VIN Basics Blog

Have you been tasked with picking the best vehicle data and VIN decoding solution for your new business venture or a new product at your current company? There are many things you need to consider when choosing a VIN data solution, such as the depth and breadth of vehicle data coverage, accuracy of the data, pricing, and as discussed in this article, delivery options.

Aside from the obvious difference, one is free and one costs money, there is often confusion around how free VIN decoder services vs. paid VIN decoding solutions differ and why one might pay a premium. Each business has different vehicle data and VIN decoding needs, and while a free VIN decoder might do the trick for some businesses, others may have a need for a more comprehensive VIN decoding solution.

We live in a world that is swiftly traveling towards a fully digital age, making data collection through form submission an integral part of the internet. One of the easiest ways to add significant value to the quoting portals and online lead generations for insurance and warranty is through reverse VIN lookup. Consumers are now able to easily enter their known vehicle details immediately without requiring a VIN, which can push leads through the necessary fields with a higher completion rate. The end users (insurance companies and warranty providers) can act on these leads more efficiently because they have the VIN pattern generated from this tool. Lastly, these companies encourage trust with the consumers by providing users with an experience first while still effectively collecting the necessary data.

The economic conditions of the early 2020s had a unique impact on the automotive industry. Dubbed trimflation by car culture website Autopian, the output in entry-level models was greatly reduced, while high-margin trims became more commonplace and MSRPs were increased across the board. UMass Amherst Professor Isabella Weber noted, “Companies in the automobile sector [amplified] price pressures enabled by a form of temporary monopoly granted by the computer chip shortages. This allowed car producers to focus on expensive models with higher margins and generally raise prices without having to fear a loss in market share.”

All the different vehicle weight terminology can be quite confusing. While some are more obvious than others, the shear mass of information can be daunting. This article was written to take the weight off your chest…

There’s a lot more to VIN numbers, the 17-digit string of numeric and alphanumeric characters found on vehicles, and the vehicle data behind them than you may expect. In fact, VINs can be quite complex.

In many cases, vehicle data and VIN decoding solutions are the foundation of your automotive product’s features and processes. You may have invested a great deal of effort to integrate with your current provider. Perhaps you've migrated to a different data provider in the past and have experience working through the headaches of disparate naming conventions and issues with style/vehicle IDs.  You likely have a customer base that relies on you for progressive development and new features, as well as a busy road map ahead.

The automotive industry is running parallel races toward fully electrified and fully autonomous vehicles, and both races have a deceptively close finish line. EVs will become the norm within 10 years due to a combination of government legislation and manufacturer mandates – Progressive estimates that EVs could comprise 40% of car sales by 2030. Vehicle autonomy, meanwhile, remains a top priority for OEMs as well, with the market projected to reach $200 billion by the end of the decade. Mercedes-Benz is already certified for Level 3 autonomy, a standard that encompasses conditional hands-free driving, suggesting that Level 5 (totally automated driving) is a feasible goal for automakers more quickly than initially anticipated.

The technology involved in developing electrified, autonomous vehicles will not be universal; each feature package will have its own unique benefits, drawbacks, and relationship to road conditions and driver capabilities. Consequently, auto insurers cannot treat “ADAS” or “EV” as monolithic or even loosely segmented variables in their risk analysis; all levels of the organization must have a comprehensive understanding of their car’s technology stack to maintain a balanced risk-to-rate ratio. 

VIN Decoding solutions offer multiple levels of information for vehicle inquiries. Pattern-level VIN decoding provides information from the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI), Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS), the vehicle’s model year, and production plant. Option-level VIN decoding includes the serial number of the specific vehicle and often presents “as-built data” from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), such as installed options and packages, as well as the exact exterior and interior colors.

This post has been republished with updates since its original publish date in March 2012

You've tried to decode a VIN, or a handful of VINs, but for whatever reason you keep getting an invalid VIN message. This can be extremely frustrating, especially if you have no idea what might be causing the failed decode(s). There are quite a few reasons why a VIN won't decode.

If you're having trouble decoding vehicles in your inventory, consider this list of errors and challenges commonly faced when working with Vehicle Identification Numbers.