to the extreme of peeling off, scrubbing off, painting on or outrightly falsifying or replacing the number just to achieve their dubious objective. For the former, its enough red flag to forgo buying the vehicle because it could be a stolen or wanted for a crime. For the later you may have no way of knowing except you verify from the Customs or VIO if such a VIN exist or not by cross referencing with the registration number. So it's important to verify before you find yourself in trouble.

Noteworthy is the fact that this often occur if a model is of the same generation (I touched on classification of models in generations in my previous post) but different years. For example, some will advertise or tell you a 2003 Camry is a 2005 year model simply because they all have the same design platform and its hard to tell them apart physically so if you don't know how to use chasis number to confirm you will be buying wrong.

Although some year model state the manufactured date at either the driver or passenger door or pillar, its best to use the VIN to verify because a vehicle could be 2004 but the manufacturer year will be stated as 07/03 (the first two indicates the month while the last is the year) meaning July of 2003. A car with a date like that is a 2004 car and not 2003. Reason is that any car manufacturer date stamp showing from the month of July is approximated by the manufacturer to be the next year model. So if the month date stamp is from July to December, the year stated is approximated to be the next year. The chasis number tenth character will confirm this, using this 07/03 example you will find '4' as the tenth character on the VIN which means 2004 model.

Point to Note: cars made from 2000 to 2009 will be represented on the chasis with numbers. From 2010 represented with an alphabet. For example, the number '0' represents 2000. '1' represents 2001. '2' 2002, '3' 2003 and so on to 2009 represented by '9'.

Then from 2010, alphabets are used. 'A' represents 2010, 'B' 2011 'C' 2012 etc. At the footnote of this post are characters that are exempted to avoid mix-up.

Alternatively, you can simply copy the VIN and put on your browser to search and the year model will surface. If it doesn't it's most likely a questionable chasis number.

WHERE TO SEARCH FOR THE VIN ON A CAR

Some car manufacturers or some models have their Chasis number in less obvious places like most that have theirs on drivers side windscreen, driver side door, pillar or passenger side door or pillar. Some have it chiselled on the frame inside the engine bay but on the body and not any component of the engine of the car. Pictures below are examples.

So it's important to search for it. Remember the chasis number consist 17 characters. Some Nigerians go to the seat belts to confirm, but the easiest place to find it is as stated above.

4- INFORMATION EMBEDDED IN THE VIN/CHASSIS NUMBER ARE:

i) First three characters represent world manufacturer identifier, which includes the country of origin, vehicle manufacturer, and division.
ii) The next five digits/letters: These represents the vehicle by brand, body type, engine size, model and series.
iii) The ninth character is the security code.
iv) Position ten lets you know the model year.
V) next is the Assembly plant.

vi) The remaining characters is the serial number of the car.

So before you buy or sell any car it's crucial you know about this and what they represent to be adequately informed.

PS: letters Q, i and O are exempted for VIN of cars made from 2000 to 2009 that uses numbers while the 'Z', 'i' and '0' are exempted from models 2010 that uses alphabets.

*VIN from 1980 to 99 is same as from 2010 to date and are represented by alphabets.

*It is from 1981 that car makers were mandated to start using VIN.

Educative

Some panel beaters now change some digits on vins.. once a car has successfully been stolen. Naija people just tire person, always install a tracker

Thanks chief

They keep inventing new ways. Thanks too for this information

vastolord4:
Some panel beaters now change some digits on vins.. once a car has successfully been stolen. Naija people just tire person, always install a tracker

Thanks chief. Still trying to get a hang on how to respond as I'm new here. Lol

Trustme2:
Educative

I also tried to decode the vin code of the car myself, but my attempts were unsuccessful. So I read an article related to this topic https://edumanias.com/vehicles-cars/how-to-choose-the-best-used-infiniti-car-infiniti-vin-number-lookup/, What do you think about such decoders?