If you are interested in the history of a vehicle it is critical to know its true origins. Whether you are planning to aquire a car and need to know its history, or you are looking to sell your Porsche and want to provide the most complete information on it to potential buyers, it’s important to know where to got to find this information.

Each vehicle produced that is sold in the US includes a unique identifier called a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). Each VIN decoder contains vital information that acts like a birth certificate for that vehicle. No two vehicles will ever have the same VIN number.

Prior to 1981 each car maker was allowed to create whatever system they wanted to use for their VINs. Mass confusion ensued over the years with no simple way to determine what vehicle a VIN number represented just by looking at it. The problem was solved by an industry standard 17-character code that was released in 1981. If you want to read the older formats there are several resources on the Internet, but only Decode This! (http://www.decodethis.com) provides a free VIN number decoder that will decode all early VINs from one database.

The new VIN format is divided into several sections that allow certain information to be determined from the ID. Each manufacturer, for example, is identified by the first few characters. The VIN also includes an engine code, model year, restraint system, and a six-digit serial number. Taken together this information makes up the VIN. Again, Decode This! provides a detailed modern VIN decoder to allow you to quickly decode this information.

While the VIN includes plenty of information it is important to note what it does NOT include. There is no information on the specific optional equipment items installed on an individual vehicle. Since the VIN number is assigned to the vehicle at the beginning of the assembly line, and the optional equipment items are installed later in the process, the VIN number has no data on this optional equipment. This means the VIN can tell you the possible equipment that was available for a particular model year, but it will not be a vehicle history report on a certain vehicle. The original manufacturers have this data in separate databases that they license for use to certain vendors.

VIN decoders such as Decode This! take the VIN number and using a database of information provide the information contained in that identifier in an easy to read format. Decode This! for example has an extensive on all the information available for each model year and manufacturer of cars and trucks in the US. You can get a detailed report of the information available for your vehicle.

Other applications can use this VIN data to provide a way to quickly identify a vehicle. WindowSticker.us (http://www.windowsticker.us), a custom window sticker application, uses the VIN to determine the make, model, and year, as well as what the standard and optional equipment was available for the model year. It also can determine the possible internal and external color choices that were available.

So when you’re looking for information about a vehicle the VIN number is a great way to start the process.

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