VIN Decoder (Vehicle Identification Number Lookup)
What a VIN says about the vehicle — maker, year, build — and whether it adds up.
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How the check digit is worked out
Each character gets a value (letters by 49 CFR 565.15 Table III, digits as they are), multiplied by its position’s weight; the sum is divided by 11 and the remainder is the check digit (10 is written X).
| Position | Character | Value | Weight | Product |
|---|
NHTSA’s decode
NHTSA’s messages
NHTSA decodes what each maker files with it under 49 CFR 565.16 — mainly vehicles made for the US market. A detail it leaves out means NHTSA has no data on it, not that the vehicle lacks the feature.
Rules used and official sources
About the VIN Decoder (Vehicle Identification Number Lookup)
A vehicle identification number (VIN) is the 17-character code every modern car, motorcycle, truck and trailer carries. Type or paste one and this page reads what its structure proves, right in your browser: the maker’s code and the country its block is allocated to, the model year code, the plant and serial number, and whether the check digit in position 9 adds up — the rule of 49 CFR 565.15 that catches a mistyped character.
Then, if you like, it asks NHTSA’s vPIC catalogue (the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s free public decoder) for what the maker filed: make, model, trim, body, engine, fuel, drive type, plant and safety equipment such as air bags, ABS, stability control and automatic emergency braking. vPIC knows vehicles made for the US market best; for others — Indian, European or Japanese-market VINs included — the page shows what the VIN itself proves and says plainly when the maker’s details are not public. From the result, one click checks US safety recalls for the same vehicle.
How to use it
- Find the VIN: cars made for the US market show it through the windscreen on the driver’s side of the dashboard; it is also stamped or labelled elsewhere on the vehicle (often a door frame or under the bonnet) and printed on the registration and insurance papers (in India the RC’s chassis number; in the UK the V5C logbook).
- Type or paste it into the box. Spaces and hyphens are ignored; type * for a character you cannot read (up to five).
- Keep Ask NHTSA ticked to add the maker’s details, or untick it to check the VIN offline only. Press Decode VIN.
- Read the verdict and the parts: the maker’s code, the descriptor, the check digit, the model year, the plant and the serial number. Open How the check digit is worked out to see the sum.
- Copy the summary or download it as a CSV, or press Check US safety recalls to look the vehicle up in NHTSA’s recall list.
Examples
1G4AH59H45G118341
Check digit 4 is correct: the products add up to 411 = 37 × 11 + 4. Maker’s code 1G4 (the United States block); model year code 5 = 2005 (position 7 is a digit). NHTSA reads it as a 2005 Buick passenger car and flags the positions that match no Buick it knows — the rule’s example was made up.
1G4AH59H45G118342
The check digit no longer adds up: the other 16 characters give 6, not 4. For a vehicle made for North America that means a typing slip — compare the VIN with the plate character by character.
1G4AH59H45G1183O1
Position 16 is the letter O, which a VIN never uses: it is almost certainly the digit 0.
A VIN starting MA3, MAT or ME3
The code is in the block allocated to India (MA to ME). NHTSA has decoding data only for makers registered to sell in the US, so the page shows the structure and says the maker’s details are not public.
A VIN starting WVW… with 0 in position 10
Germany’s block; position 10 is not a model-year code, which makers outside North America need not use there. The model year has to come from the papers.
Common uses
- Checking a used vehicle’s VIN against its papers before you buy: a VIN that fails the check digit, or decodes to another model or year, is a reason to ask questions.
- Finding the exact model year, engine and body of a car when ordering parts.
- Spotting a mistyped VIN on an insurance, finance or registration form before it is sent.
- Learning where a vehicle’s maker code was allocated and what each part of the number means.
How a VIN is built
The US rules for VINs (49 CFR Part 565) set the layout most of the world follows:
- Positions 1–3, world manufacturer identifier (WMI): the maker and type of vehicle. Codes are assigned by SAE International for NHTSA, within the international allocation of ISO 3780: the first character is the region, the first two the country. A 9 in position 3 marks a maker of fewer than 1,000 vehicles of a type a year, identified by positions 1–3 together with 12–14.
- Positions 4–8, vehicle descriptor: model line, series, body, engine and restraint systems, in the maker’s own code — only the maker’s filing with NHTSA explains it.
- Position 9, check digit: a number from 0 to 9, or X for 10, worked out from the other 16 characters.
