At a glance
- Built in Japan
- JTH and JT8 (cars), JTJ and JT6 (SUVs)
- Built in North America
- 2T2 (Cambridge, Ontario), 58A (Georgetown, Kentucky)
- Positions 4 to 8
- Toyota's vehicle description code, read as one unit
- Model year letters
- T = 2026, V = 2027
On this page
What a Lexus VIN lookup tells you
Type or paste the VIN and the decoder checks it, then pulls Toyota's record for it from NHTSA's vPIC database: model year, model, trim, body class, drive type, engine size and cylinders or electric drive, fuel, transmission, GVWR, doors, plant and air bags. Recall campaigns NHTSA lists for that model and year come with it. To see whether one particular car still has an open recall, use NHTSA's VIN recall search or ask a Lexus dealer.
Lexus is Toyota's luxury brand, and its VINs follow Toyota Motor Corporation's coding system. Most start with codes vPIC assigns only to Lexus. If the VIN you enter turns out to be a Toyota, the decoder says so and points you to the Toyota VIN decoder.
The first three characters on a Lexus
| WMI | Company in vPIC | Type | Plant letters vPIC knows |
|---|---|---|---|
| JTH | Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan | Passenger car | 2 Toyota Motor Kyushu (Miyawaka, Fukuoka), 5 Tahara, A Motomachi (Toyota City) |
| JTJ | Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan | SUV (multipurpose passenger vehicle) | 2 Miyawaka, 4 Toyota Auto Body (Yoshiwara, Shizuoka), 5 Tahara, A Motomachi |
| JT8 | Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan | Passenger car | |
| JT6 | Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan | SUV | |
| 2T2 | Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada | SUV | C Cambridge, Ontario |
| 58A | Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky | Passenger car | U Georgetown, Kentucky |
| 5TD | Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana | SUV, shared with Toyota | |
| JTE | Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan | SUV, shared with Toyota and Subaru |
On the shared codes, 5TD and JTE, the decoder relies on the rest of the VIN to tell a Lexus from a Toyota.
How to read a Lexus VIN
Toyota files a "VIN coding system" sheet with NHTSA for each Lexus line. The right column quotes the one for the 2027 Lexus ES:
| Position | Toyota's label | 2027 Lexus ES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manufacturer and type: geographic area and country | J = Asia, Japan |
| 2 | Manufacturer and type: manufacturer | T = Toyota Motor Corporation |
| 3 | Manufacturer and type: vehicle type | H = passenger car (an SUV line such as the GX or TZ uses J) |
| 4 | Vehicle specification, 1st character | B on every 2027 ES code |
| 5 | Vehicle specification, 2nd character | C or D on the electric ES, E or G on the hybrid |
| 6 | Vehicle specification, 3rd character | C on every 2027 ES code |
| 7 | Vehicle specification, 4th character | A with front-wheel drive (21 series), D with four-wheel drive (26 series) |
| 8 | Vehicle specification, 5th character | 1 on every 2027 ES code |
| 9 | Check digit | 0 to 9 or X |
| 10 | Model year | V = 2027 |
| 11 | Plant | 2 = Toyota Motor Kyushu, Miyata plant, Fukuoka, Japan |
| 12 | Sequential production number | Positions 12 to 17 |
| 13 | Sequential production number | |
| 14 | Sequential production number | |
| 15 | Sequential production number | |
| 16 | Sequential production number | |
| 17 | Sequential production number |
Toyota doesn't give each of positions 4 to 8 its own meaning. Each sheet lists whole five-character codes and what each one stands for, so the per-position notes above are patterns in the 2027 ES list, not rules.
Example: the four 2027 Lexus ES codes
| Positions 4 to 8 | Powertrain on Toyota's sheet | Drive and series |
|---|---|---|
| BCCA1 | Battery electric, 2XM front motor, 167 kW | Front-wheel drive, 21 series |
| BDCD1 | Battery electric, 2XM front motor (167 kW) and 3XM rear motor (88.3 kW) | Four-wheel drive, 26 series |
| BECA1 | Hybrid, 2.5L A25A-FXS four-cylinder (186 hp) with a 2VM motor | Front-wheel drive, 21 series |
| BGCD1 | Hybrid, the same engine with 2VM and 4NM motors | Four-wheel drive, 26 series |
All four are four-door sedans with restraint system 1: belts at every seat, driver and passenger frontal and knee air bags, first-row side air bags, and curtain shield air bags for the first and second rows. Read together, JTHBECA1?V2 plus a six-digit serial is a 2027 ES hybrid with front-wheel drive from the Miyata plant, with ? for the check digit. That's a reading of the sheet, not a real VIN.
A real Lexus VIN decoded: 2021 IS 300
This 2021 IS 300 went through an NHTSA crash test (test 11386), and the test record lists its VIN. NHTSA's vPIC database returns this for JTHCA1D26M5110344:
| Field | vPIC result |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | 2021 Lexus IS 300 Comfort (series: ASE30L) |
| Body and drive | Sedan, 4 doors, two-wheel drive (4x2) |
| Engine | 2.0L four-cylinder (engine code 8AR-FTS), 241 hp |
| Plant | Tahara plant, Aichi, Japan |
| GVWR | Class 1C: 4,001 to 5,000 lb |
| Airbags | Front, knee (row 1), side (rows 1 and 2) and curtain (rows 1 and 2) |
| Listed as standard | Automatic emergency braking, pedestrian automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, lane centering, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and adaptive cruise control |
vPIC's airbag and safety fields can be incomplete; the window sticker or owner's manual has the full list.
GX and TZ: what two more Lexus sheets show
2026 GX (JTJ, built at Tahara, plant 5): two codes, TBCDX and VBCDX. Both are a 3.4L V35A-FTS V6 rated at 349 hp with four-wheel drive (252 series). The only difference on the sheet is GVWR: class F (7,001 to 8,000 lb) for TBCDX and class E (6,001 to 7,000 lb) for VBCDX, so on this model the 4th character follows the weight class.
2027 TZ 450e (JTJ, built at Miyata, plant 2): two all-wheel-drive codes. AAAAC pairs a 167 kW 2XM front motor with an 88.3 kW 3XM rear motor (15 series), and ABABC uses a 167 kW 2XM motor at each end (16 series). Toyota notes that total output isn't the sum of the two motors, because output is controlled. Both carry curtain shield air bags for all three rows.
Lexus models in vPIC
vPIC lists 11 Lexus models for 2026: ES, GX, IS, LC, LS, LX, NX, RX, RZ, TX and UX. The RC appears through 2025. All years together come to 18, adding the CT, GS, HS, LFA, SC and the new TZ.
Where is the VIN on a Lexus?
Look through the windshield at the lower corner on the driver's side, where federal rules require it to be readable from outside (49 CFR 565.13). It's also on the certification label in the driver's door opening (49 CFR 567.4), and on the title, registration and insurance card.
To see the original equipment and price, the Lexus window sticker page explains how to get the sticker. Selling a Lexus privately? CarShots puts your phone photos on a clean backdrop, about 20 seconds per photo.