At a glance
- WMI on current Lincoln SUVs
- 5LM, Ford Motor Company, USA
- Trim and drive
- Positions 5 to 7, such as J8J for a Nautilus Premiere AWD
- 2026 plants
- Chicago, Louisville, Kentucky Truck and Hangzhou, China
- Models in vPIC
- 17, from Aviator to Zephyr
On this page
How to read a Lincoln VIN
Every 2026 Lincoln is a multipurpose vehicle, so it follows Ford's truck and MPV layout. Position 4 packs three facts into one character, and positions 5 to 7 work as a single model code. Here is the layout from Ford's 2026 model year filing, applied to a real 2025 Nautilus:
| Position | What Ford codes there | On 5LMPJ8JA0SJ916488 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | World manufacturer identifier | 5LM: Ford Motor Company, USA, Lincoln MPV |
| 4 | Brake system, GVWR class and restraint system | P: hydraulic brakes, class D (5,001 to 6,000 lb), front, side and knee airbags |
| 5 to 7 | Make, line, series, chassis and body | J8J: Lincoln Nautilus Premiere, AWD, 5-door |
| 8 | Engine: displacement, cylinders, fuel, maker | A: 2.0L GTDI 4-cylinder, gasoline, Ford |
| 9 | Check digit, 0 to 9 or X | 0 |
| 10 | Model year | S: 2025 |
| 11 | Assembly plant | J: Hangzhou, China |
| 12 to 17 | Sequence number | 916488 |
Codes are from Ford's 2026 filing with NHTSA; vPIC decodes this 2025 VIN with the same meanings. Other years can use other codes, so check yours with the decoder.
Example: a Lincoln VIN decoded
NHTSA crash tested this Nautilus in 2025 (test 15359), and vPIC returns a full profile for its VIN: 2025 Lincoln Nautilus Premiere, SUV, all-wheel drive, 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder (GTDI A), 5 doors, GVWR class 1D, built in Hangzhou, China. It also lists front and knee airbags in the first row and side airbags in rows 1 and 2.
The driver-assist fields are where a modern Lincoln stands out. vPIC marks automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping and pedestrian braking as Standard for this model, and blind spot monitoring as Optional. Standard means every car with this VIN pattern has it. Optional means the VIN can't confirm it, so check the car or its window sticker.
The check digit works out too: the weighted sum of the other 16 characters is 341, which divides by 11 with nothing left over, so position 9 is 0.
Lincoln model codes for 2026
Positions 4, 5 to 7, 8 and 11 together pin down a Lincoln. Ford's filing lists them model by model:
| Model | Position 4 | Positions 5 to 7 | Engine (8) | Plant (11) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aviator | 5: hydraulic, class E (6,001 to 7,000 lb) | J6W or J6X Base, J0W or J0X Livery, J7W or J7X Reserve (W = RWD, X = AWD); J9X Black Label AWD | C: 3.0L GTDI V6 | G: Chicago Assembly, Illinois |
| Corsair | C: class C (4,001 to 5,000 lb) or T: class D (5,001 to 6,000 lb), hydraulic | J1C or J1D Premiere, J2C or J2D Reserve (C = 4x2, D = 4x4); J5D Grand Touring 4x4 | A: 2.0L GTDI; Z: 2.5L plug-in hybrid | U: Louisville, Kentucky |
| Nautilus | P: hydraulic, class D (5,001 to 6,000 lb) | J8J Premiere, J8K Reserve, J9J Black Label, all AWD | A: 2.0L GTDI; 4: 2.0L GTDI hybrid | J: Hangzhou, China |
| Navigator | J: hydraulic, class F (7,001 to 8,000 lb) | J2R Preferred, J2S Presidential, J2L Reserve, J2U Premier, J2T Black Label; Navigator L: J3S, J3L, J3R, J3T; all 4x4 | U or G: 3.5L GTDI V6 | E: Kentucky Truck, Jefferson County |
Source: Ford Motor Company's 2026 model year VIN filing with NHTSA.
What does the last part of a Lincoln VIN mean?
Positions 12 to 17 are the sequence number, and Ford's filing gives Lincoln its own block. Ford passenger cars get a six-digit number from 100001 to 699999. Trucks, MPVs and buses get a letter and five digits instead: A00001 to J99999 for Ford Division and L00001 to L99999 for Lincoln Division.
So on a 2026 Aviator, Corsair or Navigator, position 12 is the letter L. The Nautilus is the exception: its filing page gives it a plain six-digit sequence, 000001 to 999999, which is why the sample above ends in 916488.
Lincoln WMIs: 5LM, 1LN and the rest
NHTSA's vPIC lists twelve world manufacturer identifiers with Lincoln as the make:
- Passenger cars: 1L1, 1LN and 1MR (Ford, U.S.), 2LN (Ford of Canada) and 3LN (Ford, Mexico).
- Multipurpose vehicles: 5L1 and 5LM (Ford, U.S.) and 2LM (Ford of Canada).
- Truck: 5LT (Ford, U.S.).
- Incomplete vehicles: 1LJ (Ford, U.S.), plus 2L1 and 2LJ (Ford of Canada).
The WMI names the manufacturer, not the factory. The Nautilus carries 5LM, registered to Ford Motor Company in the U.S., yet position 11 says it was assembled in Hangzhou, China. Read position 11 when you want to know where a Lincoln was built.
Where to find the VIN on a Lincoln
The VIN is on a plate at the base of the windshield on the driver's side, readable from outside, as federal rules require for passenger cars and light trucks (49 CFR 565.13(f)). It's also on the certification label in the driver's door opening, with the build month and year and the GVWR (49 CFR 567.4), and on the title and registration.
For a new Lincoln, the Lincoln window sticker lookup can pull up the original sticker from the same VIN.
Lincoln models in NHTSA's database
vPIC lists 17 Lincoln models under make ID 464: Aviator, Blackwood, Continental, Corsair, LS, MKC, MKS, MKT, MKX, MKZ, Mark, Mark LT, Nautilus, Navigator, Navigator L, Town Car and Zephyr.
Lincoln shares its VIN system with Ford, so the Ford VIN decoder explains the passenger car layout used by models like the MKZ and Continental. A Lincoln from before the 1981 model year has a shorter VIN; see the classic car VIN guide.