VIN CheckDigit for DeLoreans

VIN Decoder - what do all those numbers really mean?

Created: 2/22/2003

Last updated: 3/10/03

Eric Pullen's Check Digit Checker (used by permission)

Author/source: Rob Lamrock via DML

Date: Sun, 17 Aug 1997 14:36:41 -0400 (EDT)

From: ROBLAMROCK@aol.com

Subject: DML:Vehicle Identification Numbers

Rudy Stoltzmann wrote on 8/16/97;

> I bought a car magazine called Classic & Sports Car (the March

>97) issue and there's a short article about the DeLorean. Somebody else

>may have noticed this and posted it ( I tend to skip some messages so I

>dont know), that a gentleman named Robert Lamrock is mentioned in the

>article. Is this the same Rob Lamrock who helped us out with the right

>way to spell "De Lorean"?? I mean, i think it's pretty amazing to have

>the, as the article says, the "world expert on DeLoreans" on the list.

Yes I am one and the same although I don't profess to be a world expert - that was Classic & Sports Car's opinion not mine. However I thought you might like to read about your VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and how it came about.

The Vehicle Identification Number is a 17 character alpha/numeric number with 10 fixed characters and 7 variable characters:-

SCEDT26T (X) AD 000000

Constant Check Constant Ascending Digit Sequence

SCE = World Manufacturer Code

D = Car Line

T = Series

2 = Body Type

6 = Engine

T = Restraint System

X = Check Digit

A = Model Year

D = Plant of Manufacture

000000 = Serial Number

The year of manufacture is determined from the following table;

1980 A

1981 B

1982 C

1983 D

If production had continued then 1984 was coded E and so on. There were codes in place right up to the year 2012!!!

For those mathematicians out there you can calculate the Check Digit by the following;

a) Assign to each number in the VIN its actual mathematical value and to each letter the value specified in Table 1.

b) Multiply the assigned value for each character in the VIN by the weight factor specified in Table 2. Multiply the check digit by 0.

c) Add the resulting products and divide the total by 11.

d) The remainder is the check digit. If the remainder is 10 the Check Digit is X.

Don't ask me how or why but it works!! (See my calculation below tables)

TABLE 1 Mathematical Value of Letters in the VIN

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

P = 7

R = 9

S = 2

T = 3

U = 4

V = 5

W = 6

X = 7

Y = 8

Z = 9

TABLE 2 Character and Weight Factor

1st = 8

2nd = 7

3rd = 6

4th = 5

5th = 4

6th = 3

7th = 2

8th = 10

Check Digit = 0

9th = 9

10th = 8

11th = 7

12th = 6

13th = 5

14th = 4

15th = 3

16th = 2

My VIN Calculation

S C E D T 2 6 T (Check Digit) B D 0 0 3 9 1 5

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

2 3 5 4 3 2 6 3 (0) 2 4 0 0 3 9 1 5

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 10 (0) 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 =

16 +21+ 30+ 20 +12 +6 +12 +30 +0 +18 + 32 + 0 + 0 + 15 + 36 + 3 + 10

Grand total = 261

Divide by 11 = 23 remainder 8. HEY PRESTO MY CHECK DIGIT !

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