How to find car history using VIN

[kmoses]

I'm looking at a 1979 Spider this weekend and want to know if it was always a California car before being shipped east a year ago. The VIN is: 124CS20156463 is there a "Carfax" type site for older cars or a way to find it's history?

[spidernut]

No Carfax on a car that old. A recent smog test history can be checked at http://www.bar.ca.gov/pubwebquery/Vehic ... stQry.aspx

To get any additional info, you have to go to DMV and order a report. I'm unaware of any other sites where you can obtain the information you're seeking.

[DieselSpider]

Just searching that VIN via Yahoo shows it was posted for sale in North Carolina 6 months ago for $7,250:
http://www.cars4sale.pro/detail/us/pAUc ... onvertible

It was claimed to have spent "most" of its life in California.

It was also listed on this site for a reduced price of $3,200:
http://www.collectorcarsforsale.com/371 ... ailse.html

It was also on this site with the highest bid being $3,200 with a buy it now of $4,000:
http://carauctions.letsgetcool.com/deta ... 10911.html

CarFax seems to indicate there are 16 records listed for this VIN:
https://secure.carfax.com/creditCard.cf ... _vbox_form

[kmoses]

I saw that Carfax showed 16 entrys, paid to see them and got "no records found for this VIN".
I also found a shipping site that says the car was purchased at auction on 3/24/14 (I don't know the sale price) and shipped from CA to South Mills, NC. where it went back up for sale within four months of getting here. The first site had it listed for $11,000 and the last Ebay auction had a buy it now of $4,000. Just trying to see what is going on.

[bradartigue]

1979 California cars would have had a tag saying they met California emissions regulations. You can also check the carburetor and other parts - California cars had different numbers on them. Your service manual will list them. Assuming the stuff is still on there and hasn't been swapped out. At least these may tell you if the thing was originally a CA car.

[DieselSpider]

I saw that Carfax showed 16 entrys, paid to see them and got "no records found for this VIN".
I also found a shipping site that says the car was purchased at auction on 3/24/14 (I don't know the sale price) and shipped from CA to South Mills, NC. where it went back up for sale within four months of getting here. The first site had it listed for $11,000 and the last Ebay auction had a buy it now of $4,000. Just trying to see what is going on.

The VIN appears to be 1 digit short compared to my 1978 which goes 124CS10012XXXX. You might try running the VIN with the variations of the missing digit 0-9.

[AriK]

The VIN appears to be 1 digit short compared to my 1978 which goes 124CS10012XXXX. You might try running the VIN with the variations of the missing digit 0-9.

My '79 has the same number of characters as kmoses' '79

[kmoses]

Received the following from a Carfax rep. " we only maintain records for vehicles 1981 and later that have the 17
digit VIN. " I was able to verify that the car passed CA smog testing in 2013.

[bradartigue]

I'm looking at a 1979 Spider this weekend and want to know if it was always a California car before being shipped east a year ago. The VIN is: 124CS20156463 is there a "Carfax" type site for older cars or a way to find it's history?

To clarify a lot of what was said above, that isn't a standardized VIN (1981-present day). FIAT VIN numbers start with ZFA. ZFA124CS2..... 17 digits. Your 1979 was manufactured before they put standardized VINs on the cars.

In Serial Number speak, if your car is made after 1980, you might have: 124CSO*08187411
The VIN would be: ZFAAS00B5B8187411

ZFA / AS00B5 / B8187411

Z = Italy
FA = FIAT Automobiles
AS00B = Vehicle Descriptor
5 = Check Digit
B = Model Year (1980=A 1981=B 1982=C...through 2039=Z)
8187411 = Chassis Number

The pain in the ass with all of this is during 1980/81 the application of the VIN was almost experimental. FIAT used weird digits in some numbers - like the asterisk. My brother's 1981 Spider was almost ineligible for insurance in Georgia because their well-thought-out software that checked if you were registered an insured car would go into a search mode with the asterisk. That was a lot of fun to sort out.

[4uall]

Example

So based on above info, my 1980 is really a 1981?!

[bradartigue]

Jay,

That car is an 81. Funny when I pull that VIN I get a listing for a light green car in Cape Cod...that I think was my brother's car in the 1980s.

VIN ZFAAS00B7B8184333
YEAR 1981
MAKE FIAT
MODEL SPIDER
TRIM LEVEL 124
ENGINE 2.0L L4 SOHC 8V
STYLE CONVERTIBLE 2-DR
MADE IN ITALY

No 1980 would have had that VIN printed like that.

[4uall]

my apologies Brad, you are correct (no surprise really). The above pic was a VIN of this car I saw on my honeymoon while we were in Hyannis MA.








My VIN for Fiona is

[toplessexpat]

Does anyone else think there's an issue here?

You're on honeymoon and you're managing to find time to snap pictures of car vins?

[4uall]

Guess I'm just fortunate enough to have the loving support of a great woman who shares one of my passions.

[Nanonevol]

That's cute! I may go a step further and actually marry my Spider. This is Massachusetts after all. But seriously, my newly acquired '77's (according to the title) vin is 124CS10117978 which made me wonder if it could be a '78 but I think now it may be coincidence.