Every vehicle built after 1981 has a unique vehicle identification number, or VIN. The location of this string of letters and numbers varies, but it’s located somewhere on every car, SUV, motorcycle and truck – typically on a small metal plate or a sticker.
VINs serve many purposes. They help consumers learn about a used car’s history, including whether it was stolen, or determine whether rebates for a particular electric vehicle are available. This code appears in the paperwork necessary to do everything from insuring your car to selling it.
VINs can convey at least seven pieces of information.
Origin If a VIN begins with a 1, 4 or 5, that means it’s a vehicle assembled in the U.S. Many other countries have their own unique identifier. A 2, for example, means the vehicle was made in Canada; a J stands for Japan.
Manufacturer The second and third characters indicate the manufacturer. In some cases, the code corresponds with a line of vehicles that now belongs to a larger corporation. Dodge and Jeep, now part of Stellantis, each has its own. So does Lincoln, which became a division of Ford Motor Co. in 1922.
Description The fourth through eighth characters provide several details, such as body type and engine type.
Security The ninth character is a “check digit” determined by a complex mathematical equation based on the rest of the VIN’s numbers and letters. This digit, either a number or the letter X, is used to authenticate that the VIN is not a forgery.
Year The 10th character indicates the model year. There’s only one slot for this, and not all letters and numbers are used, resulting in repetition. An R could signal either 2024 or 1994, for example.
Factory The 11th character indicates the specific plant where the vehicle was assembled.
Serial number The VIN’s final six characters compose a serial number that differentiates the vehicle from all others made in the same factory that are the identical type and model year.
Vehicle identification number locations vary but are generally found in one of four places.The Conversation U.S., CC BY-SA
Finding more information
Only experts can tell where a vehicle was assembled or what type of engine it has by looking at its VIN. But help is available.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provides a handy VIN decoder. When I plugged my vehicle’s VIN into the decoder, the site correctly determined that my SUV is a 2011 Subaru Forester with an automatic transmission.
Of course, I already knew all that.
What I didn’t realize was that it weighs between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds, has a 2.5-liter engine and features side curtain airbags to protect the driver and passengers in the front and back seats. I also learned that this Subaru Forester was assembled in Gunma, Japan.
Those details had been invisible to me as a consumer, but they had been within easy reach ever since I bought my Forester in 2018. I had somehow driven that car well over 100,000 miles without realizing the number on the side of my driver’s seat contained some history.
Before buying the Forester, even though I didn’t know that my VIN could say so much, I did run it through a free online system to make sure it hadn’t been stolen.
To be sure, VINs won’t tell you everything you might want to know about a vehicle, such as what color it was when it rolled off the line. But if you can do a little decoding and make use of widely available online tools, they do harbor important information.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors this week will consider approving a lease with the Lake County Rodeo Association for property owned by the Lake County Sanitation District.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 7, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting ID is 865 3354 4962, pass code 726865. The meeting also can be accessed via one tap mobile at +16694449171,,86533544962#,,,,*726865#. The meeting can also be accessed via phone at 669 900 6833.
At 11 a.m., the supervisors, sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, will consider entering into a land lease agreement between the Lake County Sanitation District and the Lake County Rodeo Association for use of a portion of two properties in north Lakeport, 6253 Hill Road and 5955 Lakeshore Blvd.
The report to the board from Special Districts Administrator Scott Harter explained that his staff and rodeo association representatives began discussing the prospect of relocating the rodeo to a location at the Northwest Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant property.
Harter said the sanitation district “has approximately 1,200 acres in the north Lakeport area that the treatment plant is located on and the roughly 80-acre area being considered for a rodeo site is not currently being utilized. Prior to the Geysers Effluent Pipeline project in the early 2000s, land application of treated effluent occurred at the site. For the last 20+ years there has simply been cattle grazing on the property. Neither the application of effluent or grazing activities are happening or anticipated in the future.”
Sanitation district staff and rodeo association members made a presentation to the board earlier this year on the possible location “and received positive feedback on bringing a lease document back for Board discussion,” Harter wrote.
The lease is for a 10-year period, from May 1, 2024, to April 30, 2034, with the rodeo association to pay $100 a year for the property.
“This lease is envisioned as a transitional step toward a more permanent parcel creation and sale of surplus land. The lease will allow the Rodeo Association to formally start the use permit process with the Community Development Department and the studies required as part of that land use review,” Harter wrote.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Adopt proclamation designating May 2024 as Lake County Month of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People.
