QuestionHi:
I'm doing some repairs on the motor valves and stuff like that on a 93 Altima. Now that it's time for me to buy the replacements, I found out that the car was painted a long ago and there's no way all over it for me to figure out clearly which of the four 1993 Altimas it is.
I mean that because I have a 94 one and it has the GXE letters clearly sticked on the side, but the 93 one that I'm repairing, no clue... The owner told me that it never had any letters on it (!?!) I don't want to buy parts that will not fit later.
Can I find out which model it is by looking at some specific details that it should have? For example, at least I can tell you that it has automatic seatbelts; my 94 GXE doesn't. I haven't seen any other big particular difference. If I consider this as some "fancy" feature, then it may be a SE or GLE, which were the expensive ones, but that may not be necessarily true.
Do you know how to identify each one? I'll be very greatful if you can help me with this.
Have a nice day.
AnswerJose,
The VIN will not give the information you need. Basically, the engines are the same given a vehicle. Now, the suspension and brakes are another story. Automatic seatbelts were a stop gap measure before airbags became manditory. Now, the option list grows with each letter. The GXE has most all options available as standard equipment. If you check out the interior on the one that you are repairing it should have many fewer options than yours. If you do not have the manual or datasheet that came on the window it is going to be a crap shoot if it was repainted and all the nameplates are gone.
The following is from autoinsurancetips.com and it describes the VIN number. Now, you could take the vin and call a dealer and see if they can decode the four venter numbers and you might get lucky.
Tips to understanding your vehicles serial (VIN) number
They are as follows:
1st character- Identifies the country in which the vehicle was manufactured.
For example: U.S.A.(1or4), Canada(2), Mexico(3), Japan(J), Korea(K), England(S), Germany(W), Italy(Z)
2nd character- Identifies the manufacturer. For example; Audi(A),
BMW(B), Buick(4), Cadillac(6), Chevrolet(1), Chrysler(C), Dodge(B),
Ford(F), GM Canada(7), General Motors(G), Honda(H), Jaquar(A), Lincoln(L), Mercedes Benz(D), Mercury(M), Nissan(N), Oldsmobile(3), Pontiac(2or5), Plymouth(P), Saturn(8), Toyota(T), VW(V), Volvo(V).
3rd character- Identifies vehicle type or manufacturing division.
4th to 8th characters- Identifies vehicle features such as body style, engine type, model, series, etc.
9th character- Identifies VIN accuracy as check digit.
10th character- Identifies the model year. For example: 1988(J), 1989(K), 1990(L), 1991(M), 1992(N), 1993(P), 1994(R), 1995(S), 1996(T),
1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000(Y)------2001(1), 2002(2), 2003(3)
11th character- Identifies the assembly plant for the vehicle.
12th to 17th characters- Identifies the sequence of the vehicle for production
as it rolled of the manufacturers assembly line.
