You can decode your Dodge’s VIN to identify its country of origin, manufacturer, vehicle information, model year, and assembly plant. The VIN is located on the driver’s side of your car, where your dashboard meets the windshield or inside the door jamb.
Your car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) is an important code that you’ll need to know to renew your driver’s license or update your vehicle’s registration. But what exactly does that 17-digit code mean?
Here to break down your Dodge’s VIN digit by digit is the car insurance
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with a comprehensive guide. Find out everything you need to know about Dodge VINs—where to find them, how they’re created, and how to read them. Bonus: stay until the end of the article to find out how to reduce your Dodge insurance costs
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Your Dodge’s VIN is its vehicle identification number. Every vehicle has a unique VIN made up of a set of 17 digits that denote the car’s specifications and place of origin.
There are several places to find your Dodge VIN. They include:
Your vehicle’s registration card
A sticker or metal tag on the driver’s side of your dashboard, visible through the windshield
A sticker inside the driver’s side door jamb
You’ll almost always be able to locate your Dodge’s VIN in one of these locations. There are other places where you can find your Dodge’s VIN, as well. Oftentimes, the VIN will also be stamped on your vehicle’s engine bay frame, either near the strut tower or firewall.
How to decode a Dodge VIN
Your car’s VIN is an important code that the DMV utilizes for a number of car-related services, but what exactly does that 17-digit code mean?
VINs were first used in the U.S. in the 1950s, but it wasn’t until 1981 that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) standardized the practice by developing a specific formula for coming up with unique VINs for each car. Today, VINs represent a vehicle’s place of manufacturing, specifications, and even the assembly plant that produced the car.
VINs use a combined alphanumerical 17-digit code to craft unique VINs for each and every car on the road. The only letters that you will never find in a VIN are I, O, and Q because they are too easily confused as being 1, 0, and 9.
First position: country of origin
The first three digits of any VIN are known as the vehicle’s world manufacturer identifier (WMI) code. For Dodges, the first number indicates the specific country where the vehicle was built.
For Dodge models produced in North America, the first digit of your VIN will be a number between 1 and 5. For internationally manufactured Dodges, the first digit will be a letter between J and R for cars produced in Asia or a letter between S and Z for those produced in Europe.
Positions 2-3: manufacturer information
The second and third digits of your Dodge’s VIN contain identifying manufacturer information. The second digit of your Dodge’s VIN code will either be a B or J, with the latter indicating a Jeep
model. The third digit will denote the type of vehicle, with 4 being used for passenger cars, 5 for buses, and 7 for trucks. Positions 4-8: vehicle-specific information
The next five digits of your Dodge’s VIN indicate vehicle-specific information. These digits will denote the security systems, model, equipment level, body type, and engine specifications, respectively.
Position 9: the VIN check digit
The ninth digit of your Dodge’s VIN is a security code that identifies that the VIN has been authorized by the manufacturer. This digit acts as a “check digit” that stops people from making up fake VINs using the NHTSA’s standardized formula.
Position 10: model year
Your Dodge’s model year is reflected in the 10th digit of its VIN code. Because VINs only use one digit to indicate the model year, certain digits have been reused over the years to indicate more than one model year. The only digits you will never see as the 10th digit of your VIN are the letters U or Z or the number 0 (in addition to I, O, and Q).
Here’s how the VIN model year codes for the last 20 years break down:
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Position 11: assembly plant
Your car’s 11th digit refers to the specific assembly plant that manufactured the car. Every manufacturer has its own system for deciding what character to use for this digit in their VINs. Dodge has several assembly plants worldwide. If your VIN’s 11th digit is A, for example, your Dodge was assembled in Auburn Hills, Michigan
. F stands for Newark, New Jersey
, S for Dodge City, Kansas
, and X for Oshabrueck, Germany. Positions 12-17: vehicle serial number
The final six digits of any VIN are the individual car’s serial number. This number will be completely unique to your Dodge and usually reflects a production sequence number.
How to find affordable Dodge insurance
You can always locate your Dodge’s VIN on your insurance card, but how can you be sure you’re getting the best insurance coverage for your Dodge in the first place? All you’ll need is Jerry
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