THE SUNLINE REGISTRY for Sunline VINs

[Sunline Fan]

Hi Everyone,

While many of you know about the Sunline registry already, there are those who don't. I have created this new post to hopefully better explain what I do, since the last discussion sort of stemmed off of a previous discussion and wasn't very clear to a new member or someone unfamiliar.

WHAT IS IT?
-In short, the Sunline Registry is a database. Specifically it is a database of Sunline Vehicle Identification Numbers, or VIN's, as well as many other key components of construction data. The idea for the database was originally constructed on October 9, 2007 in a high school computer lab. From there, it has grown from a single sheet Excel spreadsheet to an over 80 sheet Excel workbook. The database records different information for each production year, though many years are very similar.

The database does far more than just record VIN's. Included in here are production dates, work order and sales order numbers, coach model information, interior colors, and popular significant options, just to name a few. In addition, the statistical tabs for each model year count not only the number of each model produced in that year by VIN, but it also has an area for me to add models I find without the VIN. Yes indeed, I search the internet for Sunline's for sale and add them in when I find new ones. Believe me, this is as big of a task as it seems! Unfortunately, there really is no other way to find how many of each model were actually built, because to the best of my knowledge, all Sunline production records were lost when the company shut down.

WHO CAN CONTRIBUTE?
-While I am the sole "Manager" of the database, anyone can and is encouraged to contribute! Whether your own coach information, or one stored at a dealer or storage lot, every little bit helps contribute towards the end goal of finding as many Sunline's produced as possible. ALSO: Any non-Sunline Owner's Club member is welcome and encouraged to contribute, so use the e-mail address listed above.

WHY SHOULD I CONTRIBUTE?
-Every VIN counts toward the end result, so not having your coach in the database is like having a puzzle with a missing piece. While it may be small, your coach still matters. Unlike many larger manufacturers, Sunline only produced about 65,000 coaches over 42 years, so there's not a lot of data to begin with.

HOW DO I SUBMIT INFORMATION?
-Submitting is easy! You may reply to this post, send me a private message on this forum, or e-mail me at sunlinefan@yahoo.com. Please keep in mind this is not my primary e-mail, so I may not see your message immediately. I also welcome submissions in person at any Meet & Greet. I will quickly glance over your submission as soon as it arrives and if I find anything that doesn't look correct to me, I will let you know right away.

IS MY INFORMATION SECURE?
-Absolutely! While trailer VIN's are much less commonly used for illegal activities over motor vehicle VIN's, it can still happen. If you are concerned, I will make a note to make sure to never post your full VIN. The only part of a VIN that I would ever post for discussion sake would be the last four, which are basically a placeholder in the model year. As a result, you will see many members have put this number in their forum signature. I do respect everyone's concerns when it comes to giving out information like this, so if for any reason you are not comfortable, I would be more than happy to receive a partial VIN (including the last four). Just realize that depending on how much is submitted, I may or may not be able to confirm various characteristics of your coach such as the model year or length, which is especially critical for identifying older coaches.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO SUBMITTING MY VIN?
-There are quite a few reasons for submitting.
---First of all, security. Should your coach ever get stolen, keep in mind I'm not a police department, but if I were to ever find that coach come up for sale, I would let you know immediately. Fortunately I haven't had such a situation yet, but if I did, I would do my best to help out.
---Second of all, your submission will help determine how many of each model were made and how many were made in each year.
---Thirdly, it will greatly help in sale situations. Think of my database as a Carfax service for Sunline's. Particularly if you are buying a coach, a few of them I have multiple records for, tracing them all over the country. I've even found a couple being sold with clean titles that actually had previous salvage titles.
If you are in a situation where you are looking for a coach that you don't own, such as one you previously own, I welcome such requests. I am currently in this boat too. If you are looking for one, send me as much information as possible, but keep in mind that "tan with red stripes and about 18' long" isn't at all specific enough. A VIN is certainly preferred, whether whole or partial, and a specific model number is also desired. Also include any unique features or modifications you did to it, that would help distinguish it. If I happen to find your coach, my procedure will be to send you anonymous pictures to first confirm with you, and then if you think it is, I will contact the owner/seller myself or link you to an online advertisement if it is currently for sale. If I am contacting and the seller is OK with communicating, I will send you your preferred non-SOC contact info and have them get in touch with you.

HOW DO I FIND MY VIN?
-Depending on the model year of your coach, it could be in a variety of places. If you have a title to the coach (some truck campers do not), the VIN should be on there unless it was re-registered as home-made. It will also be in many places in the owner's manual. Depending on the year and condition, you will have the VIN in anywhere between one and five places on the coach. Yes, all truck campers have VIN's, so even if you don't hold title and the outside sticker is worn off, you still have a VIN.


WHAT OTHER INFO DO YOU COLLECT?
-I collect quite a bit more. The only other information from the trailer itself is the build date and number on the oval-shaped RVIA tag, located near the main entry door. All early 1994 and older coaches have a plastic stamped RVIA tag whereas the mid-1994 and older coaches have a vinyl decal RVIA tag. In addition to this number, I collect a lot of data from the owner's manual. Depending on ownership history, you may or may not have all of this data in the manual. The benefits of this database will allow me to in some cases estimate the range of the missing data and in some really rare cases, I might be able to guess it almost exactly. I'm hesitant to post a list of all this data because each model year is so different. If you have an owner's manual and you are willing to spend a few minutes getting acquainted with it, I will walk you through everything to look for. This shouldn't take long at all.

