Check / Decode Maruti Suzuki Car VIN Number & Manufacturing Date

How difficult is it to find any vehicle’s manufacturing month and year? Also, does one need to contact the dealership to find this information? It is very easy to find out any vehicle’s year and month of manufacture and you can do it yourself! Every vehicle comes with a VIN or Vehicle Identification Number which is very easy to find. You can easily decode the VIN to determine the year and month the vehicle has been manufactured. This particular article will help you decode the VIN of Maruti Suzuki vehicles.

How To Decode VIN Number Of Maruti Suzuki Vehicles?

The Vehicle Identification Number typically consists of a code or a unique arrangement of multiple characters and digits which could go up to 22 characters. The arrangement of numbers and total count of characters will vary across manufacturers. Maruti Suzuki vehicles get a VIN consisting of 17 characters.

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In the vehicles manufactured by Maruti Suzuki, the 10th and 11th characters are the ones that you need to check. That is because the 10th character represents the year it was built while the 11th character represents the month it was built. To make things easier, you could use the below table to check your Maruti Suzuki vehicle’s manufacturing month and year.

Code Structure For Year

Take a look at the characters used for different years:

Code Structure For Month

Take a look at the characters used for different months of the year:

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For reference, let’s take the VIN – MBHKWD13SPH15**** – shown in the image below. This particular VIN is from a Maruti Nexa Fronx. The 10th character, which is P, represents the year of manufacture. The 11th character, which is H, represents the month of manufacture. Hence, this particular Maruti car was manufactured in August 2023.

Note: If the 10th and 11th character of your Maruti Nexa or Maruti Arena car is shown as ‘00’ or ‘11’, you will have to open the bonnet and check for the last 2 VIN digits that come after the ‘x’ symbol. If the last two alphabets are BR, then the car was manufactured in February 2024. If the last two alphabets are MP, then the car was manufactured in December, 2023. This VIN system is found on newer Maruti Nexa cars like the Baleno, Ignis, Fronx, and XL6, and new-generation Maruti Arena cars like the Brezza, 2024 Swift, etc.

VIN Number Location On Maruti Cars

The placement of VIN number varies from car to car and from one manufacturer to the other. In the above example (Maruti Fronx), the VIN plate is located in the engine bay to the left side of the engine.

Here are the other possible placements of VIN number in different make and models:

• Under the front windscreen
• Under the front grille
• Under driver side door
• Inside the engine bay
• Beneath the spare wheel in boot

Maruti Car VIN Number Benefits

Like any other vehicle, the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of a Maruti car serves several important purposes:

• Unique Identification: Since the VIN is always unique, it is very useful in ascertaining the vehicle’s identity and manufacturing history. It is used for vehicle registration and insurance. 
• Vehicle History: The VIN lets one track the origin right from the production batch, specifications, and any incidents that might have been reported. It is especially useful for used car buyers as they can find out the specific vehicle’s history. 
• Regulatory Compliance: They play a key role in regulatory compliance by enabling officials to monitor and enforce vehicle safety standards such as emissions regulations product-related recalls or safety issues for certain batches.
• Insurance and Warranty Claims: It is a mandatory requirement for claiming insurance or warranty. It helps the insurance company verify the vehicle’s identity and determine coverage eligibility.
• Theft Cases: VIN allows law enforcement agencies to track stolen vehicles and prevent their illegal resale.
• Resale Value: If the VIN shows a clean record, it could positively impact the resale value.

Just like in the case of any vehicle manufacturer, the Maruti Suzuki VIN serves many purposes and benefits owners as well as regulatory and compliance authorities.

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