How to read a VIN
Every car and truck sold in the US since 1981 has a 17-character Vehicle Identification Number. It never uses the letters I, O or Q, so they can't be mistaken for 1 and 0. Here is 1HGCM82633A004352, a 2003 Honda Accord, read from left to right.
The six parts
- 1HGPositions 1-3
- ManufacturerHonda, registered in North America
- CM826Positions 4-8
- Vehicle detailsModel, body, engine and restraints, in the manufacturer's own code
- 3Position 9
- Check digitMatches the other 16 characters
- 3Position 10
- Model year2003
- APosition 11
- Assembly plantMarysville, Ohio, USA
- 004352Positions 12-17
- Serial numberThe production sequence number for this vehicle
The first character is the region the manufacturer is registered in: 1 to 5 North America, 6 and 7 Oceania, 8 and 9 South America, A to H Africa, J to R Asia, S to Z Europe. A third character of 9 marks a small manufacturer, whose code continues in positions 12 to 14.
Decode your VIN
See your own VIN broken down like this, with its specs, recalls and crash rating.
Model year codes (position 10)
The 10th character is the model year. The codes repeat every 30 years, so A is 1980 or 2010; the rest of the VIN, or simply the car in front of you, settles which. The letters I, O, Q, U and Z and the digit 0 are never used here.
- A
- 1980, 2010
- B
- 1981, 2011
- C
- 1982, 2012
- D
- 1983, 2013
- E
- 1984, 2014
- F
- 1985, 2015
- G
- 1986, 2016
- H
- 1987, 2017
- J
- 1988, 2018
- K
- 1989, 2019
- L
- 1990, 2020
- M
- 1991, 2021
- N
- 1992, 2022
- P
- 1993, 2023
- R
- 1994, 2024
- S
- 1995, 2025
- T
- 1996, 2026
- V
- 1997, 2027
- W
- 1998, 2028
- X
- 1999, 2029
- Y
- 2000, 2030
- 1
- 2001, 2031
- 2
- 2002, 2032
- 3
- 2003, 2033
- 4
- 2004, 2034
- 5
- 2005, 2035
- 6
- 2006, 2036
- 7
- 2007, 2037
- 8
- 2008, 2038
- 9
- 2009, 2039
The check digit (position 9)
The 9th character is calculated from the other 16, so a single mistyped character almost always breaks it. It's required in North America; elsewhere position 9 can be anything. To check it:
- Turn each letter into a number (table below). Digits stay as they are.
- Multiply each position by its weight: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 10, then 0 for the check digit itself, then 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
- Add the results and divide by 11. The remainder is the check digit, and a remainder of 10 is written X.
For the Accord, the products add up to 311:
8 + 56 + 42 + 15 + 16 + 24 + 4 + 60 + 27 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 20 + 12 + 15 + 4 = 311
311 divided by 11 leaves 3, and position 9 is 3, so the VIN checks out.
- A
- 1
- B
- 2
- C
- 3
- D
- 4
- E
- 5
- F
- 6
- G
- 7
- H
- 8
- J
- 1
- K
- 2
- L
- 3
- M
- 4
- N
- 5
- P
- 7
- R
- 9
- S
- 2
- T
- 3
- U
- 4
- V
- 5
- W
- 6
- X
- 7
- Y
- 8
- Z
- 9
The decoder does this for you: a VIN whose check digit doesn't match still decodes, with a warning that it probably has a typo.
Where to find it
- WindshieldLower driver-side corner, read from outside the car
- Driver door jambOn the sticker where the door latches
- PaperworkRegistration, title or insurance card
If the VIN on the car doesn't match the one on the paperwork, find out why before you buy.