Free VIN Decoder: Decode Any VIN with NHTSA Data

What a VIN tells you

The parts of a 17-character VIN (vehicles from 1981 on)
Position	Part	Meaning
1	Country	Where the vehicle was built (1, 4, 5 = USA; 2 = Canada; 3 = Mexico; J = Japan; K = South Korea; W = Germany; S = UK).
1–3	WMI	World Manufacturer Identifier: the maker and, often, the vehicle type.
4–8	VDS	Vehicle Descriptor Section: model, body, engine and restraint codes, defined by each maker.
9	Check digit	A digit (or X) calculated from the other 16 characters to catch typos.
10	Model year	A letter or digit for the model year; the codes repeat every 30 years.
11	Plant	The assembly plant, coded by each maker.
12–17	Serial	The production sequence number of this vehicle.

How to use the decoder

Find the VIN. It is printed on a plate at the base of the windshield on the driver's side, on a label in the driver's door jamb, and on the registration and insurance documents. Our guide to finding the VIN covers other vehicle types.
Type or paste the 17 characters into the box above. Spaces and dashes are ignored, and letters can be lower case.
Read the result. You will see the model year, make, model, body style, engine and assembly plant as NHTSA's database records them, followed by the recall campaigns NHTSA lists for that make, model and model year.
Compare the result with the listing or the paperwork. If the model year, engine or body style does not match what the seller says, ask why before you go further.

Why a VIN may not decode

Most failures have a simple cause. The commonest is a typing mistake: the letters I, O and Q are never used in a VIN, so a character that looks like one of them is really a 1 or a 0, and the decoder will tell you when it sees one. A VIN with fewer or more than 17 characters will not decode either. Vehicles built before the 1981 model year used shorter, non-standard numbers that follow no common rule, so the decoder cannot read them. NHTSA's database is also built around vehicles made for the U.S. market, so a car imported from another market, a trailer or a very small manufacturer may return little or nothing.

Position nine is a check digit, calculated from the other sixteen characters by a formula the federal rules define. If one character is wrong, the check digit usually no longer matches, which is a quick way to catch a typo. A VIN that fails the check is either mistyped or was not issued under those rules.

What a decode can and cannot prove

A decode shows what the manufacturer reported when it built the vehicle, so it is a reliable way to confirm that a car is what it claims to be. It does not show what has happened to the car since. It tells you nothing about accidents, repairs, owners, title brands, liens or mileage, and a clean decode is not a clean history. Recall results work the same way: they show campaigns NHTSA has on file for the model year and, on NHTSA's own site, whether a particular VIN still has an unrepaired recall.

Before buying a used car, use the decoder to check the basics, run the VIN through NHTSA's recall lookup, then buy a vehicle history report and have an independent mechanic inspect the car. Our guide on how to check a VIN walks through each step.

Your VIN stays private

The decoder runs in your browser. It sends the VIN straight to NHTSA's public database and displays the answer, so the VIN never reaches our server and we do not log it. We still suggest you avoid posting a full VIN publicly, because anyone with your VIN can look up details about the vehicle and use it in scams.

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FAQ

Is this VIN decoder free?

Yes. It uses NHTSA's free vPIC database for the decode and NHTSA's recall data, and asks for nothing but the VIN.

Does it show accident or title history?

No. Free government data covers what the vehicle is and which recalls apply to its model year. Accident, title and mileage history come from paid vehicle history reports.

Do you store the VINs I enter?

No. Your browser sends the VIN straight to NHTSA; it never reaches our server and is not logged.