What do you need to know about your VIN number?
You will need it to do a VIN check. Once you know your VIN, it’s important to record and store the number some place other than in the vehicle. This information is helpful in a number of situations: Helping law enforcement officials recover your car, should someone steal it. Selling your car to someone else and filling out a bill of sale.
Where to find the VIN number on a BMW 1 series?
The VIN can often be found on the lower-left corner of the dashboard, in front of the steering wheel. You can read the number by looking through the windshield. The VIN may also appear in a number of other locations:
What’s the most common way to change a VIN?
VIN altering: Changing one or more characters of a VIN. The most common method of vehicle or auto fraud, VIN cloning involves taking a VIN from a similar, legally registered vehicle and placing it on damaged or stolen property to hide its identity. This allows criminals to:
When did the NHTSA start requiring VIN numbers?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began requiring standardized VINs in 1954 for all road vehicles. Vehicles model year 1981 and newer have a VIN made up of 17 characters (letters and numerals). Before that, the VIN length and format varied among vehicles.
What happens if you change the VIN number on a car?
The altering of a vehicle identification number can have serious implications. In most states, VIN altering is a felony offense that often results in jail time. VIN altering is defined as as: Knowingly removing a VIN from a vehicle. Destroying a VIN so that it’s unreadable. Changing the numbers or characters of a VIN.
Is there a decoder for the VIN number?
The VIN also carries security features for owners and manufacturers. Learn more about the meaning of each digit in a VIN number. If your vehicle was made before 1981, the VIN may be shorter than 17 characters. This decoder works best with VIN lookups on vehicles made after 1981.
What makes up the World Manufacturer Identifier on a VIN?
There’s even a bit of fraud detection in the VIN, in the form of the “check digit,” described below. The first group of three numbers and letters in a VIN make up the world manufacturer identifier (WMI). In this group, the first digit or letter identifies the country of origin.
What does the letter 2012 mean on the VIN?
The letter represents the 2012 model year, but it could also mean 1982. Because the year is represented by one character (letter or number) and the VIN can only contain 17 characters, the code for a car’s year has to be recycled every 30 years.