What's in a VIN?
To decode a Ford VIN number effectively, it's important to understand the significance of each character and its position within the VIN structure. Here's a breakdown of the Ford VIN number structure: World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI)
The first three characters of the Ford VIN number represent the World Manufacturer Identifier. This segment provides information about the country of origin and the manufacturer. For example, the first character indicates the manufacturing country, with “1” representing the United States, “2” for Canada, “3” for Mexico, and so on. The second character represents the manufacturer, such as “F” for Ford Motor Company.
Vehicle Description Section (VDS)
Characters 4 to 9 in the Ford VIN number form the Vehicle Description Section. This segment provides details about the vehicle's attributes, including body style, engine type, model, and more. For instance, characters 4 to 6 may indicate the vehicle's body style, such as “SED” for sedan, “WAG” for wagon, “P/U” for pickup truck, and “SUV” for sport utility vehicle.
Vehicle Identifier Section (VIS)
The remaining characters in the Ford VIN number, from 10 to 17, make up the Vehicle Identifier Section. These characters represent various information about the vehicle's production and unique identification.
- 1.
Tenth Character (Model Year): The tenth character in the Ford VIN number represents the model year of the vehicle. It can be a letter or a number, with each representing a specific year. For example, “J” represents 1988, “K” represents 1989, “L” represents 1990, and so on.
- 2.
Eleventh Character (Assembly Plant): The eleventh character identifies the assembly plant where the vehicle was manufactured. Each plant is assigned a unique code, allowing you to determine where the vehicle was produced.
- 3.
Twelfth to Seventeenth Characters (Production Sequence Number): The remaining characters in the Ford VIN number represent the vehicle's unique production sequence number. These characters indicate the specific order in which the vehicle was manufactured within its assembly plant.
The VIN of vehicles actually gives access to more information than listed here, and with a VIN decoder used in conjunction with a VIN check tool, you can be sure of any used vehicle during purchase. You still don't know why you need to decode your VIN before buying a used car? In the next section, we will take a look at that and highlight some benefits of using a Ford VIN number decoder.
Joses Peter
