There are vehicle history services in several countries that help potential car owners use VINs to find vehicles that are defective or have been written off. It required all on-road vehicles sold to contain a 17-character VIN, which does not include the letters O (o), I (i), and Q (q) (to avoid confusion with numerals 0, 1, and 9). In 1981, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the United States standardized the format. In 1954, at the request of the US government, US car manufacturers and the Automobile Manufacturers Association were involved in the creation of the new, standardized vehicle identification numbering system named the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) with an agreed upon digit sequence and concealed chassis markings of this VIN. From 1954 to 1981, there was no accepted standard for these numbers, so different manufacturers used different formats. VINs were first used in 1954 in the United States. VIN recorded on a Chinese vehicle licenseĪ vehicle identification number (VIN) (also called a chassis number or frame number) is a unique code, including a serial number, used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles, towed vehicles, motorcycles, scooters and mopeds, as defined in ISO 3779 (content and structure) and ISO 4030 (location and attachment).
