Check Digits

From http://home.wxs.nl/~fransang/checkdig.html :
Regulations in the United States and Canada require that the 9th digit of the Vehicle Identification Number be a check digit. Its purpose is to provide a means for verifying the accuracy of the VIN transcription.

Doing their calculations gives us:
My VIN:
1- G- 3- W- H- 1- 2- M- 6- T- F- 3- 2- 1- 2- 9- 2
replace letters with numbers from a table:
1- 7- 3- 6- 8- 1- 2- 4 --- 1- 6- 3- 2- 1- 2- 9- 2
multiply by a weight factor also found in a table:
8- 7- 6- 5- 4- 3- 2- 10 -- 9- 8- 7- 6- 5- 4- 3- 2
equals:
8- 49 18 30 32 3- 4- 40 -- 9- 48 21 12 5- 8- 27 4
sum the products:
8+ 49+18+30+32+3 +4 +40---+9 +48+21+12+5 +8 +27 +4 = 259
divide by 11 and you get 23 with a remainder of

6, My check digit. Now the astute will have noted, dividing by 11 can give you 0 to 10 as remainders. If the remainder is 10 then an X is used as the check digit. As far as I can tell that's the only allowed letter.

Thanks to: Cliff Simpson for this information!

Return to my cars VIN page