Using a VIN number decoder can be incredibly useful, whether you use it to learn where your car was manufactured or to discover the safety features for a potential vehicle purchase.Your personal data is administered by AutoISO Sp. You can discover whether a car has effective safety features, which can benefit you financially with lower insurance rates.Ĭonversely, you can avoid vehicles with poor safety features or rebuilt or salvage titles in order to avoid the steep cost of insuring those automobiles. Knowing the specific details about a vehicle that you are interested in purchasing can help you make informed decisions. With this accurate detailing of your vehicle’s origins and features, you can make shopping for a new or used car so much easier. Once you understand what each character represents, it is much easier to see the benefits of a VIN decoder. You can use an online VIN decoder to decipher your VIN and provide you with a detailed vehicle report. In fact, many car enthusiasts around the world take pride in their ability to translate VIN numbers without any help. Using this guide, you can decode your own VIN number. If you have a special-edition or limited release vehicle, you can use this number to verify whether or not your car came off of a special assembly line.
Serial numbers are issued in numerical order and each vehicle has a unique number. The last few digits of your VIN number will detail exactly when your car came off of the assembly line.
Last Six Characters: Vehicle’s Production Serial Number In order to find the manufacturing plant of your specific vehicle, you will need to search the manufacturer-specific character guide. 11 th Character: The Manufacturing Plant of a VehicleĮach company establishes their own method for assigning characters to each manufacturing plant. Many companies reset the lettering system after reaching the letter “Y”. “A” is used to represent a car manufactured in 1980, “B” for 1981, all the way to the letter “Y”. Starting from 1980, this 10 th character represents the model year of a vehicle. If this number doesn’t match, the vehicle might be stolen or something may have been altered. This single character verifies that your VIN number was legitimately authorized by the manufacturer. The 9 th digit is created by a complex equation utilizing the other characters in your VIN number. 9 th Character: Authorization of your VIN Number Mechanics often use these four digits when they are servicing your automobile. Information such as a car’s safety features, transmission, body and engine type will be described in this section.
The next four characters denote the vehicle’s brand, engine size and type. Usually, a VIN decoder is required to interpret this portion of a VIN. 4 th and 8 th Characters: Vehicle Features A VIN number decoder might be necessary to figure out which of the numerous manufacturers each combination represents. For example, AU would be the abbreviation for Audi and H would apply to Honda. These characters reveal usually reveal the company by abbreviation. Typically, these characters in a VIN number are used to describe the vehicle’s manufacturer. while J represents vehicles made in Japan. 1, 4 and 5 are usually used to describe vehicles made in the U.S. This character corresponds to a commonly used world manufacturer identifier index to pinpoint where in the world a vehicle was made.
The first character you come across when you decode a VIN number is used to show the country where a vehicle was manufactured. A breakdown of each segment of a VIN number will be described below. How can I decode this VIN number?Īlthough the arrangement of numbers and letters may seem random, when you decode a VIN number you will find that each character has a unique meaning. Some automobiles also have their VIN numbers etched onto their windshields as an additional deterrent against vehicle theft because thieves have difficulty concealing them from the police. VIN numbers are located on the driver’s side door of most vehicles or you can check on your insurance card, vehicle title or registration. Where do I find my vehicle’s VIN number?Īnyone looking to decode a VIN number will first have to locate it on their vehicle. The “stolen” classification will always appear on a VIN lookup, so it is essential to check a used vehicle’s report before buying.
Since a car’s registration must match the VIN number, thieves will find it far more difficult to resell a vehicle with a VIN that was reported stolen. When you go to register your vehicle with your local DMV, you will be asked for your vehicle’s specific vehicle identification number.