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This section provides a top view of a vehicle, it's related information and processes.

Vehicle Information

Every single vehicle is indentified by a unique ID called a VIN (Vehicle Indentification Number).
Alongside the VIN, there are other information that identify a group of vehicles, the imporant identifiers are listed below

Priamry Identifier

VIN

Overview

VIN (Vehicle Identifiction Number) is a 17 digit string that's used to uniquely identify a vehicle (Example: MR0AX8CDXP4446478).
VINs consists of 3 main components:

  1. WMI (3 Characters) which is the World manufacturer identifier. (Example: MR0)
  2. VDS (6 Characters, the 6th character is the checksum digit) which is the Vehicle Descriptor Section. (Example: AX8CDX)
  3. VIS (8 Characters) which is the Vehicle Indicator Section. (Example: P4446478)

Validation

The 9th digit of a VIN is Check digit. Using a simple mathmatical formula, you can validate most VINs more precisely than simply checking if the string is 17 digit. More information can be found on this Wiki Article.

VIN Validation Code Example 
public static bool ValidateVin(string vin)
{
    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(vin) || vin.Length != 17)
        return false;

    var TransliterationTable = new Dictionary<char, int>();

    TransliterationTable['0'] = 0;
    TransliterationTable['1'] = 1;
    TransliterationTable['2'] = 2;
    TransliterationTable['3'] = 3;
    TransliterationTable['4'] = 4;
    TransliterationTable['5'] = 5;
    TransliterationTable['6'] = 6;
    TransliterationTable['7'] = 7;
    TransliterationTable['8'] = 8;
    TransliterationTable['9'] = 9;
    TransliterationTable['A'] = 1;
    TransliterationTable['B'] = 2;
    TransliterationTable['C'] = 3;
    TransliterationTable['D'] = 4;
    TransliterationTable['E'] = 5;
    TransliterationTable['F'] = 6;
    TransliterationTable['G'] = 7;
    TransliterationTable['H'] = 8;
    TransliterationTable['J'] = 1;
    TransliterationTable['K'] = 2;
    TransliterationTable['L'] = 3;
    TransliterationTable['M'] = 4;
    TransliterationTable['N'] = 5;
    TransliterationTable['P'] = 7;
    TransliterationTable['R'] = 9;
    TransliterationTable['S'] = 2;
    TransliterationTable['T'] = 3;
    TransliterationTable['U'] = 4;
    TransliterationTable['V'] = 5;
    TransliterationTable['W'] = 6;
    TransliterationTable['X'] = 7;
    TransliterationTable['Y'] = 8;
    TransliterationTable['Z'] = 9;

    var WeightTable = new int[] { 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 10, 0, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 };

    var sum = 0;

    var valid = true;

    for (var i = 0; i < vin.Length; i++)
    {
        var character = vin[i];

        if (!TransliterationTable.Keys.Contains(character))
        {
            valid = false;
            break;
        }

        var value = TransliterationTable[character];

        var weight = WeightTable[i];

        var product = value * weight;

        sum = sum + product;
    }

    var reminder = (sum % 11);

    var reminderString = reminder.ToString();

    if (reminder == 10)
        reminderString = "X";

    if (vin.Substring(8, 1) != reminderString)
    {
        valid = false;
    }

    return valid;
}

public static validateVin(vin:string): boolean {
    var TransliterationTable = {
        '0': 0,
        '1': 1,
        '2': 2,
        '3': 3,
        '4': 4,
        '5': 5,
        '6': 6,
        '7': 7,
        '8': 8,
        '9': 9,

        '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
    };

    var WeightTable = [8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 10, 0, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2];

    var sum = 0;

    var valid = true;

    for (var i = 0; i < vin.length; i++) {

        var char = vin[i].toUpperCase();

        var value = TransliterationTable[char];

        if (value === undefined) {
            valid = false;
            break;
        }

        var weight = WeightTable[i];

        var product = value * weight;

        sum = sum + product;
    }

    var reminder = (sum % 11).toString();

    if (reminder === '10')
        reminder = 'X';

    if (vin[8] != reminder) {
        valid = false;
    }

    return valid;
}

Note: You can use https://www.randomvin.com to generate random valid VINs for test purposes.

VIN Decoder

VIN Decoder Package

The following package is used to detect, validate and decode VINs. https://github.com/ShiftSoftware/ADP.VINDecode

it provides SDKs for the following platforms/languages

  • dotnet (C#)
  • TypeScript
  • Flutter (Not Implemented yet)
  • Android (Not Implemented yet)
  • iOS (Not Implemented yet)

Non Primary Vehicle Information

Variant

A Variant is used to identify a group of vehicles (Example: 11371HB202301).
Variants consist of 4 main components.

Starting from the end of the code

  1. 01: The last two digits: Always 01 and it's ignored.
  2. Year Model: The last 6 digits, excluding the constant 01 (Example: 2023).
  3. SFX: The last 8 digits, excluding Year Model and the Constant (Example: HB).
  4. Model Code: What remains after excluding SFX, Year Model, and the constant. (Example: 11371).

Katashiki

A Katashiki is also used to identify a group of vehicles. But it's broader than variant (For example it does not change based on Year Model). (Example: TGN121L-DTTHKV).

Katashiki Codes consist of two components

  1. Service Model Code: The first component after seperating by a hyphen, and removing the L (Example: TGN121).
  2. The Second component is not used individually

Note

  • The "L" character in the first portion of Katashiki may not always be the last character. We remove it regardless of it's position. (Example: For F800LE-GQMFG, the Service Model Code is: F800E).
  • Some Katashiki codes don't include an L character in the first portion. (Example: For SH2PEUA-DSW, the Service Model Code is: SH2PEUA)

Color

Every vehicle has a Color Code that identifies the Exterior Color of a car (Example: 040).

Trim

Every vehicle has a Trim Code that identifies the Interios Color of a car (Example: 42).

Brand (Franchise)

An Automotive manufacturer company may produce vehicles under multiple brands. For example, as of 2022, the Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under four brands: Daihatsu, Hino, Lexus and the namesake Toyota.