All vehicles have a license plate that allows them to be identified in any daily situation. However, this identification system is not sufficient in certain contexts or in the workshop itself. Manufacturers, for this reason, have a code, which is called the chassis number.
The chassis number is responsible for describing in a very detailed way the constructive peculiarities of the version of a particular car model. Therefore, it is necessary to know that all vehicles also have a serial number to be identified accurately without any margin of error.
Here we tell you everything you need about it, and how to find the chassis number.
What is the frame number?
The VIN number, also called the chassis number or VIN, is a sequence of alphanumeric digits that uniquely identifies each vehicle on the market. This is a number made up of 17 digits grouped into three specific blocks. The following must be taken into account regarding this number:
- The digits from 1 to 3 refer, respectively, to manufacturing data, such as the car’s manufacturing continent; country of manufacture; and car manufacturer.
- The digits from 4 to 9 are responsible for showing construction approvals of the car. The fourth digit refers to the model of the car; digits five to eight, characteristics of the type of engine, power supply, engine family…, and the ninth digit, the type of transmission.
- Digits 10 to 17 give information about the car’s make and the vehicle’s serial number. The tenth digit indicates the year of manufacture; the eleventh, the location of the production plant; and 12 through 17, the manufacturer’s production number.
What is the chassis number used for in workshops?
The chassis number uniquely identifies a vehicle and allows workshop operators to consult all the information, from its date or place of manufacture to the type of engine it uses.
To proceed with its identification, the frame number must be identified in the corresponding workshop management program. The software will define exactly the particularities of manufacturing in order to be able to carry out precise tasks in the workshop such as:
- Spare parts orders
- Precise appraisal of claims to avoid assignment of erroneous serial spare parts.
- Budgeting
Likewise, thanks to this number it is possible to know in detail the history of the vehicle. In this way, it is possible to know the repairs of the same that have taken place in the workshop, if it has received any modification, the purchase and sale operations in which it has been involved, etc.
In addition to all of the above, it must be taken into account that the chassis number also offers information in order to detect stolen vehicles in which the code may have been manipulated.
It should also be borne in mind that the chassis number offers very valuable information to insurance companies, public administrations, national security forces, customers, etc.
Where is the frame number?
Once all of the above is known, if you want to know how to find the chassis number on your vehicle, you must take into account that it is indicated in the vehicle’s technical data sheet. In addition, it must be engraved on legible and secure parts of the vehicle.
In this sense, there is not a specific location where it is for all cars so that you can consult it quickly, although you can usually locate it in some of these parts:
- Die-cut or engraved on the manufacturer’s plate that some vehicles incorporate on the front end, in some of the parts of the front volume.
- Die-cut on the floor of the passenger compartment next to the seat.
- It can be stamped on the suspension turret or on the dashboard sheet metal in the engine compartment.
- It can be printed on stickers located on the B-pillars or on other components of the structure in the forward volume.
- Printed on a small plate located on the instrument panel.
In this way, you will be able to know the chassis number, which, as we have mentioned, offers information related to a particular vehicle.
In some cases, using this code or deciphering it provides both users and workshops with the information they need to be able to carry out their work. For this reason, it is very important to know this number or at least know where it is located so that you can consult it whenever necessary.
However, the easiest way to access it is by using the vehicle’s technical data sheet. This information is reflected in it along with other data that, with the use of different codes, indicate the rest of the characteristics of that specific vehicle. Hence the importance of this document.
