Decode This! VIN Decoder Blog

DecodeThis! Mentioned at KillerStartups.com

info — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:15:38 +0000

I just stumbled across the site KillerStartups.com. Apparently about two months ago they posted a review of Decode This! Nice idea behind the site, it looks like all the site reviews are hand-written, but that can be hard to determine sometimes. Anyways, thanks for the mention! I’m going to try and get them review WindowSticker.us…

Car and Truck Reviews Added to Decode This!

info — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:45:28 +0000

I’ve added a beta (meaning it works for me, but I’m waiting to see if it works for you) version of car and truck information for over 6,000 models. This section will eventually (as soon as I code it!) allow you to add your comments on each model, making it the first social networking portion of the Decode This! web site. Please contact me if you have any trouble accessing the decodethis.com/reviews section. It uses some of my new eBay web services that specifically generate the vehicle information sections.

Upgrade to DNN 4.8.4

info — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:47:51 +0000

I just did a long-overdue upgrade of Decode This to the latest version of Dot Net Nuke: 4.8.4. In the process of doing the upgrade (patching DNN is SO much fun) the direct link for VIN decodes broke. Meaning you couldn’t do http://www.decodethis.com/9t02m123456 anymore because the site no longer recognized the format. I ended up finding a solution using a third-party ISAPI plugin. Please let me know if you come across anything broken in the site.

The good news is the new version should fix the blank-space bloat that was causing the page size to creep upwards of 300k! It’s been a big improvement in size and speed so far, so I’m crossing my fingers!

Happy 200,000 Decodes!

info — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 01:01:39 +0000

Decode This! reached a new milestone of 200,000 decodes today! This number does not include web service decodes, just decodes of cars done directly through the web site. Thanks everyone for your support over the past year. The site is taking off dramatically in traffic and it’s a thrilling thing to watch.

Any bets on how fast 300,000 comes about?

What is A VIN Number?

info — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 07:12:10 +0000

I just added a brief article that explains what a VIN number is on Decode This! Check it out! It’s the first of a series of articles I’ll be adding to the site over time. Let me know what you think!

Ban Classic Cars?

info — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:19:36 +0000

A recent post about banning classic cars is making the circuit right now. I think it’s important to keep thing in perspective: classic cars are a tiny fraction of the gas guzzlers on the road. SUVs, Minivans, and improperly maintained daily drivers are bigger contributors to greenhouse gases and fuel prices than a bunch of old cars driven only on the weekend. Our hobby is safe, ignore the fear-mongering that’s going on. People are panicking and looking for scapegoats wherever they can find them.

A Classic Car Summer: Bring Out Your Toys!

info — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:04:03 +0000

Summer is here, and it’s time to break out the car wax and the California Duster and have fun with your classic car! I love summer if for no other reason than to see people’s joy in bringing out their babies and toys for the ever-so-brief car show season.

Being a fan of classic cars myself I lust after them all. I love to take the kids around the circuit and show them automotive history. Running several car sites I know the importance of having the proper car insurance. I’ve been to several car insurance sites looking for the best information but by far Classic Car Insurance Review is the best. They have honest, non-biased reviews of all the top insurance companies that specialize in classic cars. Check them out!

WindowSticker.us Allows Everyone to Create Custom Window Stickers

info — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:07:27 +0000

It’s live! WindowSticker.us (http://www.windowsticker.us) allows car dealers and individuals alike to design, download, and print customized automotive window stickers.

Designed to be easy to use, the web 2.0 application can let you create a new window sticker for your car in minutes! Use this awesome tool to turbo-charge the sale of your car.

WindowSticker.us uses Decode This! to decode your car’s VIN and automatically fill in critical information on your window sticker. All you need to do is fill in the mileage and price, select a predefined template, and you’re done! More options are available if you want a detailed window sticker.

Video tutorials are available for viewing.

Check the site out!

Ford Thunderbird Site Launched

info — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:33:50 +0000

I’ve recently launched a site focusing on the classic Ford Thunderbird at http://www.thunderbirds.biz. Stop by and check out the articles, classifieds, and videos related to the iconic T-Bird.

This site is one in a generation of sites I plan on launching that focus on a particular car model. It’s not finished (are any sites really done?) so I’ll be adding additional information over time.

100,000 VINs Decoded!

info — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:15:52 +0000

Hey everyone, we’ve reached a new milestone at Decode This! 100,000 unique VINs decoded! I never thought my little VIN decoder service would be so popular. To me 100k decodes is a huge achievement. Thanks to everyone who’s used the decoder in the past 14 months, and I’ll hopefully be adding new data to the system in the near future.