VIN decoder
What the vehicle is, which factory built it, and whether the number is internally consistent — with the check-digit arithmetic shown, so you can see the answer rather than take it.
The check digit, and why it is worth showing
The ninth character is not part of the vehicle's description. It is arithmetic: a value derived from the other sixteen characters, so that a mistyped or invented VIN can be caught without consulting any database at all.
The calculation is set out in 49 CFR 565.15. Each character is given a
value, multiplied by a weight fixed by its position, the products are summed, and the
total is divided by 11. The remainder is the check digit — with 10 written as
X. The ninth position carries a weight of zero, so it cannot influence its
own result.
This page performs that calculation in your browser and shows you every product, which means you can verify the verdict by hand rather than trusting either this site or the government's.
What a failed check digit does and does not mean
It means the seventeen characters are not internally consistent. Overwhelmingly that is
a typo — a transposed pair, a 5 read as an S. It can also mean
the number was made up, which is why the check exists.
It does not mean the rest is meaningless. The first three characters identify the manufacturer and are unaffected by the arithmetic, so a VIN that fails the check will often still resolve to a real make and plant. This page reports both facts separately rather than collapsing them into one verdict, because they answer different questions.
Where the identity comes from
Make, model, year, body type and factory are read from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's vPIC database — the US Department of Transportation's own record, the same data manufacturers are required to file. It is free, public, and needs no account.
Two consequences worth stating plainly. It is strongest on vehicles sold in the United States, because that is what US manufacturers are required to register; a car built for another market may return less. And where NHTSA has no value for a field, this page leaves it blank rather than guessing.
Why the year can be ambiguous
The tenth character encodes the model year, and the code repeats on a
thirty-year cycle. 5 means 2005 — and also 2035. A
means 2010, and also 1980. The character alone cannot tell you which.
The tool above lists only the repetitions that could already exist, so today it offers
1980 or 2010 for A and just 2005 for 5. The 2035 car has not
been built yet; when it has, the same character will be ambiguous again.
What resolves it is the manufacturer's own filing, which is what NHTSA holds. So when the decoded year and the year implied by the tenth character are both available, this page shows them together. If they disagree, it says so instead of picking one.
Common questions
Why are there no I, O or Q characters?
They are excluded from VINs entirely, because they are too easily confused with 1 and 0. A VIN containing one is not a VIN. This page rejects them before doing anything else.
Can this tell me if a car is stolen or written off?
No. That is a different question answered by a different registry, and not one with a free public source. This page tells you what the number describes and whether it is internally consistent. Treat it as a first check, not a provenance report.
Does the VIN tell you the colour or trim?
Rarely. Characters four to eight describe the model, body, engine and restraint system in a manufacturer-specific scheme, and how much detail is filed varies by maker. Whatever NHTSA holds is shown; nothing is inferred beyond it.
My VIN has fewer than 17 characters.
Vehicles built before 1981 predate the standard and use shorter, manufacturer-specific numbers. This page cannot decode those, and neither can the check digit.