Searching a HIN - invalid format?

Joined
Oct 5, 2015
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Hey,

I wanted to search the HIN on a boat I'm interested in. I've searched it but it keeps telling me the first three characters are invalid.

The first letter is Z and there is only one letter in the first three characters. I've heard that the third letter being Z often means state issued but there are no preceding letters and there are still 12 characters.

There doesn't appear anything off with the stamp. It looks original and legit. The boat is from 1985 and is lacking brand labels on the boat but we were told a sea Sprite.

Any ideas?
 

jbcurt00

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Hmm, interesting.

If you dont feel comfortable posting the HIN online, I'd be interested in seeing the actual 12digits, if you'd send them via PM to me.
 

tpenfield

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You can download the USCG "MIC" database in Excel form and look up the Manufacturer's 'prefix', which is the first 3 letters. And yes, the third digit as a "Z" is the new state issued HIN's for backyard builder's etc. I got me one of those HIN's a couple of years ago :)
 

roscoe

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the third digit as a "Z" is the new state issued HIN's for backyard builder's etc. I got me one of those HIN's a couple of years ago :)


Maybe now, or in some states, but a Z has been used as the 3rd letter for manufacturers, in the past.

How about some photos of the boat? Or a link to the ad?
 

tpenfield

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Maybe now, or in some states, but a Z has been used as the 3rd letter for manufacturers, in the past.

How about some photos of the boat? Or a link to the ad?

What ad :noidea:


One thing I have noticed as of a couple of years ago, is that the USCG has started re-assigning MIC codes. So, some state issued HIN's may have a previously used prefix. I'll have to check my copy of the database out of curiosity as to how many are like that.
 

tpenfield

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I just downloaded a fresh copy of the MIC DB, as the one I had was a few years old. There are 537 MIC's with the third letter of a "Z". It looks like every US. State and Territory now has an MIC code assigned (there are 58 codes dedicated to 'state issued' (HIN's) . . . only 2 of those codes were previously assigned to a boat manufacturer.

So, fairly likely the MIC prefix is valid. What ever it is :noidea: RobfromCanada, would you share the the first 3 letters of the HIN?
 

jbcurt00

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Looks like it might be an Oliver Industries boat, 1st 3 of the HIN appears to be zio, w oohh not a zero. Made in 1985, and does seem to have a 12digit conforming HIN.

1985 is about when Sea Sprite was imploding in the US, and may be a Canadian made/licensed Sea Sprite, imported across the border for sale or a splash of the Sea Sprite hull rebranded by Oliver.

Got any pix of the boat or if you havent actually bought it yet, a link to the ad.
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2015
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That's the problem. The first letter is Z

As previously mentioned there aren't any preceding letters.

I've been messaging jbcurt about it. We have sort of arrived at this:

The first three characters appear to be z10. There is no difference between the 1 and the 0 in the first three characters and the 1 and 0 that appear later in the HIN

That being said. It's possible it's in fact zio not z10 in which case it corresponds to a small manufacturer called Oliver. Our best guess is that as a regional manufacturer they imported a sea Sprite when the company making them was struggling. Pulled a mold off it and starting selling them under a zio HIN.

But we don't have much to back that up.
 

smokeonthewater

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The short of all this is that none of this HIN stuff really matters.... If the boat has legit paperwork and there is no reason to suspect fraud then all that matters are the 3 rules of old boat shopping:

Condition
Condition
Condition

Boat HIN lookups are not like vehicle VIN lookups....
 
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No Title

Here are a few shots of the boat.
 

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tpenfield

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Based on the "ZIO" HIN prefix and the looks of the boat, it is probably an Oliver (made in Canada), but I do not see that they made anything called a "Sea Sprite"
 

rcmpvet

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RobfromCanada,

The vessel is licenced from the Peterborough area, have you tried contacting Transport Canada and searching the licence number?
 
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