toedtoes wrote:
Except that the manufacturer's VIN will still identify the engine, model, etc. of the chassis used for the final motorhome. As from what I can tell, all motorhomes have the chassis VIN on them somewhere - so using that VIN will identify chassis specific information.
The VINs on the registration and manufacturer's plates in the coaches on my '72 M375 and '73 RM350 motorhomes do not match the respective chassis VINs, cannot be used in parts stores and decoders, and do not identify engine, model, etc.
I had a police friend trace the manufacturers' and chassis VINs. The manufacturers' VINs reflected registrations in government databases and he traced the registrations back to manufacturers' paperwork. On the other hand, the chassis VIN does show up in some parts stores and decoder databases but do not show up as being used for registration in any U.S. or Canadian government records.
Some time in the mid-70s, governments implemented and mandated a unified format and encoding for VINs. Because this thread deals with older motorhomes, some predating the unified VIN format, it's important to know the difference between registration and chassis VINs, just like with split year motorhomes. (My M300 was registered as a 1970 model but was built on a 1969 chassis.)
