Break down a 17-character Vehicle Identification Number: WMI (region + manufacturer), VDS, VIS, plant code, serial, and β crucially β validate the position-9 ISO 3779 check digit. Decodes model year with the 30-year rollover rule that flipped in 2010.
Each character maps to a value (letters translate to 1β9, digits stay themselves; I, O, Q are illegal). Multiply by the positional weight, sum, take mod 11. Remainder 10 = X. Non-North-American VINs frequently ignore this β an X or numeric mismatch there is often benign.
ISO 3779 defines the 17-character VIN used by every carmaker since 1981. Position 1 encodes the region (1/4/5 = North America, J = Japan, K = Korea, SβT = UK / Germany / Poland, V = France / Spain / Austria, W = Germany, Y = Belgium / Finland / Sweden, Z = Italy). Positions 2β3 identify the manufacturer inside that region. Positions 10 encodes the model year with a rolling 30-year alphabet β the character A meant 1980, wrapped to 2010, and will wrap again to 2040. Position 11 is the assembly plant, and 12β17 is the production serial. The letters I, O, Q never appear anywhere in the VIN because they collide visually with 1 and 0.