VIN Question with X in sequence

Red Velvette · 02-18-2009, 07:43 PM

I am looking at a '88 that has an X in the VIN as the 9th Digit, 1G1YY218XJ......According to carfax the vehicle was first registered in December 1999 in Troy, MI with 40K miles. It has had 3 owners since so the complete history is not totally clear right now.

Does the X indicate that it was a GM test vehicle? It would certainly seem to make sense given the first new registration in Troy, MI when it was 11 years old.

Any thoughts?

Adam Boca · 02-19-2009, 06:05 PM

The 9th digit is a security code and it varies from car to car....If it was a Experiemental it would have EX in the VIN#...

Adam

Easy Mike · 02-20-2009, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Boca

...The 9th digit is a security code and it varies from car to car....

I agree, but it's supposed to be a number, not a letter. I would contact public relations at the plant and see if they have information as to why it's an alpha character.

Posting on the NCRS board would be a plus. http://www.ncrs.org/

senseless02 · 02-22-2009, 11:31 AM

"X" is a valid character for the check digit in a VIN, as are 0 through 9.

see -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle...ication_Number

for how the check digit is calculated