Financial Planning

Decoding Your Car’s VIN Number

Written by Mint.com
Published Feb 28, 2011
1 min read
The views expressed on this blog are those of the bloggers, and not necessarily those of Intuit. Third-party blogger may have received compensation for their time and services. Click here to read full disclosure on third-party bloggers. This blog does not provide legal, financial, accounting or tax advice. The content on this blog is "as is" and carries no warranties. Intuit does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of the content on this blog. After 20 days, comments are closed on posts. Intuit may, but has no obligation to, monitor comments. Comments that include profanity or abusive language will not be posted. Click here to read full Terms of Service.

Have you ever looked at your car’s VIN code? It’s a 17-digit collection of letters and digits that, on the surface of it, is completely random and incomprehensible. But the truth is, each car’s VIN number carries a wealth of information, from where the vehicle was manufactured to its weight, chassis type, series and even engine. In fact, by doing some fairly straightforward math (admittedly, you’ll need pen and paper for it), you can confirm whether a VIN is valid — or fake — by following the steps outlined in this infographic.

For more personal finance visualizations see byJess.net.