Identify this ghost VIN??

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colpic101
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2017 6:14 am

Identify this ghost VIN??

Postby colpic101 » Wed Aug 02, 2017 1:24 pm

I have a truck with a VIN number which is not recognized by Nissan in Europe, Canada or the US. I tried contacting the manufacturer in Japan but they told me Nissan cannot share information with individuals...

Anyways, I need to decode this VIN in order to know date of manufacture... etc for importation into Canda. Also looking to buy parts, but it is difficult to say which parts correspond with a ghost VIN. From the Vin sticker in the engine bay, it was originally made in Japan. The vehicle is left hand drive, I do not know which market this vehicle was sold in.

VIN: JN1VDZR50Z0100193

I have purchased this vehicle in Chile but based on all of the english controls it was meant to be sold in a NA or EU market??

Any help with this would be fantastic to finish a trip


jetstream87
Posts: 172
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2015 6:59 am

Postby jetstream87 » Wed Aug 02, 2017 3:46 pm

From what I got in the internet it was the following:
Manufacturer:
Nissan Motor Co Ltd
Manufacturer Address:
6-17-1 Ginza
Chuo-Ku
Tokyo
Product Type:
Passenger Car
Make:
Datsun
Body:
Wagon
Number of Doors:
4
Fuel Type - Primary:
Gasoline
Check Digit:
0
Model Year:
10th character in VIN code is
not recognized (U, Z and 0).
Plant Country:
Japan
Sequential Number:
100193

jetstream87
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Postby jetstream87 » Wed Aug 02, 2017 3:47 pm


colpic101
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2017 6:14 am

Postby colpic101 » Sun Aug 06, 2017 2:40 pm

Thanks Jetstream87, this is the information I need about the vehicle.

The only thing I am not sure about is whether the Canadian border service agency will accept the website as legitimate. When I called they told me I need a way of proving this information officially. Would anyone know where to find a certificate from the manufacturer of this information or are the vin decoders available online recognized as being official and certified?

jetstream87
Posts: 172
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2015 6:59 am

Postby jetstream87 » Tue Aug 08, 2017 1:29 pm

colpic101 wrote:Thanks Jetstream87, this is the information I need about the vehicle.

The only thing I am not sure about is whether the Canadian border service agency will accept the website as legitimate. When I called they told me I need a way of proving this information officially. Would anyone know where to find a certificate from the manufacturer of this information or are the vin decoders available online recognized as being official and certified?
When I use to work at LAX some customers would bring cars from South the border to US territory. In order to get it legalized they would require a certificate or letter from the manufacture that the car was produced by them. I am unsure how they go by since I am not familiar with Canadian customs. There are plenty of info online to figure out. Here when we export the automotive to foreign country its a bit of a process where we have to report the VIN# prior to exporting it and await clearance from customs to get it exported out.

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/trans ... hicle.html

colpic101
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2017 6:14 am

Postby colpic101 » Wed Sep 06, 2017 11:04 am

Thanks again Jetstream87,

From what I understand, Canada needs proof of date of fabrication, proof of ownership, the vehicle has to meet regulation standards and recall requirements. The most important and seemingly difficult to find is the certificate from the manufacturer

The website that you have posted shows information on my vehicle but the interesting part is that the vehicle is shown to be a 2005, where it is a 2004.
When you worked at LAX, did you see any reports coming from decoder websites? (haha)

Also, I do find it interesting that the decoder you sent is the only one that works. There are various other 'global' decoders and none of them work... the one you sent is like the only one.

I will try contacting the manufacturer again, the last time they said that they don't talk with individual people. Apart from contacting Nissan (manufacturer), is there another logical source for this kind of information?

Thanks again






1

colpic101
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2017 6:14 am

Postby colpic101 » Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:11 am

In respects to the vid decoder website which you sent;

https://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/check-lo ... 50Z0100193

I tried buying a report and the customer service rep sent me an email;

Hello
We were unable to find any information within our database in response to your search request.

