Finding the VIN & manufacturing date/year on Indian cars

TOR · 2nd September 2008, 18:28

guess there is a dearth of 'maruti experts' on the forum!

ankit.jhamb · 2nd September 2008, 19:34

since you got your car in august the last digit should be H8(AUGUST) OR G8 (july).

mine is G8,first saw the car on 20th july 2008

NK@Hyd · 24th December 2008, 16:55

Any Hyundai i10 decoding experts here who can verify the manufacturing month?

Vin#: MALAM51CR8M210265 (on the rear car window).

On checking below the dashboard, the same VIN number was imprinted with two additional characters: *K.

The sales guy earlier said that the colour wasn't available and would be coming from their plant in a week, but then informed me a day later that it would reach here within 2 days, which apparently, it did, as they showed me the car today. I am slightly skeptical and wanted to verify the manufacturing month of the car shown to me.

Thanks!

NK@Hyd · 26th December 2008, 00:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by NK@Hyd

Any Hyundai i10 decoding experts here who can verify the manufacturing month?

Okay, I think I got it. The VIN number plus *K is imprinted near the driver seat adjusting handle. The nomenclature is A=Jan, B=Feb...so K refers to Nov.

JVille07 · 26th December 2008, 10:48

Below is the convention followed by Maruti, Am not sure whether Hyundai also follows the same.
A - Jan,B-Feb,C-Mar,D-Apr,E-May,F-June,G-July,H-Aug,
I - silent,
J-Sep,K-Oct,L-Nov & M-Dec
ie: L8 stands for November 08

Fountainheader · 7th January 2009, 20:06

I checked my yet-to-be-registered Swift. They had a sticker on the windshield which had 6 digit numbers for both Engine and Chassis. It had no letter codes.

JVille07 · 13th January 2009, 21:47

Open the bonnet and see. also you can get the chasis number on door on Front door post when you open it.

sundarvenky · 25th January 2009, 19:47

I'm purchasing a new Wagon R VXi next week.Can anyone help me to identify from the Chassis No. that the car is indeed manufactured in Jan.2009?It is one of my pre-conditions to the dealer that I need a 2009-manufactured car.How to ensure that I'm not duped?Also,my current car has Chassis no. as follows: "MA3EED81S00112552".How do I de-code this?What is the month and year of manufacture?Please help.

ImmortalZ · 25th January 2009, 22:12

The number you list looks like it is a proper VIN. But the tenth digit cannot be zero. You can check your future car's year of manufacture by checking the 10th digit of the VIN.

A-Y : 1980 - 2000.
1-9 : 2001 - 2009
A-K : 2010 - 2019

Besides the three letters that are not allowed in the VIN itself (I, O and Q), the letters U and Z and the digit 0 are not used for the model year code. Note that the year code is the model year for the vehicle.

sundarvenky · 26th January 2009, 13:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by TOR

Guys please help me in decoding this, the logic on general decoding does not seem to apply as there are no 'Z'-(which corresponds to 0) in this code...(Suzuki Swift Dzire bought in august)

Chassis number - MA3FKEB2S00-122574

Engine number - DI3A - 1122089

..any help would be much appreciated.

From what I've learnt from BHPians the 10th digit represents the year of manufacture and the 9th place the month."S" stands for the month July and "0" denotes the year 2000.This matched perfectly with my Maruti Wagon R Vx purchased in July 2000

(my chassis No. is MA3EED81S00112552).However,another BHPian has indicated that the months are represented by A=Jan,B=Feb etc.O God,then what's the month of manufacture of my old car per the chassis No.?I'm confused

.

gsbhatia · 26th January 2009, 14:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by sundarvenky

"MA3EED81S00112552".How do I de-code this?What is the month and year of manufacture?Please help.

Full Chassis number doesn't seem to indicate year of manufacture (applicable to Maruti cars at least).

My 2001 WagonR's chassis no is: MA3EED81S00 xxxxxx (Note that initial substring of characters are exactly same as yours even on an 8 year older vehicle)
My new Swifts chassis no. is: MA3EKE41S00 xxxxxx

If you observe the pattern and do a lexical analysis:
- MA3 may stand for Maruti Udyog
- EED81 may stand for Wagon R
- S00 may stand for 4 door sedan.
- Last 6 digits seem to indicate chasis's unique id within a vehicle class.

If you look under the hood, you'll see some information in addition to full chasis number. So, in your case, it may read as follows:

*MA3EED81S00112552*M8 (M = Dec, 8 = 2008)
or
*MA3EED81S00112552*A9 (A = Jan, 9 = 2009)

So, unless you peek under the hood for full information, its hard to tell the year/month of manufacture just from chassis number.

aavi · 6th April 2009, 19:54

Hi folks,

I am buying a Vista quadrajet.
I got the engine number before paying for the invoice but am not able to decipher from it:
100A2000-0003679

He gave me one before and changed it later. The previous one was:
100A2000-0003989

How should this be decoded. I was able to decode the Chassis number as was told here in this thread. No problems with that.

