How To Decode Your Vin Number (2024)

Are you curious about how to decode your VIN number and looking for ways to recycle at home? We delve into these two essential topics to provide you with valuable insights. We’ll guide you through the process of decoding your vehicle identification number (VIN), unraveling its hidden information about your car’s make, model, year, and more.

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What is a VIN number?

Let’s take a closer look at what each letter or number in each VIN position means.

First, Second and Third Placeholders in the VIN

1st – This indicates the country of manufacture and may be a letter or a number. The following list includes most major manufacturers, but may not be a complete listing:

• 1 – USA
• 2 – Canada
• 3 – Mexico
• 4 – USA
• J – Japan
• K – Korea
• S – England
• W – Germany
• Z – Italy

2nd – This indicates which company manufactured the vehicle. It can be a letter or a number. Here are some common examples:

• A – Audi
• B – BMW
• C – Chrysler
• D – Mercedes Benz
• F – Ford
• G – General Motors
• H – Honda
• L – Lincoln
• M – Mercury
• N – Nissan
• P – Plymouth
• T – Toyota
• V – Volvo
• 2 – Pontiac
• 3 – Oldsmobile
• 5 – Pontiac
• 8 – Saturn

3rd – Vehicle type or manufacturing division. (car, truck, SUV, sedan, coupe, etc)

Read more: Volvo Car Insurance Discount

Fourth Through Eighth Placeholders in a VIN

Let’s continue decoding the VIN of your car.

4th through 8th – The Vehicle Descriptor Section, called a VDS. These characters are used to describe the vehicle attributes such as body style, engine type and size, car model, and more.

Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Placeholders of your VIN

9th – This is a checksum digit that can be used to verify the VIN plate information. The digits can be used more than once, but never within a 30-year period. Using a mathematical formula, this number verifies that the other information on the VIN is correct.

10th – This can be a letter or a number and is used to indicate the model year of the vehicle. The reason that letters and numbers are used is to allow a greater span of time between the reuse of the same characters.

11th – Identifies the plant where the car was built. Coupled with the first character, this identifies exactly where the vehicle was made. During a recall, this identifier is typically used to determine which vehicles are being recalled.

The Rest of Your VIN Number

12th through 17th – This is the Vehicle Identifier Section, or VIS. This is the serial number of the vehicle and identifies the sequence in which the vehicle rolled off the assembly line. This section can use letters and numbers, but the final 4 characters are always numbers.