VIN Basics Blog

If you were alive in the late 1980s or early 1990s and heard mention of the spaghetti sauce brand "Prego," you almost certainly will think of their catchphrase "It's in there!" No matter what desired ingredient was asked about in Prego's TV ads, the response was, of course, "It's in there!"

We often have potential customers approach us hoping to determine a specific detail or attribute of the vehicle using only the vehicle identification number (VIN). Decoding a VIN can return a large amount of useful information. However, there are still many vehicle details that can't be determined from a basic decode of the VIN pattern alone. In other words, they are not all in there.

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Topics: VIN

If you have read any of our other articles on VIN decoding you know already that the VIN pattern has certain information that it is required to contain in the US and Canada.  However, if you acquire and review a VIN file, like VIN Basic, you will come across exceptions to even these basic rules.  Here are a couple of VIN rule exceptions that have led to questions from our customers in the past.

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Topics: Support, Automotive Data, VIN

It is not uncommon for some of the people that express interest in our VIN data to have little experience with automotive data in the past. They may be new to the company/position or they may be looking to apply an existing business model in a new way that requires a VIN decoder or vehicle data. Many times these people are not quite sure what to expect to get in return from decoding 17-digit VINs. Below is a list of 10 things that you can expect to be returned when decoding US passenger and light-duty vehicle identification numbers.

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Topics: Logistics, Automotive Data, Vehicle, VIN, Auto Manufacturers, Vehicle Equipment

VIN Decoding 101 Part 3: The Market Effect

Have you ever driven in England? How about in India or Japan? Many US drivers, that have traveled abroad, have some colorful and nerve-racking stories about their experiences behind the wheel. These same people are probably confident, knowledgeable drivers in the US. In both situations, they are driving a car with much the same equipment and functionality. So what makes the experience of driving abroad so challenging and perilous?

 

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Topics: Automotive Data, VIN

VIN Decoding 101:  Part 1 - What is a VIN?

On current automobiles, the VIN is located on the dashboard in a location visible through the windshield, as well as, on the driver side door jam. You have probably also noticed the VIN recorded on the title, insurance, and registration of your vehicle. The VIN acronym stands for Vehicle Identification Number. It refers to a unique number assigned to a vehicle that contains information to describe and identify the vehicle.

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Topics: Vehicle, VIN, Safety

Automotive VIN Data Primer

As a data company we come across many variations on needs from our Clients for VIN decoding. In the marketing segment, the term is used very loosely to describe data collections with a tremendous amount of information that can be queried by VIN.. but what is VIN decoding really?

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Topics: Automotive Data, VIN, Auto Manufacturers