[ZTWsquared]

theory,Jul 14 2006, 05:45 PM Wrote:hey, i bought my "2007 ford focus zx5".  now they list it as a 2007 but the vin number has a 6 in the 10th spot. which i thought was the year the car was made.  so really this is a 2006. am i right?[right][snapback]197598[/snapback][/right]

The 10th spot refers to the "model year" of your vehicle which is not necessarily related to the year the vehicle was made.

But having said that, it would appear that your VIN identifies your car as a 2006 model according to the following:

How To Read A VIN Wrote:1st character- Identifies the country in which the vehicle was manufactured.
For example: U.S.A.(1or 4), Canada( 2), Mexico( 3), Japan(J), Korea(K), England(S), Germany(W), Italy(Z)

2nd character- Identifies the manufacturer. For example; Audi(A),
BMW( B ), Buick( 4), Cadillac( 6), Chevrolet( 1), Chrysler©, Dodge( B ),
Ford(F), GM Canada( 7), General Motors(G), Honda(H), Jaquar(A), Lincoln(L), Mercedes Benz(D), Mercury(M), Nissan(N), Oldsmobile(3), Pontiac(2or5), Plymouth(P), Saturn(8), Toyota(T), VW(V), Volvo(V).

3rd character- Identifies vehicle type or manufacturing division.

4th to 8th characters- VDS - Vehicle Descriptor Section. These 5 characters occupy positions 4 through 8 of the VIN and may be used by the manufacturer to identify attributes of the vehicle. Identifies vehicle features such as body style, engine type, model, series, etc.

9th Character - The check digit "character or digit 9" in the sequence of a vehicle identification number (VIN) built beginning with model year 1981 (when the 17 character digit format was established) can best be described as identifying the VIN accuracy.

10th character- Identifies the model year. For example: 1988(J), 1989(K), 1990(L), 1991(M), 1992(N), 1993(P), 1994®, 1995(S), 1996(T),
1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000(Y)------2001(1), 2002(2), 2003(3)

11th character- Identifies the assembly plant for the vehicle.

12th to 17th characters- VIS - Vehicle Identifier Section. The last 8 characters of the VIN are used for the identification a of specific vehicle. The last four characters shall always be numeric. Identifies the sequence of the vehicle for production as it rolled off the manufacturers assembly line.