- Position 10, model year; position 11, the plant; positions 12–17, the serial number (15–17 for a small maker).
A VIN uses the letters A to Z without I, O and Q (easily mistaken for 1 and 0) and the digits 0 to 9.
The check digit, step by step
49 CFR 565.15 turns each letter into a number (A=1 … H=8, J=1 … R=9 with P=7, S=2 … Z=9; digits stay as they are), multiplies each position by its weight — 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 10 for positions 1–8, 0 for position 9 and 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 for positions 10–17 — adds the products and divides by 11. The remainder is the check digit; a remainder of 10 is written X.
Every VIN of a vehicle made for the US market must pass this check. Makers elsewhere do not always use position 9 this way, so a mismatch on a European or Asian VIN proves nothing by itself — but on a North American VIN it almost always means a typing error.
Reading the model year
Position 10 cycles through 30 codes: A=1980, B=1981 … Y=2000 (skipping I, O, Q, U and Z), then 1=2001 … 9=2009, and the same codes again from A=2010 to 9=2039. A year of the cycle that has not begun is never the answer: a 9 cannot mean 2039 before that model year starts, so it means 2009. For cars, SUVs, vans and trucks of up to 10,000 lb gross vehicle weight, position 7 tells the two cycles apart: a digit there means 1980–2009, a letter 2010–2039 — a rule for model years from 2010, so an older vehicle may have a letter there too. For heavier trucks, buses, motorcycles and trailers the code alone cannot choose between the two years: the papers, or NHTSA’s decode of what the maker filed, tell them apart.
The model year is the year that names the model, not necessarily the year it was built: a model year may span up to 24 months of production (49 CFR 565.12).
What NHTSA’s decoder knows
vPIC decodes the vehicle descriptor from what each maker files with NHTSA under 49 CFR 565.16 — so it covers vehicles made or imported for sale in the United States. For a maker not registered there it answers “Manufacturer is not registered with NHTSA”, and the page then shows only what the VIN’s structure proves. NHTSA notes that a detail it leaves out means it has no data on it, not that the vehicle lacks the feature.
Limitations
- This page does not show accident, ownership, mileage or theft history: those are records of registration authorities and paid vehicle-history services.
- The maker’s details come from NHTSA and cover vehicles made for the US market best; Indian, European and other-market VINs often get only the structure check.
- The country table lists the long-standing blocks of the WMI allocation; a code outside them is shown with its region only, or as not listed.
- Vehicles from before the 17-character VIN have shorter numbers, which this page cannot decode.
Privacy
Sends data to online services
The VIN check runs in your browser. With “Ask NHTSA” on, the VIN — and nothing else — is sent to NHTSA’s public vPIC service without cookies; this page keeps no record of the VINs you decode. Your choice of the “Ask NHTSA” box is remembered in this browser.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find my VIN?
Cars made for the US market must show it inside, readable through the windscreen next to the driver’s side pillar (49 CFR 565.13). It is also on the vehicle elsewhere — often a label in a door frame or a plate under the bonnet — and on the registration certificate (in India the RC’s chassis number; in the UK the V5C logbook) and the insurance papers.
What does a wrong check digit mean?
For a vehicle made for North America, almost always a typing error: one of the 17 characters was misread or mistyped. Compare the VIN with the plate on the vehicle, character by character. On VINs from other markets, position 9 is not always a check digit, so a mismatch there means little on its own.
Why does NHTSA not know my car?
NHTSA decodes VINs from the information makers file with it under US rules, so it knows vehicles made or imported for sale in the United States. A car built for the Indian, European or another market is often unknown to it; the page still shows what the VIN’s structure proves.
Is the model year the year the car was made?
Not always. The model year names the model, and the production of one model year may run for up to 24 months (49 CFR 565.12), so a vehicle built late in one calendar year can carry the next year’s model year. The registration papers give the date of manufacture or of first registration.
Can a VIN tell me the accident history or the owner?
No. A VIN describes how the vehicle was built. Ownership, accidents, mileage and theft are recorded by registration authorities, insurers and paid history services, not encoded in the number.
How do I check whether a vehicle has a safety recall?
Press Check US safety recalls after decoding, or open the US Vehicle Recall Checker: it lists NHTSA’s recall campaigns for the make, model and model year, and explains how to see whether a particular vehicle’s recall is still open.