Decoding VIN number or what model did I buy?

[Darth Baiter]

Newbie here. Buying a 96 Pathfinder for my son. How can I tell if it's an XE, SE, or LE? No badging on the rear or side and CarFax mentions all 3 models. Any easy way to figure out if I paid to much for an XE or got a fantastic deal on an LE? Any help appreciated or direct me other owners sites.

[lewisnc100]

If there was no badge on the rear then it is probably the XE since the SE and LE for that year had one. The XE and LE will have P235/70/15 OEM tires while the SE had P265/70/15 tires, check the driver's door jamb for the stock tire size. The XE had black bumpers while the LE had chrome bumpers. The stock XE tires also were chrome with the black plastic center caps. If you have a pic it would probably be easy to tell.

[Darth Baiter]

Thanks Lewis. I'll check for the tire size and bumper / rim trim. It's the leather seats, power options, auto trans that has me confused. If it's an XE I'm overpaying I think, at least according to Consumer Guide. $6,400.00 for a 1996 4X4 with 68,000 miles, although it's the cheapest listing I found in my area (NJ). Haven't closed the deal yet.

[lewisnc100]

My XE had power options and is an automatic, but I guess they could have added leather seats as an option, not sure if that was available with an XE in that year. If it still has the OEM wheels it should be easy to tell, chrome with black center cap is an XE.

[fishes]

You can check the model specifications in the Chilton's manual. My manual is for 1989-1995, so this may not be correct for the 1996.
There is a silver sticker in the engine compartment on the passenger side near the hood hinge (i will try to add a photo).

http://files.automotiveforums.com/ga...hp?photo=25862

On this sticker is the vin# and the model variation code. Under the vin# is a shorter # that looks something like this: KHLMD21PFEU. The fourth digit from the last, in this case the P, is the designation for model. P=SE, J=XE, blank=E.


good luck