When information regarding a license plate or VIN is unavailable, it may be because the relevant records are protected under the Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA). The DPPA prohibits certain information relating to motor vehicle records from being made public


What do you do in this situation? I mean where do you get the info if Nissan can't help either?

Hawairish
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 9:02 pm

More info, please...

Postby Hawairish » Mon Sep 11, 2017 11:44 am

1. What do you think the truck is? It reads like a 2004 R50 from Chile, but that's clearly not exotic enough to import.
2. Does it resemble the WD21 Pathfinder, R50 Pathfinder, or R20 Terrano II? In some countries, the WD21 still existed for several years while everywhere else was getting R50s.
3. Does the VIN plate match the VIN in any other locations, such as the motor, transmission, door frame, or windshield?
4. If the vehicle supports OBD-II, do you have a scanner? It may also be able to pull a VIN.
5. What engine does it have? How many doors? 2- or 4-wheel drive? These may help decipher the VIN.
6. How have we gotten this far without pics?!

If we can get this information, perhaps we can start narrowing things down at least by country. If you can get that far, you may be able to find a suitable Nissan FSM, which provide VIN breakdowns for the model.

colpic101
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Postby colpic101 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 9:19 am

In response to Hawairich;

1. The truck is a 2004 Pathfinder SE 3.5L V6 4x4. The gauges are in metric/English. The truck is not exotic, the idea is I want to drive from Chile to Canada. That is why I need to import, for the trip and not necessarily the truck.

2.It is an R50, would have been cool to have gotten a Terreno, but they are all old and seriously worn down.... all of them.

3. The VIN matches the vehicle in one other spot, behind the motor at the back end of the hood, there is a wall, above the heat shielding, there is the VIN. I can't find any other spots where there are any VIN's, door has nothing, tranny nothing (at plain view), and the motor has nothing at plain view. The documents I do have (Chilean) have the same VIN as the plate.

4. I will be going to get the truck scanned soon, I will try and see if a VIN number is possible to get with the scanner

5. 3.5L V6, 4 doors, SE version, 4x4

6. I believe that this truck was meant for the NA market but was sold in Santiago, Chile in 2004. What I don't understand is how Nissan in Chile can give me nothing?



http://carclassifiedscheapads.com/car-p ... 020424.jpg



That is my truck, everything is the same in terms of how it looks from the outside. I am new to the site, couldn't figure out how to post my own image, sorry :([/img]

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Tue Sep 12, 2017 4:51 pm

Yup....that's an R50 for sure! It's a 17-digit VIN, which is what it's supposed to be. The "100193" unit # is kind of interesting; If I'm not mistaken, the 99.5 and 2000 MY models broke at the "350000" unit # in the US. I'm not sure if that unit # carried on through the end of the R50 production or reset every year, though..

Hawairish
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Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 9:02 pm

Postby Hawairish » Tue Sep 12, 2017 7:18 pm

Haha, yeah I was definitely expecting something more exotic.

So, based on some research, I think the VIN is valid. I don't think it gives any indication of manufacturing date, though I'm really surprised this just isn't on a label somewhere on the firewall or door jamb.

Is there a Chilean equivalent of the DMV that can provide any sort of registration history? Surely there's an initial Nissan dealer that may be able to help with records, too, if you can find them. Have you tried contacting Nissan Latin America? https://nissanlatam.com/

What would be really helpful is the Latin American R50 FSM, since it might indicate other locations for the certifications label found in the door jamb. It would also decipher the VIN.

For what it's worth, here's how I'm reading the VIN:

JN1 - Origin, produced where AUS R50s are produced (US are from JN8 or JN6)
V - Body type, V=Wide
D - Engine type, D=VQ35DE
Z - Axle type, Z=Part-time 4WD
R50 - Model code
Z* - Destination region, Z= not "Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Iraq, Libya, Europe, Israel, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru"
0* - Stop-gap (meaningless)
100193 - serial number

This is based on the International VIN pattern and the Model Variation codes that Nissan tables in the GI section of the FSM.

For body style, there are options T=Wagon and V=Wide. Apparently, XE models are considered "wagons" while SE/LE and ST/TI (AUS) models are "wide", probably due to the wheel and fender flare combinations (if you've seen older XE models on stock steel wheels, you can see how awkward they look with the tires tucked in).

