Vin Sequence

[2013GeeTeeS]

Sorry if this has been discussed but I'm unable to find out the real reason why or what the Vin sequence means, exactly why the numbers seem to be all over the place.

By this I am speaking of the last 6 digits. Yes, I realize it's the build sequence but for 2013 it starts from 100001 to 500230. My car is 400682. Why do the vins not sequence from like 100001, 100002, 100003....up to 101000?

Just curious as I was told mine was a later build but really can't verify.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

[BadAzp]

There should be a decal on the drivers door similar to this.
In the lower left corner is a MDH, thats the month day hour (24hr clock) when the car was built.
That is the ONLY way to know exactly when the car was built.
If that decal is gone, it is gone forever. You can only get one made with a picture of the original.
Body shops are supposed to do this but most dont because it costs money and cuts into their profits.
Attached is an example of the decal.
I keep a registry of yhe ram srt-10 yellow fever trucks and none of them were built in edition number order OR vin sequence.
But other trucks were built on the same line. You would think vipers would be in sequence.

 

[2013GeeTeeS]

Good info. I believe it's still there but not home today. I'm more curious about the vin as I outlined above will definitely check on the build date. Thank you, greatly appreciate any information.

 

[Ramtuff]

Cars are built by sequence number not by vin numbers.

 

[2013GeeTeeS]

Are all the vin numbers documented?

What's the sequence if they're not in order by number? Are the last 6 digits random?

 

[2013GeeTeeS]

See attached. Doesn't look super late but not sure when 2013 builds stopped. Says 8/13 so I assume August.

 

[BlackWidow]

MDH is 072611, that’s July, 26th, 11 AM

 

[Ramtuff]

Scheduler assigns the cars to be built, an order can have a vin but depending on options it may be built later than newer orders. The sequence number tracks the car around the plant in order. Generally lower vin numbers are built early but they do not determine build order.

 

[BadAzp]

Are all the vin numbers documented?

What's the sequence if they're not in order by number? Are the last 6 digits random?

The viper registry has the most accurate data on vins

MDH is 072611, that’s July, 26th, 11 AM

Yes, correct.
With the other date being 8/13 it is weird, all of the ones I've seen are the same month between the 2 dates.

Its definitely a late build, usually production stops july, plant switch overs happen in August, new model year production starts in September

 

[MoparMap]

As some have sort of alluded to, I'm guessing the factory might try to stage certain cars in order so there is less reconfiguring between stuff in a day. Say for instance they have 10 ACRs to build and 10 normal cars. Probably makes more sense to run all the ACRs in a row just so everyone is doing the same thing several times in a row. Or maybe they might want to build cars of the same color in a row so you can grab any red panel off the rack and put it on. Since the Viper was hand built in low quantities though this might be a bit of a stretch. Not sure, but I also think they would sometimes let owners pick VIN numbers that had some kind of meaning to them. Like someone wanting a number that ended in 91 for the Le Mans car or something like that.

When and where the VIN gets assigned might also be a bit of a gray area. It is probably done fairly early as I believe the engine and transmission had some portion of the number stamped on them. You could still have a line of assembled engines and just stamp them before you install them though. Similarly you could have a line of nearly fully assembled cars and just stick the VIN plate on as you go. Guessing it might be different for every OEM as well. Where I work builds industrial trucks and there are 3+ numbers associated with every truck. There is a sales order number, a production order number, a unit effective number, and then a VIN for on-highway trucks. Doesn't help that each number is in a different system practically, so cross referencing them is a major pain. That being said, as one example of how it can be done for us, a customer might order a fleet of 20 trucks, but we might build 10 this month and 10 next month. We'll assign them sequential unit effective numbers (a number that gets stamped on the frame rail) so the customer has a nice sequence of units, but we typically don't actually build them in order. Maybe something similar happened with the Vipers where a dealer got a sequence of 10 VINs in a row, but Dodge only delivered one unit a month to the dealer or something like that.

 

[2013GeeTeeS]

Interesting.

 

[BadAzp]

Also that door jamb decal, with the MDH, nobody can reliably say its placed at the beginning of the production line or at the end.
With this particular car maybe they were missing a part or had a problem with part and had to wait a week or two before it was finished which would result in the August change from July

 

[2013GeeTeeS]

I was just trying to see what # my car was of the 1k made for the 2013 MY.

 

[ViperJeff]

Interesting indeed. There is very little that can be publicly obtained when researching Vipers. An obscure sequence sheet from a scheduler probably fell victim to a delete button.

Opinion: the only reliably way to determine specifics on Vipers is the vin tag, as all sellable Vipers got one. One could argue that there is a better way, however, even the Viper Historical Society fell victim to poor documentation.

I think I saw the question about documenting Vipers, I have 31,956 Vipers documented with the listed (public) equipment list. Not all together sure anyone relies on those items in making determinations. I used them as they were public and anyone could verify my results.

Sorry to say, I stopped working on the Registry some time ago. Wonder if the db still opens. Lol

 

[redtanrt10]

The Registry still works fine and I use it to look up something probably ever other month, thanks!!

 

[MoparMap]

It is kind of funny. You wouldn't think that kind of info would be as hard to find as it is. You would assume numbers that are legally required to be on cars would make more sense and be easier to track, but ultimately I guess it is just a number. Dodge is probably the only one that has any real idea, but as many have said (and I've certainly seen at my work), stuff doesn't always go to plan, especially with small volume products. I remember they were having issues with finishing gen 5 ACRs because there was one guy that made the wings and he got sick, so they had a bunch of finished cars that had everything but the rear wing. It's a blurry line on when a car is considered "built" or finished. Is it when the last part is bolted on? When it rolls off the rolling test fixture at the end of the line? When it leaves the factory and gets shipped to a destination? We've built trucks at work, had them 100% complete, then pulled parts off of them for a more urgent order that needed to ship sooner. Guessing this probably didn't happen for the Viper, but there's probably still a fair amount of stories that go on behind the doors of the factory that we'll never know.

 

[ViperJeff]

I was just trying to see what # my car was of the 1k made for the 2013 MY.

@2013GeeTeeS

#943 of 1000
#731 of 782 GTS's Built in 2013
#58 of 63 Gunmetal Pearl
#34 of 37 Gunmetal Pearl No Stripe
#6 of 7 Gunmetal Pearl No Stripe, Black/Sepia GTS Laguna Interior Package
#1 of 2 Gunmetal Pearl No Stripe, Black/Sepia GTS Laguna Interior Package, 18X10.5 19X13.0 Venom Polished Wheel

Guess my DB still works. This is based on VIN, Equipment List, MDH

 

[ViperJeff]

Sorry if this has been discussed but I'm unable to find out the real reason why or what the Vin sequence means, exactly why the numbers seem to be all over the place.

By this I am speaking of the last 6 digits. Yes, I realize it's the build sequence but for 2013 it starts from 100001 to 500230. My car is 400682. Why do the vins not sequence from like 100001, 100002, 100003....up to 101000?

Just curious as I was told mine was a later build but really can't verify.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

@2013GeeTeeS

This may or may not answer the question
DV100xxx all are 2013 GTS, Common to this group is Black/Sepia GTS Laguna Interior Package
DV200xxx all are 2013 GTS, Common to this group is Black Interior
DV300xxx all are Viper GTS Blue
DV400xxx a mix of everything
DV500xxx a mix of everything

Also, the DV100xxx and DV200xxx all but 1 is Adrenaline Red, the one odd one is Stryker Red Tinted Pearl and I might have to verify that as that seems odd

DV400xxx and DV500xxx may also have some common element, I just don't know what

 

[2013GeeTeeS]

Appreciate the information!