What to do if there is no VIN number in the vehicle title?

What is a car's VIN?

VIN is an alphanumeric combination that includes:

1. WMI (from the English World Manufacturers Identification) is a 3-digit generally accepted manufacturer index (country).
2. VDS (from the English Vehicle Description Section) is a characteristic of a car, consisting of 6 characters: vehicle make, model, year of manufacture, factory code.
3. VIS (translated from English Vehicle Identification Section) – 8-digit sequence: manufacturer’s index, serial number.

VIN first began to be used in 1977 after the adoption of appropriate vehicle identification standards in the USA and Canada. This certification method became widespread in 1980. Since then, VINs have been used everywhere in all car-producing countries. Until that time, manufacturers used their own designations, which made it difficult to identify the vehicle.

VIN number on the vehicle registration certificate

The VIN uses only those Latin letters that do not look like numbers. It is not allowed to use O, Q, I, since there are external similarities with 0 and 1. According to car production standards, manufacturers cannot reuse VIN for 30 years. International ISO standards are used to generate ciphers; according to this method, each code is unique. The VIN is applied by the enterprise that ships ready-to-sell cars to dealerships. The height of signs applied to the body and frame should be 7 mm, for other places - 4 mm.

Car manufacturer country codes

The table below shows the classification of all manufacturing countries according to the codes assigned to them.

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What does VIN stand for?

Decoding the VIN code of the car

The first 3-digit set of characters VIN is an alphanumeric code, each element has its own meaning. First, the territorial location of the country relative to the part of the world, the country, and the vehicle manufacturer are indicated. The territorial zone, and there are six of them, is indicated by a number or letter. It looks like this:

• A to H corresponds to Africa;
• J – R – Asia;
• from S to Z – Europe;
• 1-5 – North America;
• 6.7 – Oceania;
• 8.9 – South America.
• if a manufacturer produces less than 500 cars per year, then the 3rd character of the sequence is designated by the number “9”.

The next 6 characters contain a description of the vehicle parameters. The parameters specified by the specific manufacturer are indicated.

Decoding the VIN number. The first 3 digits are the manufacturer code, the next 6 are the vehicle parameters.

For example, the VIN of cars manufactured in the USA must indicate the gross vehicle weight and its safety class. The last element of the sequence is designated by a number from 0 to 9 or the letter “X” and indicates the authenticity of the INTS. With its help, you can determine whether there were illegal code adjustments by independently changing the symbols. It is mandatory for North American and Chinese manufacturers; in the European market it is a recommendation. For the following list of manufacturers the indicator is mandatory:

• BMW;
• LEXUS;
• MERCEDES BENZ;
• SAAB;
• VOLVO;
• TOYOTA (from 2004 to the present).

In the VIN, the 4 outer elements are designated by numbers. As a rule, the first number in VIS corresponds to the year of manufacture of a particular vehicle model, the second - to the manufacturer. These items do not have to be specified and are guidelines.

The model year for each period is indicated differently. On cars manufactured before 2000 - in Latin letters, from 2001 to 2009 - in numbers from 0 to 9, from 2010 - again in letter format. From 12 to 17, the serial number is indicated in the VIN.

Vehicle model year by VIN number

For the user of a conventional vehicle, these values ​​are of no value. However, for owners of vintage cars, as well as those from the premium segment, elements of consistency are very important. The fewer similar vehicles, the higher the cost of movable property.

Why is there no VIN number on the PTS?

There is no identification number in the PTS for 3 reasons, two of them are legal:

• absent from the car itself: the car was released before 1980, during the Soviet era;
• a right-hand drive car produced for the domestic Japanese market;

When the VIN is missing legally, the inspection has no claims against car owners. The body number assigned at the factory acts as an identifier.

The illegal absence of a VIN code is explained by the resale of the car, where it was deliberately erased to conceal the fact of theft. If the code is missing due to someone’s negligence, this is also a violation.

Where is the car's VIN?

The VIN can be found in several places on the vehicle. It all depends on the manufacturer. For vehicles manufactured in the USA, the code is placed under the windshield. It's easy to spot without having to open the hood. The VIN is also applied to the body part, a special metal plate under the hood of the car, on the threshold and on the side of the side door.

