Understanding VIN and PR Codes

What is a VIN or PR Code?

VIN stands for vehicle identification number and is the identifying code for a specific vehicle and every car in the world has one. No other vehicle will have the same VIN; you could consider it your vehicle’s fingerprint.

A VIN is composed of 17 characters made up of letters and numbers: 0–9, A–Z (uppercase) excluding letters I, O and Q as this prevents confusion with visually similar numerals.

Decoding a VIN:

• The first character is where the vehicle was built.
• The second and third characters are the manufacturer.
• The second, third, and eighth characters together, identify flexible fuel vehicles.
• Characters four to eight identify the brand, model, engine size, body style etc.
• The ninth character is the vehicle’s security code.
• The tenth character is the year of the vehicle.
• The eleventh character indicates the plant at which the vehicle was assembled.
• The last six characters are the serial number.

A PR code is a production code given to each piece of equipment installed in your vehicle and is used by manufacturers including VW, Audi, Seat, and Skoda.