Free VIN Decoder

What a VIN decoder can and can't tell you

A VIN decoder reads the vehicle identification number your automaker assigned at the factory and translates it into facts: model year, make, model and trim, body style, engine, transmission, drive type and the assembly plant. Many VINs also unlock the safety equipment the maker filed with NHTSA, such as air-bag locations, electronic stability control and the rear-visibility camera.

What a decoder can't do is tell you anything that happened to the car after it left the plant. Accidents, odometer readings, previous owners and title brands like salvage or flood are kept by insurers and state motor-vehicle agencies, not in the VIN. Decoders work for cars, SUVs, pickups, vans, motorcycles and trailers built for the 1981 model year onward, when the 17-character format became mandatory.

How the PlainVIN decoder works

Most free decoders stop at the spec sheet. PlainVIN starts there and then shows you what the government has on file for that exact year, make and model, with the source and date on every number.

1. Decode. We send your VIN to NHTSA's Product Information Catalog and Vehicle Listing (vPIC), the federal decoder that reads the codes manufacturers file. You see every field it returns, and how many of NHTSA's fields were filled for your VIN.
2. Match. The decoded year, make and model are matched to NHTSA's recall file, its owner-complaint database, the 5-Star Safety Ratings and EPA fuel-economy data.
3. Explain. Recall campaigns appear with NHTSA's official text and the share of vehicles already repaired. Complaints are counted by component, so you can see what owners report most.
4. Hand off. For anything only your specific car can answer, such as an open recall, we send you to the official tool.

“The information displayed through the VIN decoder is reported by the manufacturer.”National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, VIN Decoder

For example, decoding the sample VIN 1HGCR2F3XHA000000 identifies a 2017 Honda Accord LX. Its 2017 Honda Accord report then shows 3 recall campaigns and 538 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, alongside its crash-test stars and EPA mpg.

How to read a VIN, character by character

Every VIN has four sections. Positions 1–3 are the World Manufacturer Identifier, positions 4–8 describe the vehicle, position 9 is the check digit, and positions 10–17 identify this particular car, starting with the model year in position 10 and the assembly plant in position 11. The format is set by federal rule.

“Each VIN shall consist of seventeen (17) characters.”49 CFR 565.13(b)

Positions 4–8 are the manufacturer's own codes, so the same character means different things to different makers. That's why the 8th digit, which many makers use for an engine code, can't be read without the maker's code list, and why a decoder that queries NHTSA's catalog is more reliable than a generic chart. Our guide to reading a VIN walks through each section with a check-digit calculator.

Who built it: World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) codes

The first three characters, the WMI, tell you which manufacturer and often which plant region built the car. A Honda, for instance, can start with 1HG (built by American Honda), 2HG (Honda of Canada) or JHM (Honda Motor Co. in Japan). These are common WMIs and the manufacturer NHTSA has on file for each.

Source: NHTSA vPIC DecodeWMI. A manufacturer can hold dozens of WMIs; each make's decoder page, such as the Ford VIN decoder, lists all of them.

Model-year codes: what the 10th character means

The 10th character is the model year. Letters and numbers repeat every 30 years, and VINs never use I, O, Q, U, Z or 0 for the year. For cars, SUVs and light trucks, a letter in position 7 means the 2010–2039 cycle; a number means 1980–2009. So H means 2017 when position 7 is a letter, and 1987 when it is a number.

The check digit: how a decoder spots a mistyped VIN

Position 9 is calculated from the other 16 characters. Letters become numbers, each position has a weight, and the weighted sum divided by 11 leaves a remainder of 0–9 (or 10, written X). If the result doesn't match position 9, a character was almost certainly copied wrong. In our example VIN 1HGCR2F3XHA000000 the remainder is 10, so the check digit is X.

The method, letter values and weights are fixed in 49 CFR 565.15. A mismatch can also happen on a vehicle built for another market, where the check digit isn't required; our decoder still sends the VIN to NHTSA and shows what comes back.

Where to find your VIN

Look through the windshield at the driver's-side corner of the dashboard, or open the driver's door and read the label on the door jamb. It's also printed on your title, registration and insurance card. On passenger cars, SUVs and light trucks, federal rules require the dashboard VIN to be readable from outside the car.

Where the VIN is on cars, pickups, vans and motorcycles →

Recalls: what a VIN decode can and can't confirm

A decoder tells you which recall campaigns NHTSA lists for the model year. It can't tell you whether your car was one of the vehicles covered or whether the repair was done; only the automaker's records, searched through NHTSA's VIN recall lookup, can.

One detail many sites get wrong: recall repairs are free under federal law, but not for every car. The free-remedy rule doesn't apply to a vehicle first sold more than 15 calendar years before the recall notice, or a tire sold more than 5 years before (49 U.S.C. 30120(g)).

That's why every recall card on PlainVIN says “Not checked against your VIN” and links to the official lookup. Browse campaigns by model year on the recall lookup.

Decode by make

Each make's decoder lists every WMI that manufacturer has on file with NHTSA, its most-reported models and its latest recall campaigns.

Free VIN decoder, VIN check or paid history report?

The three names get mixed up. A decoder reads factory facts from the VIN. A VIN check usually means a decode plus open-recall status. A history report compiles records about the individual car: title brands, odometer readings, reported accidents and sometimes service visits.

Use both, in order: decode first to confirm the car is what the seller says, then buy a report only for a car you're serious about. The Justice Department's NMVTIS program lists the approved providers of title-history reports. Our free VIN check vs history report guide explains what each one covers.

Is it OK to share your VIN?

Your VIN isn't secret: on most cars it's readable through the windshield by design, and sellers routinely list it in ads. It identifies the vehicle, not you. Personal information that state motor-vehicle agencies hold, such as an owner's name and address, is protected by the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. 2721), which limits who can get it.

Sharing a VIN with a buyer, insurer, dealer or a decoder is normal. If you're selling, it helps buyers check the car; if you're buying, ask for it before you travel to see a car, decode it, and compare it with the dashboard, door label and title when you get there.