Free VIN decoder

A vehicle identification number (VIN) is the 17-character code that identifies one vehicle. Federal rules set its format for passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs), trucks, buses, trailers, low speed vehicles and motorcycles (49 CFR Part 565). It uses capital letters and numbers only, never I, O or Q, and no two vehicles built within the 60 years starting with the 1980 model year may share one (49 CFR 565.13).

Each manufacturer files the meaning of its codes with NHTSA (49 CFR 565.16(c)), and NHTSA publishes them in its vPIC database. That's what this decoder reads, so you see what the maker reported about how the vehicle was built. It isn't a history report: accidents, owners and title brands come from other records.

A VIN has four parts. Here they are on a 2025 Lincoln Nautilus that NHTSA crash tested, VIN 5LMPJ8JA0SJ916488:

Position 9 catches typos. Every maker uses the same formula (49 CFR 565.15(c), Tables III to VI):

1. Turn each letter into a number: A and J are 1; B, K and S are 2; C, L and T are 3; D, M and U are 4; E, N and V are 5; F and W are 6; G, P and X are 7; H and Y are 8; R and Z are 9. Numbers keep their own value.
2. Multiply positions 1 to 17 by these weights: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 10, 0, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Position 9 gets 0.
3. Add the products and divide by 11. The remainder is the check digit, and a remainder of 10 is written as X.

Here is the worked example from the rule itself, for 1G4AH59H?5G118341:

Position 10 is the model year, in letters and numbers that repeat every 30 years (49 CFR 565.15, Table VII). On passenger cars, and on MPVs and trucks of 10,000 lb or less, position 7 tells the two cycles apart: a number there means 1980 to 2009, and a letter means 2010 to 2039. Heavy trucks, trailers, motorcycles and other vehicles don't have to follow that rule, so when NHTSA flags the year as uncertain, the decoder asks for the year on the title and decodes again.

The model year isn't the build date, either. One model year can cover up to 24 months of production (49 CFR 565.12).

Positions 1 to 3 are the world manufacturer identifier (WMI). It identifies the maker and the type of vehicle (49 CFR 565.15(a)), and in the United States, SAE International assigns these codes for NHTSA at no charge (49 CFR 565.16(a)). A maker of fewer than 1,000 vehicles of a type a year puts a 9 in position 3 and continues its code in positions 12 to 14.

The first character can hint at a country, but it doesn't tell you where the vehicle was built. The Lincoln above starts with 5LM, a Ford code that vPIC lists under the United States, and it was built in Hangzhou, China. Some codes and the country NHTSA's vPIC lists for each:

Check these spots:

• Windshield: on cars, MPVs, low speed vehicles and trucks of 10,000 lb or less, the VIN is inside the passenger compartment, readable through the glass from outside next to the driver's side windshield pillar (49 CFR 565.13(f)).
• Driver's door opening: the certification label on the hinge pillar, the latch post or the door edge lists it (49 CFR 567.4).
• Paperwork: the title, registration and insurance card.

Other vehicles put it elsewhere: the steering head on a motorcycle, the front half of the left side on a trailer, and the frame on an ATV or side-by-side.

No. A boat carries a 12-character hull identification number (HIN) under Coast Guard rules (33 CFR Part 181), and NHTSA's VIN database can't read one. The first three characters are the builder's manufacturer identification code, characters 9 and 10 give the month and year the boat was certified or built, and the last two are the model year (33 CFR 181.25). If you enter 12 characters here, the decoder asks whether it's a HIN and offers the boat HIN lookup. The boat's trailer has a VIN of its own.

Every maker codes positions 4 to 8 and the plant in its own way, so each make page explains that maker's codes and shows a real VIN decoded. Pick yours from the list below. Some vehicles follow rules of their own, so RVs and classic cars get their own pages too, along with the motorcycle, trailer, ATV and boat pages above.