VIN Number Lookup

Everything you need to know and more about your vehicle’s VIN

Have you ever heard someone talking about a vehicle’s VIN lookup and not know what they were talking about? Or maybe you’ve tried figuring out some obscure information about your vehicle, like what country it was manufactured in, and weren’t sure where to start? Or maybe you just got off the phone with your insurance company and they asked for your VIN, and you didn’t know what to tell them?  

The truth of the matter is simpler than you think! From breaking down everything your VIN can tell you about your car to telling you how to get your VIN decoded quickly, we’ve got you covered. Just keep reading, and we’ll let you know everything you need to know and more about your vehicle’s VIN.

What is a VIN?

VIN is an acronym for Vehicle Identification Number, which doesn’t tell you much unless you already know what your VIN does. In 1981 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mandated that all manufacturers that wanted to sell their cars in the United States would have to use the same VIN format and follow a standardized setup set up by the NHTSA.

Since just about every car company didn’t want to lose access to the US market, VIN’s have been standardized ever since. In fact, VIN’s have become so standard that even vehicle models that aren’t sold in the United States use an almost identical VIN layout.

The VIN is a 17-digit number/letter combination that’s unique to each vehicle. And unlike an engine serial number or even a frame number, the VIN will follow the vehicle no matter what gets replaced. That means even if the vehicle gets a new engine, transmission, and frame over the life of the vehicle, it will still have the same VIN it rolled off of the production line with.

Essentially, a VIN is a vehicle’s Social Security Number. And just like your Social Security Number, each vehicle has a unique Vehicle Identification Number. From passenger vehicles to motorcycles, and even large construction equipment, everything has a VIN.

This is why your insurance company requires you to give them the vehicle’s VIN whenever setting up a policy. That way, if you’re ever in an accident, they know what vehicle they are responsible for fixing. If the VIN doesn’t match, they won’t be repairing it. On the other side of things, even if you just got major repairs done, since the VIN matches, the insurance company will still be on the hook.

However, unlike a Social Security Number, every digit on a vehicle’s VIN means something. So, if you have a vehicle’s VIN, you can find out just about every detail regarding the manufacturer’s original specifications. From where it was made to what size engine the manufacturer put in it, the VIN is the place to go to find out.

However, the VIN won’t tell you about any of the vehicle’s aftermarket add-ons or things like that, because the VIN the vehicle comes off the assembly line with is the VIN that will follow that vehicle for the rest of its life. That means in many ways, a vehicle’s VIN doesn’t tell you much of anything if you’re looking at an older vehicle or one that was worked on quite a bit.  

Where can you find your VIN?

While your VIN can tell you all kinds of useful information, none of it is any good if you can’t track down where your VIN is located! The manufacturer’s biggest concern when finding a place to stamp you VIN Is a location that isn’t going to be replaced.

That’s why you typically won’t find your VIN on an engine block or any other mechanical component of your car. Because even if your car gets a new engine, it’s going to have the same VIN! With that being said, some models will place the VIN on the engine block, but even if you swap the engine, the vehicle will have the same VIN.

The most commonplace the manufacturer will stamp your VIN is on the dash above the driver’s side. You won’t be able to see it from inside the car unless you’re using a mirror that fits up against the windshield. Instead, you’ll need to look down from the outside of your car.

When you look down, you’ll see a spot with a 17-number/letter combination. Once you’ve spotted it, you’ve found your VIN!

But while that’s the most commonplace for the vehicle manufacturer to stamp your VIN, it’s not the only place. Typically, even if your vehicle’s VIN isn’t stamped there, you’ll still see the empty spot. Once you’re sure that it’s not there, you can start to look in other places to find your VIN.

It’s going to be a little more work, but in the end, it’s not anything too difficult. If it’s not on the dash, the next place you should check is the driver’s side door jamb. Open the door and look for where the door latches to the body.

If it’s not there, you should check the passenger side door. But instead of checking the door jamb, when the manufacturer puts it on the passenger side, you should check on the doorpost. If it’s located there, it’s usually on a sticker.

If you still haven’t found it after checking all of these places, go ahead and check your trunk before moving on to check your engine block. If you’ve checked all of these places and still haven’t tracked it down, ask for some help, because chances are you missed it.

What vehicle identification number lookup could tell you?

First off, your VIN can tell you a variety of things about the cars make and model. It can tell you a ton of specs about the vehicle itself. But past that, the VIN can tell you even more valuable information if you’re looking to buy a car.

