Cars Comp

How to Decode a VW Vin Number

Reading the World Manufacturer Index
1. Read the first character. It tells you the country where the car was manufactured. For Volkswagen, it probably reads W, which means Germany, 1 for the USA, 3 for Mexico or 9 for Brazil.
2. Examine the second character in the VIN. It tells you which manufacturer made your car. A is Audi, B is VW of Brazil and V is Volkswagen.
3. Read the third character to identify the type of vehicle. The character 1 is a pickup truck, 2 stands for multipurpose vehicle, G is for sport utility vehicles, U is Audis passenger car and V is Volkswagens passenger car.
Reading the Vehicle Descriptor Section
4. Find the fourth character in the following list compiled from Auto Insurance Tips and looking up Touareg VINs, to identify your vehicle type.
A: two-door base or economy
B: two-door custom or economy, sometimes Touareg
C: two-door custom, deluxe or Passat four-door GLS
D: two-door wagon GTI, Carat, Sport or Passat four-door wagon GLS
E: two-door Elienne Aigner, Sport, SLC, GLX Passat four-door, four-door economy or Touareg
F: four-door custom or Touareg
G: four-door deluxe, custom or wagon GL
H: four-door GTI 16V or four-door base
K: two-door base, four-door Golf or Eurovan GL
P: four-door sedan or base
R: four-door custom GL, Carat or economy
T: four-door GLI or GLX
U: Vanagon, transporter two-door pickup
V: three-door double-cab pickup
W: three-door delivery van
5. Check the fifth character in the VIN for the engine type. A through E indicate a gasoline engine, running from the lowest available power at A through the highest available power at E for that model car. F means it is a turbo diesel engine.
6. Figure out what kind of restraint system is in the vehicle with the sixth character. Zero is for manual seat belts, 2 is for automatic shoulder strap with manual lap belts and 4 is for fully automatic seat belts. Five stands for manual belts with front airbags, 6 for dual airbags, 8 stands for manual seat belts with dual airbags. The other option is 9, which means the vehicle has automatic seat belts and airbags.
7. Reference the following list from Auto Insurance Tips to find out what model the next two characters identify.
1C: New Beetle
4A: Audi S4/100CS/V8
7L: Touareg
8B: Audi Coupe
24: VW transporter (pickup & multivan)
44: Audi 5000/100/200/V8
70: Eurovan
78: Passat
81: Audi 4000
83: Audi 4000
85: Audi coupe GT
89: Audi 90
Reading the Vehicle Identifier Section
8. Identify the 10th character in the VIN, which, according to Auto Lemon, indicates the model year of the car. A is for 1980, B 1981 and each subsequent letter the equivalent year after that except I, O, Q, U and Z. Y is 2000. Then 1-8 are years 2001-2008.
9. Check this list from Auto Insurance Tips against the 11th character, which indicates where your car was assembled.
A: Ingolstadt
B: Brussels
E: Emden
G: Graz
H: Hanover
K: Osnabruck
M: Mexico
N: Neckarsulm
P: Brazil
S: Stuttgart
V: Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. (USA)
W: Wolfsburg
Y: Spain (SEAT)
10. Read the serial production number, which is the last six characters of the VIN. It indicates the order your car was produced in the assembly line.