Lotus Elise Register

[MikeGalos]

Originally Posted by andykeck

You know, though, that once you have that, you have the info to reconstruct the whole VIN with ease, right?

And, of course, valid VINs are hardly a secret since anyone knowing the publicly available coding for the checkdigit can create a valid VIN for any of the 9999 possible Elise VINs per year seeing how the Year, Serial Number and Checkdigit are the only values that aren't constant.

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by andykeck

You know, though, that once you have that, you have the info to reconstruct the whole VIN with ease, right?

Of course, and we've been through that umpteen times in this thread already. There really is no privacy issue with VI numbers, especially if the owner is never identified.

[TimMullen]

If you just display/sort the "year field" of the VIN and the last four characters, you will get the entries in chronological order. Then you will also not be displaying the entire formatting of the VIN for anyone that wants to mess with things. The average "hacker" isn't going to know the rest of the info in the VINs, and so you don't show it the uninformed will not be able to figure it out. Those the do know the format of the rest of the VIN (and it isn't all that hard) will be able to "fake" entries, by why would they?

You would also need to allow some one to select an individual car by entering the year and serial number.

[MikeGalos]

Originally Posted by TimMullen

If you just display/sort the "year field" of the VIN and the last four characters, you will get the entries in chronological order.

Actually, that'll only work if the Exige models don't get added and if there are no other changes to the rest of the entries since the year/sn pair are only guaranteed unique if the rest of the items (except checkdigit) remain the same. For example, if they started building some Elise and Exige models for the US in Shah Alam as well as Hethel and have the a/c delete option all eight of the following would be 6/0027:

SCCPC111x6HL30027 which is the 27th 2006 Elise built at Hethel, AC
SCCPC111x6BL30027 which is the 27th 2006 Elise built at Shah Alam, AC
SCCPC111x6HL80027 which is the 27th 2006 Exige built at Hethel, AC
SCCPC111x6BL80027 which is the 27th 2006 Exige built at Shah Alam, AC
SCCPC111x6HA30027 which is the 27th 2006 Elise built at Hethel, No AC
SCCPC111x6BA30027 which is the 27th 2006 Elise built at Shah Alam, No AC
SCCPC111x6HA80027 which is the 27th 2006 Exige built at Hethel, No AC
SCCPC111x6BA80027 which is the 27th 2006 Exige built at Shah Alam, No AC

[Tyger]

[quote=MikeGalos]Actually, that'll only work if the Exige models don't get added and if there are no other changes to the rest of the entries since the year/sn pair are only guaranteed unique if the rest of the items (except checkdigit) remain the same. For example, if they started building some Elise and Exige models for the US in Shah Alam as well as Hethel and have the a/c delete option all eight of the following would be 6/0027:

I can't see them having separate serial numbers for cars with and without a/c. And I think this is going to be an Elise registry, not an Exige or general Lotus registry.
That being said, I think what the US code classifies as "Section Four" of the VIN (all after the check digit) would serve our purposes nicely.

[MikeGalos]

Originally Posted by Tyger

I can't see them having separate serial numbers for cars with and without a/c.

Seeing how they have separate codes for
L = LHD, Federal, A/C
A = LHD, Federal, No A/C
I wouldn't be that surprised to see them use them.

[Miguel]

The AC Delete is a dealer option, that's why they charge extra, but who knows if they will offer that in the future, the vin definetly has that potential.

Also as it stands right now, the serial number is shared between the elise and exige for us or non us cars, that will apply to all of the variations so you can't have the same serial number on two cars.

2005 M.Y. Elise for North America: May 2004
VIN character 10 = 5; Character 12 = L; Serial number from 0001
Note that the serial number sequence is shared with other Elise variants when '05 M.Y. is adopted for
those models later in the year.

If they did make them in Shah Alam that might change because their production will go over 10,000 a year and they wont have enough digits.

But why worry about what may or may not happen? they might change the lump and and we will loose the P on the 4th digit. They might move the HQ to malasial then we will loose the SCC (not sure what is britain and what is lotus out of those 3).

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by MikeGalos

Seeing how they have separate codes for
L = LHD, Federal, A/C
A = LHD, Federal, No A/C
I wouldn't be that surprised to see them use them.

You miss my point. They will use different drive/AC codes, but they will not have a separate set of serial numbers (last four) for each code (nor even a separate last four for the Exige, I understand).

BTW, Miguel, the first character (S) is the country of origin code.

