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dollhouseyyc
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:01 pm    Post subject: Vanagon VIN numbers... Reply with quote

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?
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r39o
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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kamzcab86
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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".
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r39o
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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....
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ZsZ
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe W is for West-Germany Wink
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Jake de Villiers
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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?
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crazyvwvanman
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 3:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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?
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kamzcab86
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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VeeDubDaySpa
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great info- all you need

http://vanagon.com/info/vin/index.html
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tarandusVDub
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 7:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Vanagon VIN numbers... Reply with quote

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!
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kamzcab86
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 19, 2016 3:25 pm    Post subject: Re: Vanagon VIN numbers... Reply with quote

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


It's also explained in the FAQ topic. Wink
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