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The current VIN is 17
characters long.
This system started in
1981. Prior to that, VINs varied in length from 11 to 17 characters.
Where is it located: Left front corner of dashboard, driver's door jam, various body panels and engine components, your registration and title
A code's specific meaning
may be different on a yearly basis but the position remains the same.
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line | body | engine | model/trim |
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check digit | year |
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Positions 1-2-3 are
the Manufacturer ID code.
1: country code. J is Japan
(1 or 4 is USA, 2 is Canada, 3 Mexico, K Korea, S England, W Germany, Z
Italy etc)
2. manufacturer. F is Fuji
Heavy Industries (A is Audi, B BMW, C Chrysler, F Ord, G GM, H Honda, S
Subaru, V VW etc)
3. Vehicle type or manufacturing
division
JF1 is FHI Fuji Heavy Industry
passenger vehicle, made in Japan
4S3 is a SIA Subaru-Isuzu
factory passenger vehicle
4S4 is a SIA Subaru-Isuzu
factory MPV multi purpose vehicle such as the 2005 Outback, but not the
04 which was a 4S3 because it was still considered a car.
Position 4 is Line type, ie. what product line. B is Legacy, G is Impreza, S is Forester,
Position 5- tells
what kind of body, ie Impreza sedan, Legacy wagon, Baja, Impreza or Forester
wagon, Legacy wagon etc.
D- Impreza sedan; L- Legacy
sedan; G Impreza Sport wgn and Forester; P- Legacy wagon; T- Baja
This code can change yearly.
Position 6 - Engine
types, varies by year. This can change yearly
2 is 2.0L turbo 4cyl; 6
is either 2.2L or 2.5L 4 cyl; 7 is a 2.5L turbo STi motor; 8 is a 3.0L
6 cyl.
Position 7 - model type and trim. First, you have to know the model, then you can decipher the correct trim.
2003: 1: Baja, 2: Brighton, 3: Legacy L, Forester X, 4: Legacy GT, 5: Legacy GT w/ leather, Impreza TS, Forester XS, 6: Legacy Outback, 7: Legacy Outback w/ All Weather pkg, Impreza RS sedan, 8: Legacy Outback Limited wagon and sedan, Impreza Outback Sport, 9: Legacy Outback wagon H6, Impreza WRX, 0: Legacy Outback LL Bean wagon
2005
number | Legacy sedan | Legacy wagon | Outback | Forester | Impreza | Baja |
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Position 8 is the
Restraint. 5- manual seat belts with dual front airbags, 6- manual
seat belts with dual front and dual side airbags.
C: Class C (4001-5000lbs)
MPV
Position 9: check digit. A mathamatical formula that takes all the other characters in the VIN and comes up with a value of 0-9 or X, thus ensuring accuracy. I have no idea how this works. It's a mystery.
Position 10: Model
year: J is 1988, K is 1989, L 1990, M 1991, N 1992, P 1993, R 1994, S 1995,
T 1996, V 1997, W 1998, X 1999, Y 2000, 1 2001, 2 2002, 3 2003,
4 2004, 5 2005, 6 2006,
7 2007, 8 2008...
Position 11- Manufacturing
plant and Transmission: can vary by year
SIA (US Built)- 4: SIA,
5spd SportShift automatic, 5: SIA, 4spd SportShift automatic, 6: 5spd manual
awd, 7: automatic awd, '-' can be 6spd manual, postal car depending on
the year
FHI (Japan built)- G: manual
awd, H: automatic awd, L 6spd manual
Position 12-17- sequential
production numbers. Changes yearly, based on the line
100001 Baja; 200001 Legacy
and Outback sedan; 300001 Legacy and Outback wagon; 500001 Impreza sedan;
600001 Legacy and Outback wagon;
700001 Forester; 800001
Impreza Sport wagon
top
Real examples
4S4 B P 6 7 C 4 5 4 32662- (last digit left blank because this is a real car). |
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position | 1-2-3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12-17 |
this VIN | 4S4 | B | P | 6 | 7 | C | ? |
5 | 4 | 50431- |
what it means | made in USA at SIA, is a truck | Legacy line | Legacy wagon | either 2.2 or 2,.5L. since it's 2005 it's 2.5 | since it's a 4S4 truck, this must be an Outback XT Limited | manual seat belts and front and side airbags | check digit, a mathematical mystery | 5= 2005 | in 2005, 4 meant 5spd automatic | sequential production number |
JF1 G D 7 0 6 9 5 L 51722-- (last digit left blank because this is a real car). |
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position | 1-2-3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12-17 |
this VIN | JF1 | G | D | 7 | 0 | 6 | ? |
5 | L | 50431- |
what it means | made by Fuji in Japan | Impreza line | Impreza sedan | 2.5L turbo, STi only | since it's an Impreza 0 = STi | manual seat belts and front and side airbags | check digit, a mathematical mystery | 5= 2005 | in 05 L was AWD 6spd manual | sequential production number |
JF1 G D 2 9 6 3 3 G 50431- (last digit left blank because this is a real car). |
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position | 1-2-3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12-17 |
this VIN | JF1 | G | D | 2 | 9 | 6 | ? |
3 | G | 50431- |
what it means | made by Fuji in Japan | Impreza line | Impreza sedan | 2.0L turbo | WRX or H6 Legacy wagon
(this is a WRX) |
manual seat belts and front and side airbags | check digit, a mathematical mystery | it's a 2003 | in 1995 G was manaul AWD if made in Japan | sequential production number |
4S3 B K 6 3 5 X S 9 32008- (last digit left blank because this is a real car). |
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position | 1-2-3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12-17 |
this VIN | 4S3 | B | K | 6 | 3 | 5 | ? |
S | 9 | 932008- |
what it means | made in SIA | Legacy line | wagon | 2.2L | must have been 2wd L wgn | manual seat belts and dual airbags | check digit, a mathematical mystery | 1995 | in 1995 9 must have been SIA automatic 2wd | sequential production number |
2009 VIN chart
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2008 |
*****
2008 Tribeca
******
********
2007 Tribeca
2006 B9 TRIBECA
c SoA
2008 Legacy and Outback VIN
****
*******
2007 Legacy and Outback VIN
07 Legacy, Outback
c SoA
C SoA
*********
2007 Forester
c SoA
-
2008 Impreza
****
****
****
1997 Impreza VIN codes
c SoA
1997 SVX