5.2: Adopt proclamation designating May 1 to 7, 2024, as Elks National Youth Week in Lake County.
5.3: Adopt proclamation designating May 2024 as Lupus Awareness Month and May 10, 2024, as Lupus Awareness Day.
5.4: Adopt proclamation designating May 2024 as Community Action Month and recognizing their 60th anniversary.
5.5: Adopt proclamation designating May 4, 2024, as Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in Lake County.
5.6: Adopt resolution approving Agreement No.24-7306-0256-RA with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services for July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, for the amount of $137,317.48.
5.7: Approve waiver of the 900-hour limitation for Animal Care and Control employee Ashley Vasquez Higuera.
5.8: a) Approve reissuance of property tax refund check from FY 20/21 in the amount of $37.78 issued to VNMSDW LLC; and b) approve reissuance of property tax refund check from FY16/17 in the amount of $483.16 issued to Barbara Ringen, Treasurer Tax Collector, FBO Rodrigo and Josephine Trustee.
5.9: Adopt proclamation designating the month of May 2024 as Mental Health Matters Month.
5.10: Approve travel of over 1,500 miles for Lake County Behavioral Health Services staff member Wendy Gattoni to attend an all-expenses-paid training in Portland, Oregon from June 3 through June 6, 2024.
5.11: Approve Board of Supervisors minutes for Feb. 6 and April 16, 2024.
5.12: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2023-117, establishing position allocations for FY 2023-2024, Budget Unit 2702 (Planning), to delete one cannabis program manager, and add one senior planner allocation.
5.13: Approve request to close Health Services offices from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 18, 2024, Oct. 10, 2024, and Dec. 5, 2024 for all-staff training.
5.14: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2023-117 establishing position allocations for Fiscal Year 2023-2024, Budget Unit No. 4012 Health Administration.
5.15: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2023-117 establishing position allocations for Fiscal Year 2023-2024, Budget Unit No. 4011 Public Health.
5.16: Approve long distance travel to the National Association of Pretrial Service Agencies for Eva Lara and Chelsea Perez being held in New Orleans, Louisiana Sept. 8 through 11, 2024, in an amount not to exceed $5,000.
5.17: Approve Award of Bid for the Nice Lucerne Cutoff Asphalt Rehabilitation Project; Bid No. 24-16 Federal Project No: CRASL-5914(126) with Lamon Construction Inc. in the amount of $210,215.20 and authorize the chair to sign the notice of award and agreement.
5.18: Approve award of bid for the Socrates Mine Road Stabilization Project, Bid No. 23-13 with Gregg Simpson Trucking and Construction in the amount of $1,075,961.35 and authorize the chair to sign the notice of award and agreement.
5.19: Adopt proclamation designating the week of May 5 to 11, 2024 as Correctional Officers Week in Lake County.
5.20: (a) Approve the purchase of a 2024 Honda Pioneer 700-4 Utility Terrain Vehicle, for use by the Search and Rescue Team, and (b) authorize attached budget transfer and (c) authorize the sheriff or his designee to sign the purchase order.
5.21: Adopt proclamation designating the month of May 2024 as CalFresh Awareness Month In Lake County.
5.22: Adopt proclamation commending Crystal Markytan, director of Social Services, on her retirement.
5.23: Approve Lake County’s System Improvement Plan, or SIP, for the term of November 2021 to November 2025 and authorize the chair to sign.
5.24: Authorize the closure of the Special Districts Administration Office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, May 17, 2024.
5.25: Approve request to waive 900 hour limit for extra-help Water Resources ramp monitors Anthony DeBolt, John MacDonald, Robert Dragness, Frank Levings Jr., Wayne Moore and Kenneth Wikstrom, and the two ramp coordinators Albert Acrey and Robert Valdez.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:03 a.m.: Pet of the Week.
6.3, 9:04 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating May 2024 as Lake County Month of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People.
6.4, 9:07 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating May 1 to 7, 2024, as Elks National Youth Week in Lake County.
6.5, 9:10 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating May 2024 as Lupus Awareness Month and May 10, 2024, as Lupus Awareness Day.
6.6, 9:13 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating May 2024 as Community Action Month and recognizing their 60th anniversary.
6.7, 9:16 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the month of May 2024 Mental Health Matters Month.
6.8, 9:19 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the week of May 5 to 11, 2024, as Correctional Officers Week in Lake County.