For axle type, there are options of U=2wd, W=Auto-Mode 4wd, and Z=Part-time 4wd. W didn't exist on older R50s, but is the only option for 1997+ QX4. Apparently W is the only option for 02-04 AUS models, too.
For engine types, A=VG33E (older R50s and non-diesel AUS models), D=VQ35DE

This is consistent with an observation of 2002-04 AUS R50 VINs that I could find at AUS used car websites...they all had JN1VAWR50A0######, indicating they are all wide-body (ST/TI) 3.3L All-Mode 4WD. I don't think the VQ existed there due to space issues with RHD.

For the two * values above, I found some FSMs that indicate a subtle code difference depending on destination country. For countries like AUS, NZ, and some European destinations, these are destination codes and a stop-gap (irrelevant) value. But for Israel, Brazil, and Venezuela, it could be model year and manufacturing plant. I did find Z references in 2003-2008 D22 FSMs where Z means 'not a bunch of countries' (for a similar, albeit different VIN pattern, Z did also mean "Iraq and Libya"...surely not the case here.) Although these may not necessarily apply to the R50, it's the only indication I've found that Z may actually be a valid value.

colpic101
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Postby colpic101 » Fri Sep 22, 2017 8:38 pm

Yes, I wish it was a manual at least...

So the VIN doesn't even have information about the production date? Regardless, the information that the VIN has is relevant for importation.

Apologies for my ignorance, I am not familiar with the acronym DMV. It seems to be a registry entity? There was a document which they gave me when I bought the vehicle which showed all of the previous owners and the date of acquisition for each of the owners. The vehicle was first bought on the 23rd of February of 2004 for what it is worth.

I sent an email to Nissan LATAM, awaiting a reply. When I called, they were unable to provide information through the phone, hopefully an email will have better results.

Apologies once again, not familiar with the acronym, FSM? Would this sticker be anywhere that isn't obvious? Maybe under any plastic covers or in a location that may require disassembly? Won't waste any time looking under the vehicle or any place where a sticker would be eroded.
Regardless this FSM seems very relevant.

As for the 'Z' for the destination region, this would be probably one of the more important values in order to determine who should be contacted. Not sure if the truck was sold into the US market and then imported into Chile?

Talking to a technician here in Chile (with experience with VIN id) he was saying that the JN1 means that the vehicle was produced in Japan? this would coincide with one of the manufacturer stickers that came with the truck in the engine bay. The sticker has info about where it was manufactured (Japan) and in which production facility. They conveniently left out the date of production on this sticker..............................

Hawairish
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 9:02 pm

Postby Hawairish » Fri Sep 22, 2017 10:27 pm

DMV = Dept. of Motor Vehicles. Whatever gov't authority is responsible for registering, titling, vehicle records, emissions, etc.

FSM = Factory Service Manual. The official Nissan service guide that Nissan dealerships use for all maintenance and repair work. NICO (http://www.nicoclub.com/nissan-service-manuals) provides them for nearly all North American vehicles, and for free. It is an excellent and essential resource for doing any work. It also contains specifications for nearly every vehicle component.

The General Information chapters of the FSM almost always provide a breakdown of the VINs and core model options. The VIN breakdown I provided is based on a few NA and Intl FSMs that I have, but if there is a LATM FSM for your an R50, it would have the exact VIN breakdown in it assuming that yours is a LA-based model (which I think it is because of the VIN plate you are seeing).

I presume you are in Chile now? If there's a local Nissan Dealership there, they'll almost certainly have access to this.

I'd say that if nothing seems suspicious about the VIN plates and stickers you are able to find, then it's likely legit. I'd have to doublecheck locations on my truck, but I'm pretty sure I've seen both engine and transmissions stamped with the VIN code. The FSM provides the locations, but it looks like the exact stickers and location may be region dependent.

And yes, JN1 is for Japan. I thought I had mentioned that in my reply, but I must've edited it out. All global R50s will be from JN1, JN6, or JN8


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