Toyota Corolla VIN number oddity

[flohtingPoint]

I was bored and got to looking up some cars on autotrader to kill time and I decided to see what GTS's were up for sale when I noticed this:


Sample VIN Number 1:
JT2AE86CXF0108875

Sample VIN Number 2:
JT2AE88S6F0167104


VIN number 1 belongs to a 85 Toyota Corolla SR5, number 2 belongs to a 85 GTS. I'm not very familiar with the VIN number construction of Toyota (as I'm a die hard Nissan fan), but it seemed like every SR5 I came across had AE86 in its VIN number and every GTS had AE88 in its VIN number, so I assume its the chassis code for the American import. With this in mind, does the SR5 chassis share more in common with the Sprinter than the GTS?

 

[Fenrir51]

IIRC the SR5 lacks a more reinforced frame then the GTS.

 

[Jay]

AE88

the final number is the syle of the body
because they both are the same car with different body styles the GTS is AE88 instead of the AE86

another example is AE85 which is the one with the boot (trunk)

A= engine type (A series)(eg 4'A'gze)
E= model type (E= corolla)(eg supra is 'A', soarar is 'Z' and chaser is 'X')
8= 8th series or version
8= body style

 

[Takumi Fujiwara]

The chassis code, under the hood, is still AE86, for both cars.

Hovever, as you said, the US VIN displays an SR5 and an AE86 and a GTS as an AE88. The FF 4dr sedan Corolla DX, by the way, is listed as AE82.

 

[Pupik]

My two cents, working for Lexus:

JT is the beginning part of the VIN for all Toyotas (or Lexuses) sold in the USA. Canadian cars start with "2" and also have a "C" as the 11 character in the VIN.

The last 6 digits of the VIN aren't exactly the model run number, it works by a peculiar algorithim. However, no two cars of the same style and generation of model have the same 6 digits.

The 10th character is the model year of the car. For example:

L = 1990
M = 1991
N = 1992 (O was skipped, looks too much like a zero)
P = 1993
Q = 1994
R = 1995
S = 1996
T = 1997
U = 1998 (V was skipped, it looks too much like U)
X = 1999
Y = 2000
1 = 2001
2 = 2002
3 = 2003
4 = 2004

 

[Firebird]

To elaborate further on the above post:

The first digit or letter designates the country of final assembly. The second letter designates the manufacturer.

JT means made in Japan by Toyota.
2T means made in Canada by Toyota.
1N means made in the United States by New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated.

The 11th character is the plant code where the vehicle was built. C is the Toyota Motor Manufacuring Canada plant in Cambridge, Ontario. Z is the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California. I'm not familiar with the Japanese plants.

Contrary to pupik's statement these characters do not apply to where they (the vehicles) were sold, only where they were made. All Corollas sold in the United States do not start with JT. J means it was built in Japan.


Not that any of this has to do with the original question. I'm just being picky.

 

[flohtingPoint]

Awesome info fellas, made a great read and helped build my knowledge base for something other than Nissan vehicles =) Thanks much,

floh