Do you love driving your Audi around? That’s great, and we know the feeling. You, however, don’t want that feeling of your car being withheld. Why? Because you don’t know it better. So, it’s crucial to know where your Audi came from and how to maintain it better.
This article will address how you can check and decode an Audi VIN. It’s the number that will tell you more about that vehicle. It uncovers everything from the model details to history reports.
Let’s see how you go about everything from identifying the VIN to decoding it.
What is an Audi VIN?
Every car you see manufactured after 1981 has a 17-digit character code. So, your Audi has the same if it’s within that range. The difference between the one on your Audi and other cars is the uniqueness.
So, your Audi should not have the exact VIN as the similar model in the showroom. The 17 characters have information embedded in them. The process of decoding those characters is what will show you the details.
You should note that the Audi VIN is like the DNA strand. It’s unique to that car. That is why you should not see a similar one on another car, even if it’s an Audi. Before you look up your Audi VIN, let’s see where you can find it.
Where is the Audi VIN?
You can start by checking for the VIN on the car. In an Audi, it’s on the dashboard on the driver’s side, at the bottom part of the windshield. It’s well visible from the outside. That is where the law enforcers on the road will check when they need to identify the car.
You can also check it in the following areas:
- Under the driver’s seat. Check for the stamp there with seventeen characters
- On the driver’s door frame
- The multi-media interface menu
- The trunk
- Insurance and registration documents
- The logbook
As you check all those areas, ensure you see the same characters. Any twisting in the characters means there is a cheating case. Once you see it, you can write it down or capture using your phone camera.
How to Decode an Audi VIN
Now that you have seen the VIN, it’s time to see what it holds. You can do that by utilizing a free VIN lookup service on the internet. One of the best ones for such an exercise is VinPit. Accessing such a platform and service involves the following steps:
Step 1: Visit the Website
You can just search for VinPit via your favorite browser and search engine. Once you get the link, click to arrive on the home page. You can scroll or navigate to the Audi decoding page or use the input field provided on the homepage.
Step 2: Input the VIN
Once you find the input field, just enter the characters as they are. After that, click on the search button and wait for the results. The service on VinPit is free. So, you will not need to signup, subscribe or pay anything.
Step 3: Get the Report
It takes a few seconds to a minute to get the report. That, however, depends on the website you are using and where it’s getting the information. For VinPit, it takes about 30 seconds to give you a report download link.
Download or view via your browser what the decoding website has delivered.
What Should the VIN Characters Represent?
The decoding service will do everything for you and get more information. You, however, need to understand what you should see after decoding. This is what the characters represent.
The World Manufacturer Identifier
These are the first three characters. The first represents the geographic region or country where the car was built.
In most cases, it will be a W since most of the Audis are from Germany.
You can, however, find a number like 1, 3, or 5. That means it was made in the US or the American region. The second and third characters will talk about the manufacturer. The second one represents the manufacturer who is Audi, in this case.
The third one will say what type of car you have.
The Vehicle’s Information
The five characters following the first three will tell you more about the car. That’s where you see the engine and model details. You will also learn about the correct spare parts and safety information.
The VIN’s Legitimacy
The ninth digit is the most crucial one here. It’s the one that verifies if the VIN is legit or not. There are complicated mathematical formulas embedded for verification. If the VIN is fake, the ninth character will tell.
The Model’s Year
The 10th position will tell you when the car was made. You can get letters from A to Z or the numbers 1 to 9. However, they avoid the following alphabets and numbers – I, O, Q, U, Z, and 0.
Avoiding them prevents the wrong interpretation. Cars made between 1981 and 1999 will have letters. From 2000 to 2009, you will see the number. Since 2010, the letters have been back in use.
The Assembly
The 11th character will have information about the assembly plant. Audi has assembly plants in Germany, Belgium, Mexico, and Hungary. So, the character you get depends on where the vehicle was assembled.
The Sequence Number
The 12th to 17th characters are the car’s serial or sequence number. It represents the number it received while on the assembly line.
What Else Does the VIN Reveal?
Apart from what the characters have, you can learn about the car’s history. If you bought a new one, there might not be much to tell. For the used one, there will be some details. They may include the following depending on what’s available:
- The car’s past ownership details
- The registration title
- Maintenance and repair reports
- Any accidents involved
- Criminal reports including traffic tickets
- Photos of the car, if available
- Mileage information
Conclusion
You now know a few things about the Audi VIN and how to decode it. You can share this information with other Audi owners who want to learn more about their cars. For faster decoding, you can rely on websites like VinPit.
It’s readily available, free, and only a few minutes to get the information. Audi is one of the best German cars you can have. Ensure you use such a platform to know what it’s made of and what else is there.
