Vin#.. what does each # and letter stand for

[showboat33]

would like to understand what info exactly does the vin# show... so far i know the 10th digit is the year when the car was produce....

[Brucelee]

If you REALLY need to know, I could fetch the logic out and post it.

Will do it later today if you really want me to.

Believe me, there are no great secrets in there.

[Brucelee]

Here goes:

First digit: Country of Origin--For Porsche this is a W.

Second Digit: Manufacturer: For Porsche this is a P

Third Digit: Type of vehicle: For 911 and Boxster, this is a 0. For Cayeene, a 1.

Fourth Digit: Model Type There are 6 model types for Porsche, Boxsters are a C.

5th Digit: Engine type: A and B are normally asp. C means turbo.

6th Digit: Designates restraint system type. 0 is active, 2 means passive.

7th, 8th and 12th digit shows the Porsche model number, ie the Boxster equals 986.

9th Digit: Check Digit

10th Digit: Model year. This is a table with no logic except starting in 2001 when this number will be 1.

11th digit is production plant. S is for Stuttgart, U is for Finland etc.

13th-17th Digits: Series number. This is the order in which the vehicle was produced.

Wow, that was annoying.

Enjoy!

[donv]

There is one great secret embedded - the tie between your car and the related databases for it... it is now easy for many makes to generate the lock/ignition key for a car, simply by having the VIN. Car theft rings have caught on to this and now have a relatively easy way to steal cars with no damage - take a quick digital photo of the VIN # one day and come back another with the key!

That's why I've now covered the VIN #s on my cars so you can't see them from the outside - a piece of black cardboard or electrical tape over the VIN plaque takes care of it, and you can remove it if/when needed.

Based on other threads here, it sounds like Boxsters don't totally suffer from this (you need to "train" the key with the car and a PST2 physically in one place to use it in the ignition?) but I'm erring on the cautious side and have the Boxster VIN covered just like my daily driver's.

[Brucelee]

Elaborate on how this theft works in a Porschce. How does knowing the VIN help the crook make a key?


Thanks

[Tool Pants]

A key can be made from your VIN. I know that for a fact because I ordered a pre cut key based on my VIN. Porsche calls it a stipulated key. So instead of buying a key blank you order a key cut for your locks. Problem for a thief is that it will not start the car.

As said, the key has to then be programed for the car. To do that you need a key learning code from Atlanta and as far as I know they only give the code to dealers. Then you need a PST2/PIWIS to code the control unit. I know 2 independent shops with a PST2 and Porsche will not give them key learning codes. They have to go through a dealer who then gets them from Atlanta.

So when it comes to Porsche the gone in 60 seconds is just a Hollywood dream.

[Brucelee]

Indeed. At least at my dealer, you need to show written proof of ownership to get a key made. Ditto to have it programmed. They make copies of the docs of ownership, so at least where I go, this is not gonna help the crooks.



That is why I asked how a crook would steal this bad boy!

[Adam]

So you are tellin me I can't take my key down to True Value or the local hardware store to cut a copy? Are the boxster keys like the merc keys?? Lazer cut?

[Tool Pants]

The key machine is different than they key machine you are use to seeing at a hardware store. It is like a mini router. No hardware store is going to have this machine. My dealer has one in the parts department. One of these days I'll take a picture of it. I did not have to show proof of ownership to have the key made because they know me. For the learning code a copy of my registration was made as I believe that is faxed to Atlanta with the request form for the code.

[RandallNeighbour]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

That is why I asked how a crook would steal this bad boy!

A crook would tow it away so he could strip the car at his leisure in a remote location. It would seem that this is how and why Porsches are stolen for the most part. Joy riders from the hood just can't steal them like an old American car or newer Japanese cars.

My particular car is worth far more in parts as far as I can tell, and the parts wouldn't be easily traceable unless they've been branded with the VIN. I guess we have Ebay and electronically linked salvage yards to blame for this.

[Brucelee]

I was aware of the tow it away issue, which is a bit tough to do in so locales. Sad to see how much we tolerate crime these days.

[limoncello]

Interesting to know how to tell whether the car was made in Finland or Germany. Are there any differences in the two? Someone asked me where mine was made, but I didn't know at the time. Now I know it's a Fin.

[Brucelee]

There used to be quite a bit of snobbery on the location of the build. As you can guess, the 911 crowd was crowing about the German origin.

To my knowledge, the Fins build a fine Porsche!