Regards,
aavi

rrsteer · 19th April 2009, 17:49

How great is it to buy a February 09 manufactured Safari in April09 ? Decoded the manufacturing date through the chasis number. The SUV has done about 120 kms from before. Besides this, the SUV was totally covered with dirt and on first inspection looks to be untouched and one that has not been misused.
But should one buy it?

adityamunshi · 19th April 2009, 18:00

Dont take a chance with TATA. Simple as that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrsteer

How great is it to buy a February 09 manufactured Safari in April09 ? Decoded the manufacturing date through the chasis number. The SUV has done about 120 kms from before. Besides this, the SUV was totally covered with dirt and on first inspection looks to be untouched and one that has not been misused.
But should one buy it?

BIKeINSTEIN · 21st April 2009, 18:01

Hello everyone,
My first post in the car section.

My friend has to send his car from Mumbai to Kolkata(hometown).
Needs a print of the chassis number for some documentation iirc.

Can anyone, especially Opel Corsa (/SAIL) owners, point out to where it is located?

My friend said it was supposed to be located somewhere near the front seats and he had both taken off but couldn't trace it.

Not sure if it's a technical query.
I request the mods to move this to the relevant section if this is not supposed to be here.

2nd September 2008, 18:28	#46
TOR BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 263 Thanked: 22 Times	guess there is a dearth of 'maruti experts' on the forum!
	() Thanks

2nd September 2008, 19:34	#47
ankit.jhamb BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: new delhi Posts: 573 Thanked: Once	since you got your car in august the last digit should be H8(AUGUST) OR G8 (july). mine is G8,first saw the car on 20th july 2008
	() Thanks

24th December 2008, 16:55	#48
NK@Hyd BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 60 Thanked: 5 Times	Any Hyundai i10 decoding experts here who can verify the manufacturing month? Vin#: MALAM51CR8M210265 (on the rear car window). On checking below the dashboard, the same VIN number was imprinted with two additional characters: *K. The sales guy earlier said that the colour wasn't available and would be coming from their plant in a week, but then informed me a day later that it would reach here within 2 days, which apparently, it did, as they showed me the car today. I am slightly skeptical and wanted to verify the manufacturing month of the car shown to me. Thanks!
	() Thanks

26th December 2008, 10:48	#50
JVille07 BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 76 Thanked: 5 Times	Below is the convention followed by Maruti, Am not sure whether Hyundai also follows the same. A - Jan,B-Feb,C-Mar,D-Apr,E-May,F-June,G-July,H-Aug, I - silent, J-Sep,K-Oct,L-Nov & M-Dec ie: L8 stands for November 08
	() Thanks

7th January 2009, 20:06	#51
Fountainheader Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 1,501 Thanked: 13 Times View My Garage	I checked my yet-to-be-registered Swift. They had a sticker on the windshield which had 6 digit numbers for both Engine and Chassis. It had no letter codes.
	() Thanks

13th January 2009, 21:47	#52
JVille07 BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 76 Thanked: 5 Times	Open the bonnet and see. also you can get the chasis number on door on Front door post when you open it.
	() Thanks

25th January 2009, 19:47	#53
sundarvenky Newbie Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 3 Thanked: 0 Times	I'm purchasing a new Wagon R VXi next week.Can anyone help me to identify from the Chassis No. that the car is indeed manufactured in Jan.2009?It is one of my pre-conditions to the dealer that I need a 2009-manufactured car.How to ensure that I'm not duped?Also,my current car has Chassis no. as follows: "MA3EED81S00112552".How do I de-code this?What is the month and year of manufacture?Please help.
	() Thanks

25th January 2009, 22:12	#54
ImmortalZ Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 2,195 Thanked: 597 Times View My Garage	The number you list looks like it is a proper VIN. But the tenth digit cannot be zero. You can check your future car's year of manufacture by checking the 10th digit of the VIN. A-Y : 1980 - 2000. 1-9 : 2001 - 2009 A-K : 2010 - 2019 Besides the three letters that are not allowed in the VIN itself (I, O and Q), the letters U and Z and the digit 0 are not used for the model year code. Note that the year code is the model year for the vehicle. Last edited by ImmortalZ : 25th January 2009 at 22:18.
	() Thanks

6th April 2009, 19:54	#57
aavi Newbie Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 9 Thanked: 0 Times	How do you decode engine no for indica vista? Its different. Hi folks, I am buying a Vista quadrajet. I got the engine number before paying for the invoice but am not able to decipher from it: 100A2000-0003679 He gave me one before and changed it later. The previous one was: 100A2000-0003989 How should this be decoded. I was able to decode the Chassis number as was told here in this thread. No problems with that. Regards, aavi
	() Thanks

19th April 2009, 17:49	#58
rrsteer Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: 144022 Posts: 1,253 Thanked: 3,297 Times	How great is it to buy a February 09 manufactured Safari in April09 ? Decoded the manufacturing date through the chasis number. The SUV has done about 120 kms from before. Besides this, the SUV was totally covered with dirt and on first inspection looks to be untouched and one that has not been misused. But should one buy it?
	() Thanks

21st April 2009, 18:01	#60
BIKeINSTEIN BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Mumbai Posts: 101 Thanked: Once	Need location of chassis number of an Opel Corsa sail. Hello everyone, My first post in the car section. My friend has to send his car from Mumbai to Kolkata(hometown). Needs a print of the chassis number for some documentation iirc. Can anyone, especially Opel Corsa (/SAIL) owners, point out to where it is located? My friend said it was supposed to be located somewhere near the front seats and he had both taken off but couldn't trace it. Not sure if it's a technical query. I request the mods to move this to the relevant section if this is not supposed to be here.
	() Thanks