Which year does a vehicle with the 10th digit of the VIN as 'k' belong to?
3 Answers
A vehicle with the 10th digit of the VIN as 'k' was produced in 2019. Here is some knowledge about VIN: The Vehicle Identification Number is a unique set of seventeen letters or numbers, abbreviated as VIN. It is used to identify a vehicle's manufacturer, engine, chassis number, and other related performance data. There are mainly two formats of VIN: the first is the ISO3779 standard adopted by the European Union, and the second standard is primarily used in North American countries, which is more stringent and rigorous than the first, but the two are still compatible with each other.
I see many car owners have questions about the VIN year code. The 10th digit of the VIN represents the production year, and according to international standard coding rules, the letter K corresponds to two years: 1989 and 2019. This coding system cycles every 30 years, using letters in the 1980s, numbers in the 2000s, and returning to letters in 2010. For example, you can often see this code on the factory label attached to your car's windshield. If you're sure the car was purchased within the last five years, it's most likely a 2019 model; if you're a classic car enthusiast, it might be a vintage car from 1989. I recommend checking the vehicle registration certificate for the most accurate information, as different manufacturers may have slightly adjusted the rules.
This is a common issue I encounter in car enthusiast circles. The 10th digit of the VIN serves as the vehicle's identity year indicator, and the letter K corresponds to two production years: 1989 or 2019. The encoding pattern is actually quite interesting - starting from A in the 1980s and skipping easily confused letters like I and O, which is why K represents 1989. The cycle restarted with A in 2010, making K correspond to 2019 as well. I once helped a friend inspect a used car where he thought it was new but discovered it was actually a 2019 model that had been in inventory for two years. Nowadays, scanning the VIN with a smartphone automatically decodes the year, which is much more convenient than checking tables.
