Mines a 5 i think or an S and what does it tell me?

 

9th digit in the VIN is a check digit:
https://service.gm.com/dealerworld/v.../vincard88.pdf

Doesn't tell anything about the car itself:
http://www.carfax.com/guides/buying-...r/vin-decoding

 

Check digit is always a number, so in your case it's a 5. This is how its calculated:




To determine check digit (9th digit) of your car you need to take the VIN and assignany letters in the VIN with a set numerical value as follows:A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, D = 4, E = 5, F = 6, G = 7, H = 8,J = 1, K = 2, L = 3, M = 4, N = 5, O = 6, P = 7, R = 9,S = 2, T = 3, U = 4, V = 5, W = 6, X = 7, Y = 8, Z = 9
Any numbers in the VIN remain the same (not replaced) and thus you have a 17 digit number.Then you must multiply each of the 17 digits by a set "weight" (multiplier). The weight applied to each digit is as follows:1st = 8, 2nd = 7, 3rd = 6, 4th = 5, 5th = 4, 6th = 3, 7th = 2, 8th = 10,9th = 0 (check digit), 10th = 9, 11th = 8, 12th = 7, 13th = 6, 14th = 5,15th = 4, 16th = 3, 17th = 2
After multiplying each VIN digit by the associated weight - add up the results of all 17 products.Then divide by 11, and the remainder is your check digit (9th digit).If the remainder is 10, then the check digit is 'X'.

 

Why?

 

Not sure why, but it may have something to do with security. It would be real easy to just pull a VIN # out of your a$$, but the check digit at least requires a minimal amount of math if you want to fake one up.

 

The check digit is just that. It uses a formula based on other characters of the VIN to prevent people from just changing one number or letter to create a fraudulent VIN.

 

I think somebody from the IRS made that up.

 

Naaa. I see big brother playing defense on this one.

 

IRS? Seriously? the 17 Digit VIN was created to standardize the VIN system for all makes, models, etc. This in part was to reduce the chance of VIN duplication during production over the years. The Check Digit is a calculated number from 0 thru 9 and X, based on a formula of applying numbers or letters to create a unique VIN for that vehicle.

The check Digit is created in order to reduce the chances of fraud or from erroneous VINs from being reported to the DMV or insurance companies. It is not a conspiracy.

When looking at a VIN the following are NEVER used
The Letter I or the Letter O (possibly Q) as not to confuse them with the Number 1 or 0.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicl...ication_number is an interesting link on the VIN system and how it works.