You can run a VIN check on your car to find a ton of information about the vehicle’s past. Because the VIN is specific to each vehicle, many things get reported to the Department of Transportation and other organizations about each vehicle using the VIN.

Then you can pull that information to find out about your vehicle! It can tell you about the vehicle’s accident history, salvage information (if applicable), whether or not the vehicle was a lease or commercial vehicle, and even if there are any open or closed recalls for that vehicle.

With so much information out there, you want to run a VIN check on any vehicle that you might be purchasing, before buying it.  

What do all those digits mean anyways?

As we’ve already mentioned, every number of the VIN means something. But what exactly does each digit mean? We’re glad you asked

The first three digits of your VIN all work together to tell you where the vehicle was manufactured, the make, and the type of vehicle (i.e., sedan or truck).

The very first digit of the VIN tells you what country the vehicle was manufactured in. It could be either a number or a letter, depending on the country of origin. It’s important to note that it’s not talking about the company the car manufacturer is headquartered in. If you’re Ford or Mazda was made in Mexico, that’s the code your VIN is going to get, not the United States or Japan.

The next digit tells you the manufacturer, but without the third digit, you won’t know for sure what manufacturer that digit is referring to. The third digit is used to tell you the type of vehicle, whether it’s a truck, motorcycle, or anything else under the sun. When you combine this number with the first two, you can find the make, type, and country of origin of the vehicle you are looking at.

Numbers 4 through 8 tell you about the vehicle specifics. From the model to engine size, it’s all there. The ninth digit is used to make sure the VIN is valid. It’s a formula used with the department of transportation and the manufacturers to makes sure you can’t spoof a VIN.

The 10th digit tells you the year of the vehicle. It can be a letter or a number depending on the year. The 11th digit will tell you exactly which plant the vehicle was manufactured at. So, not only can you determine the country of origin, but you can also find the exact assembly line that the vehicle came off of!

The last six digits? Those are the only ones that get changed up off the assembly line to identify each vehicle. Past that every digit is the same for each model type of vehicle that is coming off the same assembly line.

How to decode your vehicle’s VIN

There’s two ways to decode a vehicle’s VIN. First, you could memorize everything in the previous section, look up what all the corresponding letters and numbers mean, and become a walking VIN encyclopedia. It’d be a ton of work, but hey, you could decode VIN’s with only a little help from Google!

But even then, you’ll need to keep up with every manufacturer’s production plants, how they code the locations and make sure to apply them correctly to each model year. It’s not impossible, but it’s close to it, even when you have the Internet to help you out.

Or you can do what most people do and type the VIN you’re trying to decode into an online VIN decoder. This is the easiest way because when you type in the vehicle’s VIN, it breaks down everything it can tell you about the vehicle into terms that make sense.  

You don’t have to memorize any of the fancy VIN coding or even know what any of the numbers mean! All you have to do is type the 17 digits into the formula, and it spits out the information you want to know!

What are the most popular decoding service providers?

There are a ton of excellent services that you can use to decode a vehicle’s VIN. The best part about it? VIN decoders are FREE! There’s no reason not to run a VIN check or decoder!

Below are some of the most popular VIN decoders on the market, all of which you can access without spending any money!

By far, the best VIN decoder in the United States is the NHTSA government website, otherwise known as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They will decode any VIN for you, and you’ll know that it’s accurate every time! How can you be so sure? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the one who standardized VIN’s back in 1981! Since they are the ones that laid out the guidelines, you know that they will be decoding them correctly!

But if you don’t want to use a government VIN lookup, you still have some other options. Both vinnumberlookup.org and carVertical.com offer free VIN decoding services without any headache. You don’t have to sign up for an account or anything. Simply go to the site, type in your VIN, and search for the results! It really couldn’t be easier.

In contrast, CARFAX claims to offer a VIN decoding service, but instead, they make you do all the work yourself, and you still won’t be able to find out everything you want to know. However, they do offer a free VIN check if you sign up for an account!

Conclusion

Knowing what goes into your vehicle’s VIN is an essential part of making sure you don’t get ripped off when buying a car. And if you’re looking to do some maintenance on your car yourself to save some money, you’ll need to know how and where to decode your vehicle’s VIN to get the right parts.

VIN’s are powerful tools to find out whatever you need to know about your car, don’t waste the information given to you for free!