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Motor1
Motor1
Business
Dan Mihalascu

Your Car's VIN Isn't Random. Here's What Those 17 Characters Really Mean

That 17-character string of letters and numbers stamped on your dashboard, door jamb, or registration paperwork might look like a random jumble. It's not. Your car's Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN, follows a standardized structure that can reveal surprisingly much about the vehicle.

The VIN can tell you things such as where the vehicle was built, who manufactured it, and certain details about its configuration.

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