The letters from B to Y correspond to the model years 1981 to 2000. In the 10th position, you'll see a letter indicating the model year. The following group of eight elements (10-17) is the vehicle identifier section. The number that appears varies and is based on a mathematical formula that the U.S. Number 9 is the check digit, which is used to detect invalid VINs. Numbers 4 through 8 describe the car with such information as the model, body type, restraint system, transmission type and engine code. The next six digits to check (positions 4-9) are the vehicle descriptor section. This Wikipedia page has a list of WMI codes. The third digit, when combined with the first two letters or numbers, indicates the vehicle's type or manufacturing division. It may sound confusing, but the next digit ties it all together. But an A can also stand for Jaguar or Mitsubishi, and an R can also mean Audi. For example, A is for Audi, B is for BMW, G is for General Motors, L is for Lincoln, and N is for Nissan.
In some cases, it's the letter that begins the manufacturer's name. The second element in this group tells you about the manufacturer. Japan is J, South Korea is K, England is S, Germany is W, and Sweden or Finland is Y. In this group, the first digit or letter identifies the country of origin. The first group of three numbers and letters in a VIN make up the world manufacturer identifier (WMI). There's even a bit of fraud detection in the VIN in the form of the "check digit," described below. VIN information is organized in groups, and a search of your vehicle identification number can tell you a lot about your car. What do the letters and numbers mean in a VIN? If you're looking to sell your car, you can run a VIN check on Edmunds to get an instant cash offer, good for seven days at participating dealerships. They also won't bombard you with pop-up ads or try to sell you something. We've tested both tools and found them to be fast and accurate.
#FORD ENGINE CODES VIN FREE#
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website offers two free VIN check tools that allow you to either decode your VIN or check for a recall. Modern 17-digit VINs can be used to access vehicle history reports, which can reveal many records relating to a vehicle, including ownership, accident and repair histories.Īlso, car owners and used-car shoppers can enter a VIN in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's VIN lookup tool to see if there are open recalls on a vehicle. It's also stamped on the engine's firewall. Typically, the vehicle identification number is stamped into a plate that's mounted on the dashboard near the windshield or the driver-side doorjamb. In 1981, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mandated that all vehicles from that point forward must have a standardized 17-digit vehicle identification number. Instead, you'll need to get in touch with your Department of Motor Vehicles or contact the automaker directly. Vehicles from the '50s and up to 1980 cannot be decoded by modern methods. The Remarketing cookies will be used by Google to make our advertising practices more relevant and show our ads on websites other than and based on your past visits to our website.The first VIN dates back to 1954, and for decades, VINs came in a wide variety of configurations, depending on the individual automaker. We may also use cookies to advertise online to make easier for you to access again ("Remarketing").
These cookies usually generate aggregate statistics that are not associated with an individual. This helps us improve our product and ensures that users can easily find what they need on our website. These cookies allow us and our third-party service providers to recognize and count the number of visitors on our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it.
These cookies are necessary for our website to work. For example, they're used to log you in, save your currency preferences or provide a shopping cart experience. We use required cookies to perform essential website functions.