Is the VIN number the same as the serial number?

Get to know and learn the 3 main differences between these two sets of characters that give identification to your vehicle.

Before we begin to explain what their inequalities focus on, let's start with two simple questions; the first is, do you know what a car is, and the second is, do you understand how a car is identified?

In the first question, most probably 100% will have answered yes, while in the second question, about 50% could answer that a car is identified by the number plate, 40% by the chassis number or serial number, and only 10% by the VIN number.

Having said that, how is it really possible to identify a car if there are 3 options, of which it has always been said that the simplest way to identify it is by means of the patent number or chassis number.

However, when you look at your vehicle card, the experts at CheckCarDNA.com assure you that you will see that the car's serial number is in a field called VIN. To avoid confusion, we will now explain in a simple but complete way all this matter of how to identify a car, ensuring that you will never again call chassis number to this series of alphanumeric characters that every vehicle has been engraved since its manufacture.

The first and most frequent option that most people think works to identify a vehicle is the car's number plate, and although it has some truth to it, it is not the right way. This series of numbers only makes it possible to identify a particular car among all those circulating in a given region. Worse still if we bear in mind that this patent could easily be removed and installed on another car.

So, it could be said that this type of alternative to identify any means of transport is excluded. On the other hand, we have two possible options which happen to be the chassis number and the VIN numbering, which are the two most efficient ways to identify a car.

Even so, BestVinDecoder.com explains that although both concepts often seem to be the same, they are in fact completely different.

First of all, you can see that each series of characters is made up of a set of letters and numbers.

Another important point is that both have the same common purpose; to identify a car. However, not only in a certain region as can be seen above, but worldwide.

So how are these concepts different?

If you look at the picture again, you will see that the VIN numbering consists of 17 characters, while the serial number consists of only 12 digits. This inequality between the number of alphanumeric digits that make up the two identification systems is the main feature to be taken into account in order to identify the VIN number and differentiate it from the serial number, which does not have a specific number of characters either, but rather is capable of holding between 12, 13 and even 14 digits. That in relation to the VIN, according to the ISO 3779standard, it must contain only 17 characters.

It is important to note that this is a very different condition to that of the serial number, which, apart from not having a specific number of digits, is only suitable for decryption by the manufacturer himself.