A Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is a seventeen character alpha/numeric identifier number. All new vehicles sold in Australia from 1 January 1989 are required to have a VIN (Commonwealth Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989). VIN's must be clearly stamped, embossed or otherwise permanently marked on a substantial part of a vehicle's frame or body. All vehicles (except plant) built or sold in Australia since 1 January 1989 require a VIN. Each VIN contains a set of encoded details about the vehicle and its origins, and its designed to make the modification and re sale of stolen vehicles more difficult.