History

• According to CARFAX, all cars and light trucks manufactured in 1981 or later have VINs. Each VIN is issued using a system created by the US Department of Transportation and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
  
  The idea of the VIN originated several decades earlier and out of sheer necessity to differentiate the many different cars in the United States. In the 1950s, US automobile manufacturers began printing numbers on their vehicles to identify where each was made, its model, and engine information. These numbers were less complex than modern VINs, but served much the same purpose.
  
  

Function

• The VIN number contains a lot of information, including the vehicle's make and model, the year it was built, the type of engine it uses, the type of vehicle restraint system it has, its body style, and its weight. The first number in the combination represents the vehicle's country of origin. There are four sections to each VIN, including the manufacturer's identification, the vehicle description section, the VIN accuracy check digit and, lastly, an individual vehicle identification section.
  
  

Identification

• VIN's are 17 characters long and are composed of both letters and numbers. There are several common locations for VIN's: on the front right corner of the dashboard, under the hood, on the driver's door, the passenger's door frame, on the vehicle's firewall, the radiator support bracket and on the steering column. Each vehicle has a unique VIN that distinguishes it from every other car on the road.
  
  

Effects

• VIN searches can be performed by a car dealership or through a free online search. The site http://www.autocarvinnumbers.com/ provides free VIN searches. This can save a car buyer a lot of pain and trouble by revealing any problems the car has had. Many people sell used cars that have had mechanical problems or have been in accidents in the past without revealing this information to the potential buyer. After all, the buyer would be less likely to agree to the sale if they made this information known. Rebuilt wrecks have a much lower value than similar, non-wrecked versions of the same make and model. VIN searches tell car buyers what sellers may not.
  
  

Benefits

• Driver's Side quotes Roger Frost, the Communications Manager at the ISO, as saying the VIN "was developed with participation of automobile industry and police authorities so as to combat against thefts, trafficking and illegal dereliction concerning vehicles." The Wright State University Police Department recommends that car owners keep a complete record of their car's VIN in a safe spot within their home so that they can provide authorities with the information should their vehicle be stolen. All stolen car VINs are registered with the FBI's National Crime Information Center.