What is a vehicle identification number (VIN)?
1HGBH41JXMN109186A vehicle identification number (VIN) is the identifying code for one specific automobile. The VIN is the car's fingerprint: no two vehicles in operation share the same one. It is made up of 17 characters — digits and capital letters — that together encode the vehicle's manufacturer, features and specifications. A VIN is what recalls, registrations, warranty claims, theft records and insurance coverage are all tracked against.
What if the VIN is not 17 characters long?
Double-check that you have the right VIN and copied it down correctly. Once you have verified that the VIN really is shorter than 17 characters, it is most likely from a pre-1981 vehicle.
Before 1981, VINs varied in length from 11 to 17 characters and manufacturers used their own formats. The 17-character standard is what modern vehicle data is keyed on, so information about vehicles built before 1981 is limited.
VINs never contain the letters I, O or Q — they were left out of the standard so they could not be mistaken for the digits 1 and 0. If your VIN appears to contain one, it is almost always a transcription error.
VIN decode explained
What do the numbers and letters in a VIN mean?
Each position in a VIN carries a specific meaning. Here is the breakdown of what every segment of the 17 characters tells you:
Country of origin
Manufacturer
Vehicle descriptor
Check digit
Model year
Assembly plant
Serial number
| Characters | Segment | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Country of origin | Where the vehicle was built. Together with the next two characters this forms the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI). |
| 2–3 | Manufacturer | Identifies the manufacturer and, for larger manufacturers, the vehicle division. |
| 4–8 | Vehicle descriptor | A portrait of the vehicle — brand, body style, restraint system, engine size and engine type. The exact meaning of each character is assigned by the manufacturer. |
| 9 | Check digit | A security character, calculated from the other 16, that identifies the VIN as authorized by the manufacturer. It is how an invalid or altered VIN is caught. |
| 10 | Model year | The model year of the vehicle. Codes repeat on a 30-year cycle, so 'H' means both 1987 and 2017. |
| 11 | Assembly plant | Indicates which of the manufacturer's plants assembled the vehicle. Plant codes are assigned by each manufacturer. |
| 12–17 | Serial number | The vehicle's unique production sequence number, which is what makes the full VIN unique to a single car. |
Flexible fuel vehicles can be identified by the 2nd, 3rd and 8th characters of the VIN.
The 17-character format is defined by ISO 3779. Characters 1–3 are the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI), characters 4–9 the Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS), and characters 10–17 the Vehicle Identifier Section (VIS).
Where can I find the VIN?
The VIN is stamped in several places on the vehicle and printed on its paperwork. The two easiest places to read it are the base of the windshield and the driver's side door post.
Stand outside the vehicle on the driver's side and look at the corner of the dashboard where it meets the windshield. The VIN is printed on a plate visible through the glass.
Open the driver's door and look at the door post — the pillar the door latches into when closed. The VIN is usually printed on a sticker there, alongside tyre pressure and weight ratings.
Look for the VIN in these other locations
- Your insurance card or insurance policy documents
- The vehicle title and registration documents
- Stamped into the engine bay firewall, the frame rail, or under the spare tyre in the trunk
Decode a VIN
Enter any 17-character VIN to see the segments described above pulled out of it. Everything below is calculated from the characters themselves — nothing is looked up — so it works offline and returns no charge against your account.
0 of 17 characters. Letters I, O and Q and other invalid characters are ignored as you type.
The VIN itself does not carry the make, model or trim — those are assigned by the manufacturer and have to be looked up. The Vehicle Specifications API returns them along with engine, transmission, drivetrain, dimensions, equipment and 100+ other data points.
Building this into your own product? Read the API documentation