[TimMullen]

In any case, the database will have the entire serial number, so if additional "combinations" later are used, the display can be modified to display/sort the additional characters as needed when things change...

[sandsmuseum]

Originally Posted by TimMullen

In any case, the database will have the entire serial number, so if additional "combinations" later are used, the display can be modified to display/sort the additional characters as needed when things change...

Yep, so when the changes come, I will have to do some more programming! I was hoping to do it correctly once, and never have to look at another line of code ever again! Yeah, right...

The registry has been modified. It now decodes the VIN and saves the model year, the serial number, and the model. (Some think our serial number starts with a three but it actually is only the last four digits. The three signifies an Elise, while the eight signifies an Exige.)

The sort is based on the build date, now saved as a year and month. The build date may be different from the model year. I guessed at the build year on some entries when I fixed current entries. Some entries did not bother to enter the build date and appear at the beginning, sorted by serial number.

Colors are displayed now but not correctly.

I started to add the compiled display with comment and picture but did not have time to finish it. Perhaps in a week.

I have removed all displays of VIN numbers. Or so I hope. I will have to check to see if one is mentioned in an error statement and will remove them if they are. All illegitimate use of VINs should now be prevented.

I did not have time to do a lot of testing this time around. The basic structure should work. Please email me or post problems here and I will fix upon my return. I will review comments in this thread, both past and future, and will make the necessary further modifications sometime next week.

Michael

[sandsmuseum]

Randy's LSD and Traction Control System (TCS) sure stick out like a sore thumb in the compilation display of all cars, in the options section!

Randy,

Care to tell us what was involved in the installation of the TCS?

Michael

[Randy Chase]

Originally Posted by sandsmuseum

Randy's LSD and Traction Control System (TCS) sure stick out like a sore thumb in the compilation display of all cars, in the options section!

Randy,

Care to tell us what was involved in the installation of the TCS?

Michael

I will document it.

[marcw]

Originally Posted by MikeGalos

And, of course, valid VINs are hardly a secret since anyone knowing the publicly available coding for the checkdigit can create a valid VIN for any of the 9999 possible Elise VINs per year seeing how the Year, Serial Number and Checkdigit are the only values that aren't constant.

To give you an even better idea of how VINs are hardly a secret, you can find any VIN in California from the license plate and vice-versa for any car that has had a smog check No Elises are on this database...at least not yet, but its only a matter of time:

http://smogcheck.ca.gov/vehtests/pubtstqry.aspx

[Lumn8r]

Okay. I have a few questions. Can you post a few photos of what I am looking for with the steering rack. Can I even see it without pulling panels. My Elise is on a lift right now, so I can look under her if you can show me some samples of what to look for. Also, for the diffuser bolt dimples, are you talking about dimples in the diffuser itself? Again, If I have a good idea what to look for it is easy enough to check on while the car is lifted.

Thanks

[chill]

2006 color of Saffron Yellow is not available. That is the main color of the SportElise... with StormTitanium stripes.

Also LotusSport Package is not available.

Registry is a great idea!!

[sandsmuseum]

My comment about not wanting to look at another line of code was meant in jest. My career was in software development so I know code is never done.

I will watch for more comments on changes needed and make them all at once. Please add to this thread or send me a private message about your experience with the registry.

Also let me know if you want any different kinds of sorts or displays. I will also try and make a (sanitized) listing available for those of you that want to make usual sorts. I will not provide serial number or passwords. (Note: Yes you can probably form the VIN, but you will not get it directly from me.)

Thanks,

Michael

[gtveloce]

Originally Posted by Modern Wedgie

You also need to add Laser Blue to the 2005 color option.

+1

[WileECoyote]

Originally Posted by chill

2006 color of Saffron Yellow is not available. That is the main color of the SportElise... with StormTitanium stripes.

Also LotusSport Package is not available.

Registry is a great idea!!

I agree. I just tried to enter my '06 Sport Elise but correct color, stereo, and packages weren't available.

[uclacyc]

I think that this is busted. When I try to view, I get the error:

select unsuccessful: Access denied for user: 'sandsmus_michael@localhost' to database 'sandsmus_test'


Also, how about additional columns such as date purchased, new/used, mileage, price, and % depreciation during purchase (automatically calculated based on options chosen)?

[mike325ci]

same: doing a view yields the same error.

trying to add a 2007 exige s says it is not a valid VIN... oh well...