Location of VIN numbers on a car (example)

In domestically produced cars, the code is indicated on the partition between the passenger compartment and the engine on the passenger side or on the shock absorber strut on the right. This is due to the need to protect movable property from theft and theft. Only vehicle manufacturers know the exact location of the VIN. The average person learns such information after the car is repaired or during disassembly.

Only vehicle manufacturers know the exact location of VIN numbers on cars.

To reduce the risk of forgery, the code is applied through laser burning of symbols or embossing. If there is not enough space, the VIN can be printed in two rows. The main thing is that there should be no spaces between characters of the same group.

Minted VIN number

Decoding

It contains almost all the information about the car, including the engine number. The VIN code can be read both on the car itself and in the technical passport or registration certificate. It can be applied anywhere on a car, but most automakers place it between the windshield and the engine compartment.

It is usually applied by laser or by embossing. It is divided into three (WMI), six (VDS) and eight-digit (VIS) parts where numbers and English letters are used, excluding I, O, Q so that there is no confusion with numbers.

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• WMI (WorldManufacturers >Extracting engine information from VIN code

As can be seen from the above, the VIN code itself does not indicate the model and engine number. How can you recognize them, for example, in order to check the “cleanliness” of a car purchased second-hand?

Let's look at several manufacturers and what you can find out about the engine using the VIN code.

• AUDI - the car has a European standard VIN. Using the code, you can find out the manufacturer, for which markets the modification was made, model, assembly plant, serial number, etc. Knowing the exact model of the car, you can find out the type of installed power unit.
• FORD - the VIN code indicates the manufacturer, body type, location of production, model, month and year of production. Just as in the case of AUDI, you can find out the engine brand by the car model.
• Volkswagen - also, by looking at the VIN you can find out the year of manufacture and model, and using this information you can determine what model of engine is installed in this car.
• Mitsubishi - these cars have more information hidden in the VIN. It indicates the manufacturer's code, what type of body, what gearbox, model, engine code, type of car, year of production, production plant, serial number. By the engine code you can determine the type and displacement. To understand, if a Lancer has the number 5 in its engine code, this means that it has a 4G93 engine with a volume of 1834 cm 3 installed.
• BMW - the code indicates the car model, year of manufacture, and, based on this data, you can find out the engine type.
• Toyota - in the VIN code of these cars, the sixth digit indicates the series of installed engines. The rest of the data is the same as that of other automakers - place of production, body, model, serial number.
• Opel - on these cars both the car model code and the engine code are indicated.
• Skoda - in Skoda, the engine type is indicated by the fifth letter in the VIN code.

Thus, we can conclude that finding out the number of the installed engine using the VIN code is very problematic. From it you can only find out the modification and type of engine. If you really need to find out the engine number, you can turn to sites that offer services to provide information based on the data specified in the VIN code, but obtaining the information will cost a certain amount.

You can contact the dealer, and he, by contacting the manufacturer, can provide information on the car’s configuration with license plate units, but this will take some time and it is not a fact that the dealer will be ready to provide such information for free.

By the way, for many foreign manufacturers, the engine is not a numbered part, but the number printed on it is actually a technological number and is only needed during assembly of the car.

Checking the VIN number when purchasing a car

When purchasing a car, special attention should be paid to the VIN plate located on the engine compartment. There should be no scratches, visible signs of replacement of code symbols, or dents. If such defects are found, you should be wary. Perhaps the seller is trying to sell a car that is stolen or consists of different parts. It doesn’t take much effort to forge electronic or paper documents.

Under no circumstances should you buy a car with a VIN number in the engine compartment that looks like this.

As for information printed on car parts, it is almost impossible to quietly correct clearly embossed letters and numbers. So, when initially inspecting a car for the purpose of purchasing, you should be very careful. You should pay attention not only to the appearance of the iron horse, but also to the technical characteristics and parameters.

Difficult to read vehicle VIN number on the frame. It is worth paying close attention to these types of flaws.

The VIN is indicated in the technical vehicle passport (usually in the first line). When registering with the traffic police, information is entered into the vehicle registration certificate. The code is also entered when issuing OSAGO and CASCO policies. In this case, you need to check that the entire sequence of numbers matches the one indicated on the car. As a rule, symbols are entered into the documentation in one row; on a vehicle they can be in either 1 or 2 lines.

