Basically a dataset which shows make model and year against European VINs.
This is something I learned just the other day, and I thought others might find it useful. If you have to copy down your car's VIN (say, to enter it into your insurance website for example), remember that if you're not sure whether a character is an "O" (the letter) or a "0" (zero), it's always a zero. Same with "I" and 1 (one). The standard is designed this way deliberately, to avoid confusion.
So if you enter a VIN into an automated system and it's rejected, the first thing you should do is check if there are any "O"s or "I"s in the value you entered.
Also, bonus LPT (the crossover event of the year?): If you need to get a VIN into your computer but don't feel like typing it out, Google Lens is really useful. Just take a picture of it with your phone, open the picture in Google Photos, and hit the "Lens" button. This should give you the VIN in text form, which you can copy and send to your computer. Just remember that it might confuse O/I with 0/1, which in fact is exactly how I discovered this.
I tried using evernote but I can't find a way to get the OCRed text out.
How to read a VIN
*1st character- Identifies the country in which the vehicle was manufactured. For example: U.S.A.(1or 4), Canada(2), Mexico(3), Japan(J), Korea(K), England(S), Germany(W), Italy(Z)
*2nd character- Identifies the manufacturer. For example; Audi(A), BMW(B), Buick(4), Cadillac(6), Chevrolet(1), Chrysler(C), Dodge(B), Ford(F), GM Canada(7), General Motors(G), Honda(H), Jaquar(A), Lincoln(L), Mercedes Benz(D), Mercury(M), Nissan(N), Oldsmobile(3), Pontiac(2or5), Plymouth(P), Saturn(8), Toyota(T), VW(V), Volvo(V).
*3rd character- Identifies vehicle type or manufacturing division.
*4th to 8th characters- VDS - Vehicle Descriptor Section. These 5 characters occupy positions 4 through 8 of the VIN and may be used by the manufacturer to identify attributes of the vehicle. Identifies vehicle features such as body style, engine type, model, series, etc.
*9th Character - The check digit "character or digit 9" in the sequence of a vehicle identification number (VIN) built beginning with model year 1981 (when the 17 character digit format was established) can best be described as identifying the VIN accuracy.
A check digit shall be part of each vin (since 1981) and shall appear in position nine (9) of the VIN on the vehicle and on any transfer documents containing the vin prepared by the manufacturer to be given to the first owner for purposes other than resale. Thus, the vins of any two vehicles manufactured within a 30 year period shall not be identical. The check digit means a single number or letter "x" used to verify the accuracy of the transcription of the vehicle identification number.
After all other characters in the VIN have been determined by the manufacturer the check digit is calculated by carrying out a mathematical computation specified. This is based on vin position, sample vin, assigned value code, weight factor and multiply assigned value times weight factors. The values are added and the total is divided by 11. The remainder is the check digit number. The correct numeric remainder - zero through nine (0-9) will appear. However, if the remainder is 10 the letter "X" is used to designate the check digit value/number.
*10th character- Identifies the model year. For example: 1988(J), 1989(K), 1990(L), 1991(M), 1992(N), 1993(P), 1994(R), 1995(S), 1996(T), 1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000(Y)------2001(1), 2002(2), 2003(3)
*11th character- Identifies the assembly plant for the vehicle.
*12th to 17th characters- VIS - Vehicle Identif
... keep reading on reddit ➡