HOW DO YOU PREFER THE INFORMATION BE SUBMITTED?
-I really prefer pictures of the coach and the documents containing the info. This way I have proof for the data as well as something to pass along to a potential new owner if the owner's manual goes missing. If you do not have a camera, scans of the documents will work as well. If neither are available to you, feel free to re-type all the information in an e-mail or private message, though I'll warn you it can get lengthy. If you are in a Meet & Greet setting in which I am in attendance, I will gladly gather the information for you if you are uncomfortable with locating all of it. If you would prefer to just give me all of your documents too, I would be glad to hold onto them for future reference.

For those who wish to investigate the original post on this, please see this link.

Jon

[ChevyDan]

Hello Jon, The camper I bought this week was bought new in #### here in Vermont from Mekkelsen RV Sales and Service in Montplier. The model is a C-801 truck camper and the Serial Number is ####.
Thanks, Dan

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by ChevyDan

Hello Jon, The camper I bought this week was bought new in May of 1984 here in Vermont from Mekkelsen RV Sales and Service in Montplier. The model is a C-801 truck camper and the Serial Number is 2659.
Thanks, Dan

Thanks Dan!

It appears yours might have been built during a run of truck campers, because I also have 2702 recorded as a C-950 in the 1984 model year.

Jon

[DebB]

Hi Jon
My old Sunline was a 2002 T2553
Vin ####
traded in MA 2/2009 for my current Sunline
2003 320sr Vin ####.

Wow,I admire such an ambitious project! Deb

[Sunline Fan]

Thanks Deb!

If you don't mind me asking, what were/are the interior colors for both? You don't have to know the exact names, I should be able to figure them out from general descriptions.

Also, what is the build date on your specification sticker on your 320SR?

Thanks,
Jon

[DebB]

Jon,
The 2002's color was Green Floral Mist and the 2003 has Ivy Rose. Our trailer is on a seasonal site so the next time we go I'll take a pic of the sticker. Is there any other info you need so I can get it for you when we go? Deb

[Sunline Fan]

Hi Deb,

If you could get pictures of the following documents in your manual, that would be great:

I cleared off most of the data on this first form. If you can't take a picture, basically I just track the info in the first section (left and right columns), as well as the "printed" date in the upper left corner. Also note the real one wouldn't have the logo in color like that. In addition, if you don't find this form, don't worry, there may be another version in there that's all hand written. It would just have the customer/dealer name, order rep and sales rep, order/PO number, order date, and run number. The bottom of this form provided areas to check off the options ordered on it.



In this one, all I really need is the final inspector name and date. If you can't make out the name exactly, that's ok, there were only a couple of them and I can narrow down exactly who it was.



If you can't get this, don't worry. I don't specifically track the appliance info, but I just try to document them when I can.



Also get this number, by your rear entrance door:



plus of course the outside sticker build date (the sticker itself is probably a slightly different shape than this):



Jon

[Sue Ellen]

Hi There, I have found the Vin # on my just acquired Saturn 1987 Sunline. It is 1LC251F1XHD15209. At the County Clerks office they informed me that that not is not a valid Vin No., that it is a utility trailer. It is the same number as on the registration of the seller, who was told that she did not need a title by the registar in another county, and thus there is no title. Can you shed any insight to this situation? Thanks so much.
Sue Ellen

[MACK C-85]

A valid VIN has 17 digits, so one is missing. Jon will be along with more info soon I'm sure, but that sticks out.

Mack

[Sunline Fan]

Hi Sue Ellen,

As George indicated, you are missing a digit. You also have an incorrect digit.

Based on what you posted, I feel your missing digit is in the last four (last three of what's posted).

The incorrect digit is the fifth digit, it should be a "S" instead of a "5".

So, your VIN should be something like: 1LC2S1F1XHD15_ _ _ _. I suspect the last four is 2009, 2099, 1209, 2209, or maybe even 5209. I've found in the past that when a digit is missing, it's common that the missing one is a duplicate to a surrounding digit.

Check for it on the trailer to see what that missing digit is.

Jon

[Sue Ellen]

Hi There again. I did have an incorrect letter in the original no. but the last four numbers appear quite clear, since I made a pencil rubbing of them: 1LC2S1F1XD15209. I tried 2009, 2099, 2209, 1209 and 5209 and they did not pull on the dmv site that I was using. It indicated no match. Do you have any ideas what is going on here? Thanks, Sue Ellen (Sunline 1987 Saturn)

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by Sue Ellen

Hi There again. I did have an incorrect letter in the original no. but the last four numbers appear quite clear, since I made a pencil rubbing of them: 1LC2S1F1XD15209. I tried 2009, 2099, 2209, 1209 and 5209 and they did not pull on the dmv site that I was using. It indicated no match. Do you have any ideas what is going on here? Thanks, Sue Ellen (Sunline 1987 Saturn)

What DMV site is this?

It's likely that trailers won't register in that system because they aren't motor vehicles. The same applies if you tried to run a CARFAX report on a trailer, it won't work.

The VIN you listed above is missing two digits...so is it 1LC2S1F1XHD152109 based on your other post?

Jon

[Sunline Fan]

By the way, I actually have #2109 in the registry, and with that exact VIN as well, including the check digit.

I don't have a location recorded for it, but the pictures are from 11/30/06. It was listed on eBay at the time.

It has the salmon interior and looks in pretty good shape. Also had replacement polar/bright white wheels (the originals were tan like the siding)

Jon

[Sue Ellen]

Yes, it is the exact number that I took off of the tongue. The dmv site is one on the web that essentially I guess as you say is for cars. But when in the tax office of the county, they said they could pull a vin anywhere in the country, but could not pull this one. It was supposed to be titled in Mass. Thanks, Sue Ellen