6.9, 9:22 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the month of May 2024 as CalFresh Awareness Month in Lake County.
6.10, 9:25 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation commending Crystal Markytan, director of Social Services, on her retirement.
6.11, 9:28 a.m.: a) Presentation of proclamation designating May 4, 2024, As Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in Lake County; and b) consideration of report from partnering agencies on wildfire preparedness events and programs.
6.12, 9:35 a.m.: Consideration of updated contract with the Lake County Resource Conservation District for the Lake County Fire Safe Council.
6.13, 10 a.m.: (a) Consideration of letter of opposition to AB 2882, which proposes changes to the Community Corrections Partnership; and (b) consideration of letter of opposition to SB 1057, which proposes changes to the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council.
6.14, 11 a.m.: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation district board of directors, consideration of Entering Into a Land Lease Agreement Between the Lake County Sanitation District and the Lake County Rodeo Association for use of a Portion of APNs 003-046-30 and 003-046-72.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration of rescission of urgency Ordinance No. 3113 amending urgency Ordinance No. 3110 prohibiting water hauling to commercial agricultural operations including cannabis cultivation sites.
7.3: Consideration of an agreement for tree survey services between the county of Lake and Tetra Tech Inc., in the not-to-exceed amount of $201,359.72.
7.4: Consideration of the following advisory board appointment: Lower Lake Waterworks District One Board of Directors.
7.5: Consideration of memorandum of understanding between Lake County Social Services Department and Behavioral Health Department for a short-term loan of $1,000,000 from 1991 realignment funds.
7.6: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, consideration of appointment of an ad hoc committee to address contracts and topics related to the geothermal industry.
7.7: Consideration of presentation of the Lake County Public Health Officers Workplan.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Public employee evaluation: Public Health officer.
8.2: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b) (1): Interviews for Special Districts administrator; appointment of Special Districts administrator.
8.3: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b) (1): Interviews for Social Services director; appointment of Social Services director.
8.4: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b) (1): Interviews for Water Resources director; appointment of Water Resources director.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Alexander James Why. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is working to find a Lakeport man who has been reported missing.
Alexander James Why, 38, was last seen on South Main Street in Lakeport on Friday.
On that same day, he last spoke with his wife. She has not been able to get ahold of him since and now believes his cell phone may be dead.
Why is described as a white male adult, 6 feet tall and 190 pounds. He was last seen wearing black sweatpants, a blue shirt and sandals.
If you have seen him or have any information to help locate Alexander Why, please call central dispatch at 707-263-2690.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council is set to discuss an updated contract with a company tasked with bringing more retail opportunities to the city.
The council will meet Tuesday, May 7, at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. Masks are highly encouraged where 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained.
If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799.
The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the city clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments before 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7.
On Tuesday, the council will meet new city employee Lyara Perkins, and will present proclamations designating the week of May 1 to 7 as Elks Youth Week, the week of May 4 to 11 as National Osteogenesis Imperfecta Week and the week of May 10 to 16 as National Police Week.
City Manager Kevin Ingram will ask the council to approve a contract renewal with The Retail Coach for a proposed comprehensive retail recruitment and development plan in an amount not to exceed $81,000.
The council first hired the firm in July of 2019, with an initial contract amount of $30,000, and voted to extend the contract in February of 2021.
In other business, Police Chief Brad Rasmussen will present a memorandum of understanding between the Lakeport Unified School District and the Lakeport Police Department for the services of a school resource officer for fiscal years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026.
Public Works Director Ron Ladd will present a reimbursement agreement with the Lakeport Fire Protection District for the parking lot rehabilitation project in a form substantially similar to the agreement included in the agenda packet.
Ladd also will ask for the council’s approval of a resolution for the acquisition of the right of way and the public utility easement from a private property owner located at Lupoyoma Street and South Main St.
On the consent agenda — items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote — are ordinances; minutes of the City Council’s special meeting on April 16 and regular meeting on April 16; approval of Application 2024-018: Approve application 2024-018, with staff recommendations, for the Tuesday Farmers’ Markets in the Park; approval of Application 2024-019, with staff recommendations, for the 2024 Summer Concerts in the Park series; receipt and filing of the Community Development quarterly report of activities; review and filing of the second quarter financial update; and authorize out-of-state training for five staff members to attend the 2024 Neighborworks Training Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from Aug. 26 to 30, 2024.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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