VIN question
 

I am really not sweating over this, but while replacing the polen filter I noticed for the first time a sort of different "VIN" on the firewall. It is different than the car's VIN, charachters 4-6 and the 9th one, more specifically.
I know that the "chassis number" should be the last 6 digits of the VIN (12through 17).
Those last 6 digits match on both, the VIN and the number on the firewall.

What I want to know is what the "VIN" on the firewall suppose to represent, and why are the 4-6, and 9th digits different than the VIN's?

Tks.

Could you post photos?

can sure do that. I'll be back in a few minutes.

Top of the firewall:

https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1...irewallVIN.jpg


Window :

Attachment 47472

1st character - W = Germany
2nd charcacter - A = Audi
3rd character - U = Manufacturing Division
4th through 8th = Vehicle Description Section
(body style, engine type, and braking system to model, series, restraint system, etc).
9th character -2 = VIN accuracy check digit
10th character -S = Year (1995)
11th character -x = Assembly plant
12th through 17th - xxxxx2 = Serial number


So, what I'm interested in it basically comes down to:

FA8 vs ZZZ

and the accuracy check digit,

2 vs Z

Aren’t the two shields supposed to have the identical VIN?

What is the VIN on the door frame?

(what if Z stands for India – just kidding, as there is no info that the plant in India was operational in ’90).

I’ll check my VINs – lets be optimistic

Someone might have swapped out your dashboard at one time, does the vin on the firewall match your registration, and your door dag or does the vin on the dash match your registration and your door tag?

The Dashboard (windshield) VIN matches the one on the door tag, and also the VIN on the Original Sale window tag.

The VIN on the firewall is the only one different, which is a bit strange. However, that's not even a valid VIN if the firewall was swapped at some point with one from a different car. The ninth character on any VIN should be a numerical "VIN accuracy check digit", and "Z" doesn't make any sense being in that string. Moreover, can the firewall be swapped in the case of let's say an engine fire?

At some point the headliner was replaced (Nov 2005), and the car was repainted (March 2006), but no body work was performed, according to the existing records. At the time of purchase, Autocheck didn't report any fire, body damage, or accident incidents for that matter.

It is a bit strange and I just wanted to know if any other Audi had this anomaly.

Thanks anyway, guys.

I asked an expert about your VIN number question and he told me that you are the proud owner of a remanufactured Audi. When questioned about what remanufactured meant he was vague at first, but when pressured he said that remanufactured means that parts of the vehicle was used for crash tests. Normally they either sell these vehicles in undeveloped countries, give them to pigmies in Africa, or use them as cow crushers in India.

In your case the ZZZ that was replaced by FA8 and the Z that was replaced by a 2 means the FA8 and 2 were sleeping (therefore the ZZZ-Z) when the vehicle was remanufactured.

There might be another explanation because my expert is a homeless guy and living on Boston Common in an old refrigerator box. He lost his home when he went to an Audi dealer to have an instrument panel light replaced and couldn’t afford to pay.

That's a very plausible explanation, no matter how you got it. Thank you.

For the rest, although I dig sarcasm, I can't make much out of that part.
Nevertheless, I thank you for that homeless update as well. The economy is bad nowadays as we know; even the experts may end up in a refrig box.