At a glance
- Engine: the sixth character is A on an NA (Z22SE) and B on a Turbo.
- The tenth character is the model year, not the year it was built. A "1" means a 2001 model. Every turbo, including the VXR and the Speedsters, was said to be a "3".
- The last six digits are the serial. The last four of those are the build number used in the register.
- The VXR has an ordinary turbo chassis number, so the number alone won't tell you it is one.
Reading the number
The thread used this NA as its example. The forum post typed it with the letter O, but a VIN never contains the letter O, so the characters shown as zeros below are zeros.
| Characters | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | W0L | World manufacturer identifier (Vauxhall / Opel) |
| 4 | 0 | The author called it "normal vehicle, often unused" |
| 5 | E | VX220 |
| 6 | A | Engine: A = Z22SE (NA), B = Turbo. The author noted that Vauxhall put the engine in the chassis number, which was unusual |
| 7 to 9 | R97 | Roadster. The thread's turbo breakdown wrote this as R73, but its own example string (EBR973N) shows R97 followed by the model year digit 3, so R97 looks right for both |
| 10 | 1 | Model year (1 = 2001, 2 = 2002, 3 = 2003) |
| 11 | N | Plant: N = Norwich (the Lotus factory at Hethel) |
| 12 to 17 | 000490 | Serial number. The last four digits (0490) are the build number |
A turbo in the thread read E B R97 3 N after the first four characters (the thread wrote it as EBR973N): VX220, Turbo, roadster, 2003 model year, Norwich, then the serial.
Model year, not build year
- The author first called the tenth character the year of build, then corrected it after a dealer pointed out some cars ordered to exact specification carried a different digit. It is the model year, so the car may have been built the year before. He compared it to the new Astra of the time, which was a 2005 model with a 5 in its number, even though most were built in 2004.
- One poster said all the turbos, including the VXR and the Speedsters, were 2003 model year "for some reason". That is one person's recollection, so don't use it to date a particular car. Use the V5 and the registration date.
- The same poster said there was a small gap in the NA numbering when the model year changed from 2001 to 2002, and that the main differences were front fog lamps as standard and the door and sill pockets. He gave no more detail than that.
Serial numbers
- NA and turbo cars seem to share one serial sequence rather than each starting at zero. One owner's 2003 turbo was 6677, and a dealer employee said he had never seen a turbo number below 6000 and that the last NAs were in the early 5000s. That was a 2005 recollection, so treat the ranges as rough.
- The register uses the last four digits of the VIN as the build number. See Buying a used VX220 for where the number is on the car.
Other plant letters (all Vauxhall, not the VX220)
For interest, the 2005 thread listed what the plant character meant on other Vauxhalls: most had a number where the VX220 has its N, with 7 once meaning Luton, 8 Ellesmere Port, 5 Antwerp and Z the Spanish plant at Zaragoza. The poster believed 1, 2 and 3 were German plants and couldn't remember more. Don't rely on this list.
Locking wheel nut key numbers
The thread drifted onto this. One poster said the VX220 was the only Vauxhall fitted with locking wheel nuts in production, and that there was no central record of key numbers: a dealer fitting aftermarket locking nuts supplies a box with the number, and if you lose it there is little the dealer can do. He had once managed to trace a couple of numbers through Vauxhall and Lotus, which took a lot of effort. See Buying a used VX220, which says to ask for the number when you buy.