What does my VIN mean? The 17 characters, one by one
A VIN reads in four blocks: who built the vehicle, what it is, a check digit and the year, then where and in what order it was made. The tool below reads yours.
Every vehicle sold in the United States since the 1981 model year carries a 17-character vehicle identification number laid out by a federal rule, 49 CFR Part 565. Characters 1 to 3 are the world manufacturer identifier: the country or region, the maker and, in most cases, the type of vehicle. Characters 4 to 8, the vehicle descriptor section, encode the model line, body, engine, restraint system and weight class, in a scheme each manufacturer files with NHTSA. Character 9 is a check digit computed from the others. Character 10 gives the model year, character 11 the assembly plant, and characters 12 to 17 the production sequence number. The example 1FTFW1CT5DFC10312 decodes as a 2013 vehicle built by Ford in United States: you can read the first, ninth and tenth characters yourself, but the middle block needs the maker's own key, which is what NHTSA's vPIC database holds.
Type any VIN in the box: each block is read with the federal rules and our table of 679 maker codes, in your browser.
Read your VIN position by position
| 1-3 | 1FT | Ford, United States (truck) |
| 4-8 | FW1CT | model, body, engine and restraint codes, set by the maker |
| 9 | 5 | check digit, valid |
| 10 | D | model year 2013 |
| 11 | F | assembly plant (maker’s own code) |
| 12-17 | C10312 | production sequence number |
Characters 1 to 3: the world manufacturer identifier
The first character gives the region: 1, 4 and 5 for the United States, 2 for Canada, 3 for Mexico, J for Japan, K for South Korea, W for Germany, Z for Italy, S for the United Kingdom, L for China. The ranges are assigned by SAE International, which NHTSA designates to hand out manufacturer codes. Together with the second and third characters, they name the maker: 1FT is a Ford truck built in the United States, 1HG a Honda car built in Ohio, 5YJ a Tesla, JTD a Toyota car built in Japan. A brand building in several countries has several codes, which is why a Honda Accord can start with 1HG or JHM depending on the plant.
A 9 in third position has a special meaning: the maker is a low-volume manufacturer whose identifier is six characters long, the first three plus characters 12, 13 and 14. Trailer builders, small coachbuilders and kit car makers use this scheme. For them, the serial number shrinks to three characters.
Characters 4 to 8: the vehicle descriptor section
This is where most of the information lives, and where no general rule applies. Part 565 requires each maker to encode certain attributes, which differ by vehicle type: for a passenger car, the line, series, body type, engine type and restraint system; for a truck, the model or line, series, chassis, cab type, engine type, brake system and gross vehicle weight rating; for a motorcycle, the type of motorcycle, line, engine type and net brake horsepower (Part 565, table I). The maker chooses the codes and files them with NHTSA, which publishes them through vPIC. That is why you cannot read "W1C" or "T5" without a key, and why a VIN decoder must ask vPIC to say "SuperCrew 4x2 with the 3.5 liter EcoBoost".
Character 9: the check digit
The ninth character is computed from the other sixteen with fixed letter values and position weights, then the remainder of a division by 11; a remainder of 10 is written X. Its purpose is to catch copying errors: change one character and the check digit no longer matches. The check digit calculator shows every step. It is mandatory for vehicles built for North America and optional elsewhere, so an imported car may fail it legitimately.
Character 10: the model year
A single character gives the model year in a 30-year cycle: A to Y, skipping I, O, Q, U and Z, then 1 to 9. A is 1980 or 2010, N is 1992 or 2022, 9 is 2009 or 2039. For cars, SUVs, pickups and vans up to 10,000 lb, the seventh character settles which cycle applies: a digit there means 1980 to 2009, a letter means 2010 to 2039. The model year chart lists every code. The model year is not the build date: a 2026 model can be built in early 2025.
Character 11: the assembly plant
Each maker assigns its own plant letters, so "D" means Dearborn for Ford and something else for General Motors. vPIC returns the plant city, state and country. The plant matters for recalls more than people think: many campaigns cover vehicles built at one plant during a defined window.
Characters 12 to 17: the serial number
The last six characters are the production sequence. Many makers use digits only; some mix letters in the first positions. Two vehicles of the same model, year and plant differ only here. Recall campaigns sometimes define their population by serial range, which is why a dealer asks for the full VIN, not just the model.
What the VIN does not encode
Color, options packages, the original price, the first owner, the mileage and the history of the vehicle are not in the VIN. vPIC adds the equipment the maker declared for the pattern, such as air bag positions or a backup camera, and the full decoder adds recall campaigns, NCAP crash ratings and EPA fuel economy. For title brands and odometer history, see the comparison of free checks and paid reports.