How to tell where your vehicle was manufactured.

1

Came across the following on a Toyota (wash my mouth out) American forum supplied by a private individual.

 As for me it was in the "I didn't know that" category thought it worth sharing particularly as the W that starts my(our)  VIN identification  reassured me that my Syncro was indeed built by the elves in the Black Forest. Hope no one finds their Syncro was born out of matrimony.

Think there has been a previous posting (from Phil?)  explaining the significance of the subsequent VIN  numbers

Cheers

Roger

 

 

How to Tell Where Your Vehicle Was Manufactured

Are you a tried and true Buy American car buyer? Do you believe all the hype that buying American is better for the economy and buying Japanese is causing our economy to fail? Or are you on the other side of the road and you believe Imports are a better buy and they last longer? You may be surprised to learn that the Toyota you drove to work today was actually assembled in Northern California and the Volkswagen your neighbor is driving was actually manufactured in Mexico. Here is how to tell where your vehicle was actually manufactured, no matter what the model of the vehicle is.

Check the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) on your car. VIN numbers were first used by Detroit automakers in the 1950’s and have grown to be a way for insurance companies and law enforcement agencies to determine the vehicle true make, body style, age and location of manufacturer. It is usually in the front window, visible from the outside, right in front of the driver’s side.

Look at the first characters of your VIN number. The FIRST character of all VIN numbers identifies the location or country where the vehicle was manufactured, assembled, put together and distributed from.

If the first character of your VIN number is a NUMBER, it means the vehicle was made the USA, Canada or Mexico: number 1, 4 or 5 – the vehicle was made in the United States; number 2 – the vehicle was made in Canada; number 3 – the vehicle was made in Mexico,

If your first number is a 6 – the vehicle was made in Australia, number 7 – New Zealand, and 8 or 9 – parts of South America.

If your VIN number starts with a LETTER, it means the vehicle was manufactured somewhere overseas, outside the North and South American continents. The most frequently seen letters in the United States are J, K, L, S, W, and Z.

If the vehicle was made in Japan, the first character of the VIN number will be a J; if the vehicle was made in Korea – K; made in China – L; made in England – S; made in Germany – W; made in Italy - Z. Other countries have similar codes and can be researched on line.

The SECOND character identifies the company or corporation who produced the vehicle. Each of the 17 characters in a VIN number means something – additional decoding information can be found on line as it is too extensive to put here.


 
2
WV2 Volkswagen commercial vehicle

25 Type 25

L Year model 1990

G Made in Graz (Austria)

z is just a blank filler



> Roger Bell <bellrmit@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>
> Came across the following��on a Toyota (wash my mouth out) American
> forum supplied by a private individual.
> ��As for me it was in the "I didn't know that" category thought
> it��worth sharing��particularly as��the W that starts my(our)��
> VIN��identification����reassured me that my Syncro was indeed built by
> the elves in the Black Forest. Hope no one finds their Syncro was born
> out of matrimony.
> Think there has been a previous posting (from Phil?) ��explaining the
> significance of the subsequent VIN�� numbers
> Cheers
> Roger
> ��
> ��
> How to Tell Where Your Vehicle Was Manufactured
>
> Are you a tried and true Buy American car buyer? Do you believe all the
> hype that buying American is better for the economy and buying Japanese
> is causing our economy to fail? Or are you on the other side of the road
> and you believe Imports are a better buy and they last longer? You may
> be surprised to learn that the Toyota you drove to work today was
> actually assembled in Northern California and the Volkswagen your
> neighbor is driving was actually manufactured in Mexico. Here is how to
> tell where your vehicle was actually manufactured, no matter what the
> model of the vehicle is.
> Check the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) on your car. VIN numbers
> were first used by Detroit automakers in the 1950���s and have grown to
> be a way for insurance companies and law enforcement agencies to
> determine the vehicle true make, body style, age and location of
> manufacturer. It is usually in the front window, visible from the
> outside, right in front of the driver���s side.
> Look at the first characters of your VIN number. The FIRST character of
> all VIN numbers identifies the location or country where the vehicle was
> manufactured, assembled, put together and distributed from.
> If the first character of your VIN number is a NUMBER, it means the
> vehicle was made the USA, Canada or Mexico: number 1, 4 or 5 ��� the
> vehicle was made in the United States; number 2 ��� the vehicle was made
> in Canada; number 3 ��� the vehicle was made in Mexico,
> If your first number is a 6 ��� the vehicle was made in Australia,
> number 7 ��� New Zealand, and 8 or 9 ��� parts of South America.
> If your VIN number starts with a LETTER, it means the vehicle was
> manufactured somewhere overseas, outside the North and South American
> continents. The most frequently seen letters in the United States are J,
> K, L, S, W, and Z.
> If the vehicle was made in Japan, the first character of the VIN number
> will be a J; if the vehicle was made in Korea ��� K; made in China ���
> L; made in England ��� S; made in Germany ��� W; made in Italy - Z.
> Other countries have similar codes and can be researched on line.
> The SECOND character identifies the company or corporation who produced
> the vehicle. Each of the 17 characters in a VIN number means something
> ��� additional decoding information can be found on line as it is too
> extensive to put here.
>
>
>