vw vin#

olddirt · « **on:** January 02, 2007, 10:42:52 PM »

i just bought a vw beetle parts car with no title . the saler didn't know
for sure what year it was he said maybe a 72 or 73 how can i tell from
the vin #. 1234567890 digits.which one tells me the year

jim.

Ret.Bugtech · « **Reply #1 on:** January 02, 2007, 11:58:15 PM »

The first number tells you that the car is a Type-1 Beetle.
The third number tells the year. The ten vin number system started in 1965 . example 115 = 1965
116 = 1966 etc etc
If your car is a 1972 Beetle , the vin # would start with 112.
113 would tell you its a 1973 and so on

Russ · « **Reply #2 on:** January 03, 2007, 08:27:25 AM »

Not a forum or site issue, so I'm moving this to Tech Questions.

Zen · « **Reply #3 on:** January 04, 2007, 12:07:45 AM »

Quote from: "Ret.Bugtech"

The ten vin number system started in 1965.

Weren't the 65 - 69 VINs 9 digits until production went over 1 million?

It doesn't much matter if it starts with a 110, 111, 112, 113, or 114 . . . all of those would be 197X models with X being the third digit. But it it starts with a 115, 116, 117, 118, or 119, how do you know if it's a 196X or a 197X?

If I understand it right, this is how it works (please correct me if I'm wrong!):
115 000001 (9 digit VIN) would have been the first Beetle built in 1965. 115 1000000 (10 digit VIN) would have been the 1 millionth Beetle built in 1965. 1975 would have started with a 10 digit VIN with 2 being the 4th digit = 115 2000001. When (if) production for that year reached 1 million, the forth digit changed to 3.

So, the third digit of the VIN = the last digit of the year. All 9 digit VINs are 196X. If it's a 10 digit VIN and the 4th digit is 1, it's also a 196X. If it's a 10 digit VIN and the 4th digit is 2 or 3, it's a 197X.

Ret.Bugtech · « **Reply #4 on:** January 04, 2007, 10:23:20 AM »

Zen , You are correct on the 9 digit V 10 digit. Matter of fact ,the 10 digit # started in July 1966 with the # 116-1021-300 and was the last 1966 Beetle.
Just to make it simple, all US Beetles from the last '66 forward started each year with 9 digit vin #s and ended the production year with 10 digit vin #s.
My beat up dealership manual only goes to August '72 but goes back to Dec 1947. It also tells you what Engine # and size went into what Vin # chassis up to Dec. 1971.
Here is something I really like. It tells the model year, Vin# and what country an accessory or updates were added to the car during the production run like door buzzers , fuel gage and a lot of other small "tricks" VW would add during the middle of a production run. This info would help a lot of people who have VWs with weird "stuff" installed that it often brings up a lot of " disscussion" of whether or not it is suppose to have this "stuff" installed on a certain year car.
I can Imagine how much fun sitting around the ole campfire with this book could be while having a spirted disscussion trying to convince someone that his or her Bug could have been born with a 25 HP "Golden Thrasher" engine :lol: Thats OK ,We have the book :thumbs-up:

Forums

Topic: vw vin# (Read 3694 times)

olddirt

vw vin#

Ret.Bugtech

vw vin#

Russ

vw vin#

Zen

vw vin#

Ret.Bugtech

vw vin#

About Us

Follow Us

Contact Us