VIN number of the car on the PTS

What if it is missing?

If suddenly the reason for the absence of a VIN is found out, and it is illegal, then the owner will face a summons to court. After all, a stolen car is no joke. But there are several options to get out of the situation:

• Proof in court that the owner is a bona fide buyer (all necessary documents are available).
• Filing a claim for a response from the seller regarding the return of funds for a stolen car.

To recognize in court the fact of a contract without violations, the following documents must be attached:

1. 
   contract of sale;

2. PTS;
3. statement of claim.

As a bona fide buyer, it is possible to return the funds spent on the car.

The seller will have to refund the money for the unregistered vehicle.

What is VIN for?

The VIN code is used to check the vehicle in the stolen vehicle database system in order to track fines. To do this, you can go to the traffic police website or a third-party similar service.

An example of checking the VIN number of a clean car using stolen car databases

There is another verification option: send the vehicle for examination to the traffic police, but the service is provided on a paid basis. The cost varies between 2500 rubles. The cipher is verified over a period of time as requests are sent to several official authorities at once.

Detection of broken VIN numbers during examination

VIN is also convenient to use when searching for necessary spare parts via the Internet. To do this, you don’t even need to manually enter characters; you can scan them through special applications and use them when checking or searching for the necessary parts.

Using VIN, you can also determine the number of previous owners and check how much the actual equipment of movable property coincides with what was provided by the manufacturer.

What can you find out from a car's VIN?

Using INTS, you can find out all the “ins and outs” of movable property. This includes characteristics such as:

• year of issue;
• number, engine size;
• power (hp);
• engine's type;
• model year and other information about the vehicle's equipment.
• information about road accidents and insured events;
• data on previous registration actions,
• information about the use of the vehicle as a taxi;
• are there any restrictions and prohibitions;
• whether the vehicle is listed as collateral or a loan;
• is there any criminal information about the car (theft, theft, etc.);
• customs information.

Information about the car (not all), which can be found by VIN number

How to find out the engine model?

This question may arise, for example, when buying a used car.

When buying a car second-hand, the new owner may discover that the engine in the car is not original. Without knowing the exact model of the engine, the car owner may encounter additional difficulties, for example, during repairs and selection of spare parts. Is it possible to determine the car engine model without wasting time?

The first way is to look under the hood of your iron horse.

Some automakers mark their power units on the assembly line, indicating the engine brand and its series. By looking at the manufacturer and engine series number on the Internet, you can quickly find all the necessary information about the engine and its characteristics.

It is not always possible to recognize the type of engine by its markings.

For example, the designation “OM” means that your car’s engine is manufactured by Mercedes.

An error appears when checking the VIN. What to do?

There may be several reasons:

1. the code was incorrectly read by a special device or through an application, you need to repeat the procedure.
2. characters were entered incorrectly: instead of the Latin one, the Russian keyboard layout was used, you should change it back.
3. If the code entered is correct and the error does not disappear, it means you have a fake VIN. Perhaps it was redone, changing some of the numbers. If the car was purchased on the secondary market, you should contact the previous owner or contact the traffic police to find out the reasons.

How is a VIN faked? Signs of adjustments

In order not to be deceived, when choosing a car you need to carefully examine the place where the VIN is applied to see if there are any obvious adjustments there. To correct the code, unscrupulous sellers can use the following methods:

1. completely remove or change the markings.
2. change one number to another, for example, 1 to 4, 6 to 8.
3. change the digital style by erasing “extra” elements.

You can determine that the VIN has been corrected using the following parameters:

• paint remains and traces of code “breaking” are visible;
• the thickness of the coating is not the same everywhere;
• there is corrosion or it is clear that the symbols have been mechanically cleaned;
• the characters are of different sizes and the writing style is different;
• there are foreign elements in the outline of letters and numbers;
• there are seams on the plate with the code;
• the paint material is applied differently to the sign board and surrounding area.

Examples of original VIN numbers (above) and their fakes (below)

If defects are found, you should refuse to purchase such a car.