How to Check and Decode a Suzuki VIN
You can find your Suzuki VIN on the driver’s side of the dashboard or inside the driver’s side door jamb. The 17 digits follow a standardized set of codes.
Written by Maxine Boyko
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
You can usually find your Suzuki’s VIN on your registration card, in the door jamb, on the engine, or on the cylinder block—and you can understand what it means using geographic location information, manufacturer and assembly details, special vehicle characteristics, and the vehicle model year.
If you own a car, you likely encountered your vehicle’s VIN when registering it. You also need this information to sell your car, file an insurance claim, and source car parts for repairs. At first glance, they’re forgettable—but upon closer look, these 17 digits hold a wealth of information about your car.
If you’re curious about your Suzuki’s mysterious VIN,
Jerry,
the car insurance
comparison app is here to talk you through all you need to know. Let’s dive into where you can find VINs, how the codes are concocted, and how to understand them. We'll even show you the easiest way to lower your Suzuki insurance cost.
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4.7/5 rating on the App Store | Trusted by 5+ million customers and 7 million cars4.7/5 app rating | Trusted by 5M+ driversHow to check your Suzuki’s VIN
A combination of 17 digits called a VIN (vehicle identification number) is assigned to every car—including the Suzuki you drive. A lot of information is contained in that long string of numbers, but it can be hard to find.
Here are a few places you should check to find your Suzuki’s VIN:
- The vehicle’s registration card
- The chassis
- The cylinder block
- The engine
- The body pillar
- The partition between the engine and cabin
- The door sills or jambs
How to decode a Suzuki VIN
Your Suzuki’s VIN paints a picture of your car’s history, but what is the significance of these 17 characters?
Despite being in the United States since the 1950s, VINs weren’t officially regulated until 1981. At that time, the national highway traffic safety administration created a standardized system and introduced the 17-digit codes we now know as VINs.
VINs use all 10 numbers from one to nine, as well as every letter in the alphabet except I, O, and Q. This is because those letters look similar to the numbers 1, 0, and 9.
First position: country of origin
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) assigns a vehicle’s first three digits, known as a world manufacturer identifier (WMI).
Suzuki manufactured cars all over the world with production facilities in 23 countries. Here’s a quick rundown of most of the region codes:
- M: India, Thailand, and Myanmar
- S-Z: European regions and countries
- 8-9: South American countries
- J: Japan
- L: China
Positions 2-3: manufacturer information
The two following characters contain manufacturer information, particularly when combined with the first character to form Suzuki’s WMI. Common Suzuki manufacturer codes are as follows:
WMI | Country |
|---|---|
JS | Japan |
LS5 | China |
MHY | Indonesia |
MMS | Thailand |
MS3 | Myanmar |
PPP | Malaysia |
TSM | Hungary |
93X, 9CD | Brazil |
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Positions 4-8: vehicle-specific information
The following five digits of your VIN denote specific information about your vehicle, such as body style, model, engine type, and other specifications like transmission and safety information. These numbers codify characteristics unique to that particular vehicle.
Position 9: VIN check digit
The ninth digit is simply used to validate the entire VIN algorithmically. It’s often either a number between 0 and 9 or the letter X. This check digit helps authorities prevent and detect fraudulent VINs.
Position 10: model year
The code for the model year, which is in position 10, becomes increasingly more complicated because we’re now reusing VINs from prior years. Digits that aren’t used in position 10 are 0, U, and Z (as well as I, O, and Q).
Here are the VIN model year codes from the last 20 years:
Code | Year |
|---|---|
1 | 2001 |
2 | 2002 |
3 | 2003 |
4 | 2004 |
5 | 2005 |
6 | 2006 |
7 | 2007 |
8 | 2008 |
9 | 2009 |
A | 2010 |
B | 1981 OR 2011 |
C | 1982 OR 2012 |
D | 1983 OR 2013 |
E | 1984 OR 2014 |
F | 1985 OR 2015 |
G | 1986 OR 2016 |
H | 1987 OR 2017 |
J | 1988 OR 2018 |
K | 1989 OR 2019 |
L | 1990 OR 2020 |
M | 1991 OR 2021 |
Position 11: assembly plant
The 11th digit is used to communicate information about which factory assembled the vehicle. Suzuki had many production facilities—and while most of their facilities were in Asia and South Africa, they also assembled cars in Egypt and New Zealand.
Positions 12-17: vehicle serial number
The last 6 digits are the car’s unique serial number. This number is entirely one-of-a-kind and your Suzuki is the only one to have it—how special!
How to find affordable Suzuki insurance
Finding affordable car insurance without the proper tools can feel like decoding a VIN—arduous, boring, frustrating, confusing, and difficult. Fortunately, the
Jerry
app has everything you need to make it a snap. Just set up an account (it only takes a minute, tops!) and Jerry will use your information to search for the best quotes from over 50 leading insurance companies. As a
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