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Decoding my VIN

5K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  mdxx3 
#1 ·
At long last, I got a VIN!!! Now I want to be sure that I fully understand it.

Based on various of RGWomack's posts and a bit of web research, I've learned what most of the characters in the VIN mean. But I still have a few areas of mystery. So if you're a VIN maven, please note my question marks below and clarify my assumptions and correct my mistakes. Thanks!

My VIN-to-be: 2HNYD18842H500095

VIN positions:...1..2..3..4..5...6-7-8...9..10..11..12...13-17
.........................2..H..N..Y..D....188....4....2...H....5....00095


1st position- Country of manufacture. 2=Canada

2nd position- Manufacturer. H=Honda

3rd position- Vehicle type or manufacturing division. N=Acura??? N=SUV???

4th & 5th positions- Body style, engine type, model, series, etc. Y=MDX???, D=3.5 liter VTEC???

6th to 8th positions- Trim. 182=premium, 184=Nav, 186=Tour, 188=Tour/Nav

9th position- Check digit. (Click here to learn about the very complex computation algorithm.)

10th position- Model year. 1=2001, 2=2002)

11th position- Assembly plant. H=Aliston Ontario

12th position- Destination country. 1=Canada, 5=USA

13th to 17th positions- Production sequence number. Mine is the 95th 2002 MDX manufactured!


--Marne
 
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#4 ·
Marne,

Congratulations upon getting the VIN. Now the suspense starts daily :D So when is the delivery date now :) Pretty soon you will have your own.

Cheers,
 
#5 ·
According to the '01 MDX Service Manual, VIN is as follows:

2HN = mfr, make, type = Honda of Canada Mfg.; Honda Canada Inc.; Acura, Sports Utility Vehicle

YD1 = line, body & engine type = MDX/J35A3

8 = body & transmission types = 5 door/5-speed automatic

2, 4, 6, or 8 = vehicle grade (series) = 2: MDX; 4: Nav; 6: Tour; 8: Tour & Nav. For Canadian vehicles, 6 = MDX

Next = check digit

1 = 2001; 2 = 2002

H = Factory Code = Ontario factory in Canada

Remaining numbers = serial number; first number is 5 if destined for US, 0 if destined for Canada.

Hope this helps.
 
#7 ·
Not Yet!

anumdx: Nope, I haven't got #95 yet. I did see #96 at a dealership about 40 miles away (Solano Acura). It was a twin to my White/Saddle Tour/Nav. (#96 was sold. I saw it pre-detailed...)

I found it interesting that Solano had #96 yesterday, but Prestige in Santa Rosa still hadn't received #95 as of today. And it's even more interesting that your #1,123 is only a week away!


--Marne
 
#8 ·
Re: Not Yet!

marne said:
I found it interesting that Solano had #96 yesterday, but Prestige in Santa Rosa still hadn't received #95 as of today. And it's even more interesting that your #1,123 is only a week away!
Marne, since you got your VIN already. I remember someone mentioned that you can go to Santa Fe Railroad or Pacific Union website to locate your MDX. Does anyone remember how to do this? :confused:
 
#9 ·
It's BNSF

You'r right, and you're not. The shipper is a railroad -- Burlington Northern / Santa Fe. BNSF used to have a great, nearly-public website where shipments could be traced. If you had a VIN, you could trace the progress of your car from the factory to your local depot.

Then came September 11th. Citing security concerns, BNSF closed their website to all but their largest clients. Just after (or maybe simultaneous with) this development, Honda North America cancelled usage of the BNSF site by dealerships, wanting them instead to use Honda's tracking system. But Honda's system has less info, and zero consumer access.

So, I just wait...


--Marne
 
#10 ·
marne & anumdx....

I hope you both get yours soon... I just stopped by my dealer here in NY today and got my VIN. My black premium is # 01735....

I just went to BNSF's website and saw the restricted access..

hope your MDX show up soon....

best of luck when you get it...

:)
 
#11 ·
Originally posted by marne
My VIN-to-be: 2HNYD18842H500095

6th to 8th positions- Trim. 182=premium, 184=Nav, 186=Tour, 188=Tour/Nav
I have seen the VIN #s of 2003 MDX with the number "187" as the trim code. Is this Tour/Navi?

The only "187" I am familiar with is from my rap music.

cbarry
 
#13 ·
Re: Re: Re: Decoding my VIN

mdxxxx said:


LOL :19: A Snoop fan huh? - Maybe 187 = RES? (Just a guess..)
Oh yeah, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre in the HiZZ- ouse!!!

BTW, I think you're right-- 187 in the VIN must stand for the RES. Forgot about that new one.

cbarry
 
#14 ·
I did a VIN comparison with listed stock for my nearby dealer. For the 8th position (following 18), I found the following:

2 Premium
6 Tour
7 Tour RES
8 Tour Navi
9 Tour RES Navi

These were all for 2004 models. I have seen a 4 listed for a 2001 posted on AutoTrader. I don't know the actual trim level. Poor descriptions on AutoTrader is why I went looking to decode the VIN in the first place. For some reason, most Xs are listed as Premiums. :rolleyes:
 
#16 ·
Although I have taken delivery, I have a build date mystery.

The dealer told me the car was built on May 4th, according to his conversations and verifications with the factory. They received it a week later and I took delivery shortly after that.

(It was originally scheduled for a Mid-April build, if that is relevant).

The date of manufacture sticker on on the drivers side door area says 04/04.

I called Acura, hoping they could give me a definitive answer based on the VIN. They could only tell me it was shipped on May 4th, but no build date. They did not know anything more about the discrepancy, although he suggested maybe the sticker was missing the month (since the 04/04 matched the ship date). That did not sound likely.

Of course, the dealer is not any help now or motivated to research this. Besides having a build date, this inforamtion would let me know if the dealer was being up front with me about the delay. And it does seem strange that the door sticker is does not have a third number on it.

I would still like to know how to find out when it was built. Can this be done?
 
#17 ·
How do I know the build date using the VIN number

I would like to know the build date of my vehicle using the VIN number the salesguy provided me. He has no clue about the dates :-??

Thanks for your help.
 
#18 ·
Re: How do I know the build date using the VIN number

hoque said:
I would like to know the build date of my vehicle using the VIN number the salesguy provided me. He has no clue about the dates :-??

Thanks for your help.
The VIN doesn't directly contain the manufacturing date. But the last 5 or 6 numbers is the serial number. This is based on the information printed in the MDX's service manual. The Acura/Honda factory guys (not necessarily the local dealers) can take this serial number and indirectly tell when it was made after querying their central computer/database. ISO or no ISO, but the Acura/Honda factory people definitely must be able to do some traceability based on those 5 or 6 digits! (Next, somebody will say it's not ISO but NHTSA:))
 
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