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Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:01 pm

Any van I have owned or have looked at seem always to have a VIN begining with the WV### etc. Am intrigued that one I have just looked at has a VIN beginning with the number 5.... Any reason for this?

Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:10 pm

NO idea why, as VINs all start with W.

You may have an assigned or, perhaps, altered VIN.

A quick search turns up 25 threads with VIN in the subject line.

I urge you to look in these:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/search.php?search...=titleonly

Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:29 pm

r39o wrote: as VINs all start with W.

Actually, no. :wink:

Beginning with the 1981 model year, all VINs are 17-digit and all Vanagon VINs begin with "WV" (W = Germany/Europe, country of assembly; V = Volkswagen); this is worldwide. Up through 1980, VINs were 10-digit (or less). For Vanagons, the 1980 models will have a 10-digit VIN beginning with "25", indicating the model type.

For example:
25A0012345

25 = Vanagon
A = 1980
0 = passive restraint
0 = check digit/internal code
12345 = sequential production number

If the VIN in question is 17 digits and begins with a "5", something is amiss. If the VIN in question is 10 digits, verify that it's not actually "25".

Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:10 pm

Alrighty Ms Smarty Pants, maybe I do not consider an 80 worth buying?

Which is true as I am quite biased against AC Vanagons.....

Good point, though (and lI may have even noticed that if I read some of the 25 referenced threads above.....)

Thanks....

Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:03 pm

Maybe W is for West-Germany ;)

Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:55 pm

kamzcab86 wrote: r39o wrote: as VINs all start with W.

Actually, no. :wink:

Beginning with the 1981 model year, all VINs are 17-digit and all Vanagon VINs begin with "WV" (W = Germany/Europe, country of assembly; V = Volkswagen); this is worldwide. Up through 1980, VINs were 10-digit (or less). For Vanagons, the 1980 models will have a 10-digit VIN beginning with "25", indicating the model type.

For example:
25A0012345

25 = Vanagon
A = 1980
0 = passive restraint
0 = check digit/internal code
12345 = sequential production number

If the VIN in question is 17 digits and begins with a "5", something is amiss. If the VIN in question is 10 digits, verify that it's not actually "25".

If the letter 'W' stands for Germany, what's the letter for South Africa?

Mon Jan 28, 2013 3:01 pm

Read here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Identification_Number

Mark

Jake de Villiers wrote:
If the letter 'W' stands for Germany, what's the letter for South Africa?

Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:19 pm

Jake de Villiers wrote: If the letter 'W' stands for Germany, what's the letter for South Africa?

In addition to Mark's post:

Digit 1: Describes the region where the vehicle is made. A-H is in Africa, J-R is Asia, S-Z is Europe, 1-5 is North America, 6-7 is Oceania and 8-0 is South America.

Digit 2: Generally describes the manufacturer of the vehicle. For VW this is usually ‘V’, but sometimes not. It is assigned in conjunction with Digits 1 and 3, and may only make sense when the whole 3-digit WMI is considered.

Digit 3: Generally describes the vehicle type. This might be a passenger car, commercial, pickup, SUV, truck, motorcycle and so on.

For Volkswagens, the most common 3-digit WMIs you’ll see are:

WVW - Volkswagen Cars
WVG - Volkswagen SUVs (Gelande)
WV1 - Volkswagen Commercials
WV2 - Volkswagen Bus, Van
WV3 - Volkswagen Trucks
VWV - Volkswagen Spain
AAV - Volkswagen South Africa
1VW - Volkswagen USA (cars)
1V1 - Volkswagen USA (commercials)
3VW - Volkswagen Mexico
8AW - Volkswagen Argentina
9BW - Volkswagen Brazil

From: http://www.clubvw.org.au/vwvin

So, the SA "VolksieBus", "Caravelle", "Kombi", etc. would, in theory, begin with AAV.

Sun Mar 23, 2014 2:30 pm

Great info- all you need

http://vanagon.com/info/vin/index.html

Sun Dec 18, 2016 7:32 pm

I found the Club VeeDub a little easier to understand.

So am I correct in interpreting that ZZZ in the 4th, 5th, 6th spots means actually sold in Australia? "Digit 4, 5 and 6: ZZZ for VWs sold in Australia."

I had thought those were common in European vehicles...

EDIT: found the answer in the GW explainer. Thanks!

Mon Dec 19, 2016 3:25 pm

tarandusVDub wrote: EDIT: found the answer in the GW explainer. Thanks!

It's also explained in the FAQ topic. :wink: