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Seventeen characters, one of them a check.
Also known as: VIN structure, Chassis number format
The seventeen-character identifier assigned to a road vehicle, structured in three sections.
Identifies a road vehicle uniquely by manufacturer, description and serial number.
Contexts: Public information
Excludes the letters I, O and Q entirely so that they cannot be confused with the digits one and zero, which is a design choice made for a code read off dirty metal by eye.
Contexts: Public information
Carries a check digit in one position in several jurisdictions, so a transcription error can be detected without reference to any register.
Contexts: Public information
Seventeen letters and digits in fixed fields — a world manufacturer identifier, a descriptor section and a serial section — stamped into metal on the vehicle and printed on a rectangular plate.
Both identify a unit uniquely and carry a check digit because the code is read off dirty metal by eye.