Free VIN Decoder

Paste any 17-character VIN below to decode the manufacturer, country of origin, model year, plant code and ISO 3779 check digit. Free, no sign-up, instant.

How a VIN is structured

  1. Positions 1-3 — WMI (World Manufacturer Identifier): identifies the manufacturer and country of origin. Assigned globally by SAE International under ISO 3780.
  2. Positions 4-8 — VDS (Vehicle Descriptor Section): body type, model line, restraint system, engine type. Manufacturer-specific.
  3. Position 9 — Check digit: a self-validating digit computed from the other 16 characters using the FMVSS 565 algorithm. Required for US, Canada and Mexico VINs.
  4. Position 10 — Model year: a single character (cycle of 30 years).
  5. Position 11 — Plant code: the assembly plant.
  6. Positions 12-17 — Serial number: the unique sequential build number.

VIN decoder vs vehicle history report — when to use each

A VIN decoder reads what the manufacturer encoded into the 17 characters of the VIN itself. It tells you the make, model, model year, country and plant of origin, restraint system, engine family and the unique build sequence — facts that were locked in the day the car rolled off the line. That information is permanent and free to look up.

A vehicle history report (CARFAX, AutoCheck, Copart, IAAI, Manheim) is the opposite: it queries third-party databases for everything that happened to the vehicle after it left the factory — title brands, accident reports, ownership timeline, mileage events, auction lots. The two tools are complementary. Use the VIN decoder to confirm the car is what the seller claims; use a vehicle history report to find out what has happened to it since. They start from the same VIN and answer different questions.

How the VIN check digit catches fraud

Position 9 of every US/Canadian/Mexican VIN is the check digit, computed from the other 16 characters using a fixed algorithm (FMVSS 565 in the US, ISO 3779 internationally). Each of the 16 characters is converted to a number, multiplied by a position weight, summed, and divided by 11. The remainder is the check digit (with 10 represented as the letter X). A correctly-issued VIN always validates against this rule.

That makes the check digit the cheapest VIN-fraud filter you have. If you type a VIN off a vehicle title and our decoder says the check digit fails, one of three things is true: there is a typo (most common), the title was issued with a transcription error (rare but real), or the VIN is fabricated (rare but happens with cloned-VIN scams). A real VIN that passes the check digit is not a guarantee of legitimacy — VIN cloning copies a real VIN from another car — but a VIN that fails the check digit is almost always a problem worth resolving before any money changes hands.

Country and manufacturer codes — where the car was built

Position 1 of the VIN is the region of origin: numbers 1, 4 and 5 are the United States; 2 is Canada; 3 is Mexico; J is Japan; K is Korea (KMH = Hyundai, KNA = Kia); L is China (LVS = Volvo China, LFV = FAW-VW); S is the United Kingdom; W is Germany (WBA = BMW, WDB = Mercedes-Benz, WVW = Volkswagen); V is France or Spain; Y is Sweden, Finland or Belgium; Z is Italy.

Combined with positions 2 and 3, the first three characters form the World Manufacturer Identifier — the WMI — which uniquely identifies the manufacturer's plant. A VIN starting with 1G1 was built by Chevrolet in the US; 1G6 is Cadillac US; 1FT is Ford US trucks. A VIN starting with WBA was built by BMW Germany; WBS is BMW M GmbH (the M cars); 4USXXX is BMW US Spartanburg. Cross-checking the country code in the VIN against the country printed on the title is a fast way to spot transcription errors and the rarer case of a re-imported vehicle whose title was rewritten in a different jurisdiction.

Decoding the model year — the trick about repeating cycles

Position 10 of the VIN encodes the model year as a single character. The catch is that the cycle repeats every 30 years: A=1980, B=1981, … Y=2000, then 1=2001, 2=2002, … 9=2009, then back to A=2010, B=2011, … Y=2030. So the same character in position 10 can represent two model years three decades apart. A correctly-built VIN decoder uses position 7 to disambiguate: position 7 is constrained to a number for 1980-2009 model years and to a letter for 2010-2039. That rule is part of FMVSS 565.

The letters I, O and Q are never used in any VIN position because they look like 1, 0 and 0. If a VIN you were given contains any of those letters, it is not a valid VIN — usually a typo or a cloned VIN that copied poorly. Our decoder will reject it on input rather than guessing. The same goes for VINs shorter than 17 characters: pre-1981 vehicles use manufacturer-specific VIN formats and this decoder targets only the standard 17-character VINs that all post-1981 cars and trucks use worldwide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a VIN?

A VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is a 17-character serial number assigned to every vehicle built since 1981. It encodes the manufacturer, country of origin, model year, body style, plant code and a unique sequential number. Letters I, O and Q are never used because they look like 1 and 0.

What does a VIN decoder show?

Our free decoder breaks the VIN into its three sections — WMI (positions 1-3, manufacturer), VDS (positions 4-9, vehicle descriptor) and VIS (positions 10-17, model year, plant and serial). For VINs from the United States, Canada and Mexico we also verify the position-9 check digit using the FMVSS 565 algorithm to detect typos and counterfeit VINs.

What is the difference between a VIN decoder and a vehicle history report?

A VIN decoder reads only the structural information embedded in the VIN itself — manufacturer, year, plant. A vehicle history report (CARFAX, AutoCheck, Copart, Manheim, IAAI) cross-references government, insurance, auction and service records to surface accidents, mileage rollback, salvage titles and ownership history. Use the decoder first to confirm the VIN is real, then run a paid history report before you buy.

Why does the decoder say 'check digit not required'?

The position-9 check digit is mandatory only for vehicles destined for the US, Canada and Mexico (VINs starting with 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5). European, Asian and other manufacturers may put a regular character in that position, so the check is informational and we don't flag it as an error.

Why are two model years displayed?

The 10th character of the VIN repeats on a 30-year cycle — for example 'A' is both 1980 and 2010. We use the 7th character as a tie-breaker (numeric for 2010+, alphabetic for pre-2010) to pick the most likely year, but in rare cases both options remain plausible.

Is this VIN decoder free?

Yes. The decoder is fully free, runs locally on our servers and does not require sign-up, registration or payment. If you need a paid full vehicle history report we offer CARFAX, AutoCheck, Copart, Manheim and IAAI lookups starting from a few dollars per VIN.

Can a VIN decoder detect a stolen vehicle?

No — structural VIN decoding cannot determine whether a vehicle is stolen, has a salvage title or has been in an accident. For that you need a paid vehicle history report that queries DMV, insurance and law-enforcement databases.

What does the WMI prefix mean?

WMI stands for World Manufacturer Identifier. The first three VIN characters identify the manufacturer and country of origin, assigned globally by SAE International under ISO 3780. For example, '1HG' is Honda US passenger car, 'WBA' is BMW passenger Germany, 'JTD' is Toyota Japan.

Related tools and pages

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