Chapter 01
The check digit
The ninth character is a calculated value used to detect a mistyped VIN. If a lookup returns nothing, a transposed character is the most common cause.
Roadbook
VIN Terminology
Recall records are vehicle specific, not model specific. The VIN is how a manufacturer decides whether a campaign applies to the car sitting in your driveway.
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Where to find your VIN
The VIN is usually visible through the lower corner of the windshield, on the driver door jamb label, and on your registration and insurance documents.
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How the 17 characters are grouped
The VIN divides into a world manufacturer identifier, a descriptor section for the vehicle attributes, and a unique serial section that identifies the individual vehicle.
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Why VIN lookups differ
A campaign can apply to a narrow production range. Two identical looking cars from the same model year can return different recall results.
Slide 1 of 3
Chapter 02
Model year and plant characters
The tenth character encodes model year and the eleventh identifies the assembly plant. Recall ranges are often written in terms of plant and build date.
Chapter 03
Recording it safely
Keep your VIN with your maintenance records. It is not a secret, but it belongs with documents you control rather than posted publicly.