Re: Odd VIN observation, '92 100S

[Aleksander Mierzwa <alex@matrix.pl>]

At 15:08 28.11.98 -0500, Craig D. Niederst wrote:

>While installing my O2 sensors last evening, I noticed a VIN stamping in an
>odd place, behind the engine on the upper part of the firewall (right above
>the V6 marking on the engine cover on a small white section of the
>firewall). The VIN reads WAUZZZ4AZNN122064. But on the data plate on the
>dash, and on the sticker inside the driver's door, the VIN reads
>WAUBJ54A2NN122064 (with a build date of 5/92). Anyone else seen this on
>their 100, or any other Audi for that matter? Doesn't the ZZZ marking mean
>an official Audi test car, or something like that? TIA.

What you have spotted is the chassis number. In Europe cars are identified
by chassis and engine numbers rather than single VIN number. Most
manufacturers (including VW/Audi) use chassis numbers conforming to VIN
specification, however, the information about engine, transmission etc. is
replaced with ZZZ, XXX or other meaningless characters.

Aleksander Mierzwa
Warsaw, Poland
mailto:alex@matrix.pl
87 Audi 5000CS turbo (mine)
88 Renault Medallion wagon (mom's)
91 mountain bike (just in case both cars broke at the same time :-)