Subaru VIN Decoding: What all the numbers and letters mean

[eikond]

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/vin.html

Now that some of us are getting VIN numbers for our inbound cars, I thought it might be interesting for people to understand what these VIN #'s mean.

You will have 17 digits.. A combination of letters and numbers.

Digit 1: J = Country of assembly = Japan
Digit 2: F = Manufacurer = Fuji Heavy Industries
Digit 3: 1 = passenger vehicle
Digit 4: Z = Product line
Digit 5: C = Body (C may stand for Coupe)
Digit 6: A = Engine Type
Digit 7: ? = Model type and trim. Mine is B and I have a premium.
Digit 8: 1 = Code for restraints (seat belts and airbags)
Digit 9: ? = Mystery code #.. Somehow a check for accuracy
Digit 10: D = Model year (D = 2013)
Digit 11: 1 = transmission (1 = Manual)
Digits 12: Something to do with the line it came off of.
Digits 13-17: Sequential order of production. 00175 would be the 175th car built. 03980 would be the 3,980th car built, etc..

I'm not sure what happens when they hit 10,000.. they must change the 12th digit or something??

So we should all have very similar VIN's.. Some poeple are funny about being worried about posting their Vin #. But, there should only be a couple digits that would vary at all.. In our case, digits 7, 9, 11, and 14-17.

[BRZ4me]

Digit 7: ? = Model type and trim. Mine is C and I have a limited. Just received my VIN!!!

[NWIguy]

Originally Posted by eikond

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/vin.html

Now that some of us are getting VIN numbers for our inbound cars, I thought it might be interesting for people to understand what these VIN #'s mean.

You will have 17 digits.. A combination of letters and numbers.

Digit 1: J = Country of assembly = Japan
Digit 2: F = Manufacurer = Fuji Heavy Industries
Digit 3: 1 = passenger vehicle
Digit 4: Z = Product line
Digit 5: C = Body (C may stand for Coupe)
Digit 6: A = Engine Type
Digit 7: ? = Model type and trim. Mine is B and I have a premium.
Digit 8: 1 = Code for restraints (seat belts and airbags)
Digit 9: ? = Mystery code #.. Somehow a check for accuracy
Digit 10: D = Model year (D = 2013)
Digit 11: 1 = transmission (1 = Manual)
Digits 12: Something to do with the line it came off of.
Digits 13-17: Sequential order of production. 00175 would be the 175th car built. 03980 would be the 3,980th car built, etc..

I'm not sure what happens when they hit 10,000.. they must change the 12th digit or something??

So we should all have very similar VIN's.. Some poeple are funny about being worried about posting their Vin #. But, there should only be a couple digits that would vary at all.. In our case, digits 7, 9, 11, and 14-17.

There's 3000+ cars already built? For the US?

[Spd229]

Originally Posted by NWIguy

There's 3000+ cars already built? For the US?

The pre-production cars may have taken some of that pool?

[eikond]

Originally Posted by NWIguy

There's 3000+ cars already built? For the US?

I don't think so.. I just threw out the 3980 as a random example.

There are probably only 500 to 1000 built so far.. and the only people that have VIN's are first group.. first few hundred I guess..

[Grimlock]

Originally Posted by eikond

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/vin.html


Digit 9: ? = Mystery code #.. Somehow a check for accuracy

This is usually some sort of checksum or cyclical redundancy check (CRC). Basically, there are a few well known algorithms out there that make sure there wasn't bit-flip or a read/write error (note that includes when you give your VIN to someone like the insurance company) to ensure it is a valid VIN.

With pure numbers (I'm not sure how they work with the letters), the check digit(s) are chosen such that when the number is run through the checking algorithm, the end result is 0. That way any valid number + check digit run through the algorithm will always produce the the same result.

In the computer world, if a TCP packet (or any other kind of transmission packet that's has a check sequence) gets recieved and it has an error, the algorithm will report that and the program can ask for a retransmission of that packet. The same thing happens when checking memory for bit-flips or invalid writes.

Let me know if you want to know more. Knowing the details isn't really necessary to understand what the check value is doing though.

[tachi1247]

Originally Posted by eikond

I'm not sure what happens when they hit 10,000.. they must change the 12th digit or something??

They will just go to 10001.

I think you meant 100000, which we won't have to worry about with this car since they won't sell 100k of them in the U.S. in any year.

[eikond]

^ Yep.. you're right.. sorry, that's what I meant to say.

[Draco-REX]

I'd like to see a FRS VIN to compare.

Mine matches up. C for Limited, 1 for Manual, etc. The trim level code is interesting. B for Premium and C for Limited leaves A for a base model.

[GMU-BRZ]

Test drove an FRS today, took a pic of the vin under to hood (the sticker had the Subaru emblem all over it haha). Vin is jf1znaa17d2700068.

It was an automatic, so it seems like it might be the same code per the 2 for the 11th digit.

So FRS is A, BRZ premium is B, and BRZ limited is C for digit 7.

[dsgerbc]

Can someone with an automatic post their 11th digit pls?

[Jeff Lange]

9 is the check digit (calculated for CRC check).
11 is the plant.
12-17 are sequential frame numbers.

[Draco-REX]

Originally Posted by GMU-BRZ

Test drove an FRS today, took a pic of the vin under to hood (the sticker had the Subaru emblem all over it haha). Vin is jf1znaa17d2700068.

It was an automatic, so it seems like it might be the same code per the 2 for the 11th digit.

So FRS is A, BRZ premium is B, and BRZ limited is C for digit 7.

Looks like digit 5 is C for BRZ and N for FR-S.

The FR-S could certainly be considered a base model, so A trim could still work for a Subaru Base. Or not.

I do wonder if the VINs are sequential across just the makes or all cars. i.e. Is my car #195 of BRZs, or of all BRZs/FR-S' off the assembly line. And it is for all markets, or just the US? Hmm..

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Draco-REX

Looks like digit 5 is C for BRZ and N for FR-S.

The FR-S could certainly be considered a base model, so A trim could still work for a Subaru Base. Or not.

I do wonder if the VINs are sequential across just the makes or all cars. i.e. Is my car #195 of BRZs, or of all BRZs/FR-S' off the assembly line. And it is for all markets, or just the US? Hmm..

More than likely your car is #195 of that specific VIN up to the serial number position. So, there is most likely a #195 for each trim/transmission/etc variation.