What do the numbers under the VIN number mean?

[Tomas]

Hi there,
I bought a very nice Defender 90 in Germany and trying to register it in Belgium. I say trying because it is not quite straight forward as one would think.
First, it took over a month to get the Certificate of Conformity and than the Technical inspection (sort of MOT) has spotted that one number on the car identification plate in the engine compartment is not correct.

The plate is glued just under the bonnet (hood) close to the cabin. It is a kind of white plate with LR logo, VIN chassis number and few others. It displays the following:

Land Rover
SALLDVBF8..... (VIN)
90/1178
2400 kg
6400 kg
1200 kg
1380 kg

Can anybody help me to understand what the 6400 number actually stands for or what it should be?

This is the number that the technical control says is wrong. They could not explain what it is, or what it should be. They just mentioned that it does not correspond to this car.
In the official LR dealer, it took another month to come to the conclusion that they don't understand my problem and they submitted to the query to LR HQ in Brussels. In HQ they issued a copy of certificate that indicates the following:

2400 - max car total weight
1200 - max load on front axel
700 - minimum load on front axel (???)
1380 - max load on the rear axel.

Obviously this does not help at all.

Can anybody help me to understand what the 6400 number actually stands for or what it should be?

Thanks in advance,
Tomas

 

[DigitalNY]

Here ya go:

A Type approval
B VIN (minimum of 17 digits)
C Maximum permitted laden weight for vehicle
D Maximum vehicle and trailer weight
E Maximum road weight - front axle
F Maximum road weight - rear axle


So the one their saying is wrong is D - Maximum vehicle and trailer weight. Also sometimes A & B are swapped for some reason, probably depends on year.

This is right in the workshop manual which any LR dealer should have... If they've been unable to help you and the HQ in Brussels couldn't help accurately either I would really think twice about taking it to that LR dealership. I would be looking for a good independant LR shop, ask around there's gotta be one available without traveling too far.

DigitalNY (Ric)

 

[Tomas]

Thanks a lot.
I went to the technical control again and just told them that it is OK now without actually doing anything. The technician who went to check did not know what was wrong before, checked only the VIN number and let me pass through.

Good lesson - thanks for your help anyway.
Tomas