VIN Lookup & Decoder

Before buying a car or motorcycle, a quick VIN check can reveal more than you think — from hidden accident records to title issues that aren’t obvious at first glance. Our free VIN decoder not only provides the basic vehicle details but also adds verified history insights, helping you see the full picture before making a decision.

What Is a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number)?

Every car has a unique 17-digit code called a VIN or Vehicle Identification Number. The VIN tells you where and when your car was made, who made it, and what features and options it has. You can also use the VIN to check the history of any used car you might want to buy by using services like FAXVIN, which compiles all available records for a car based on its VIN.

The VIN also contains a check digit that helps verify that it is genuine. For instance, when you check a car history for free on our website, we perform a check digit verification to confirm the accuracy of the 9th digit. This is useful for buyers, lenders, and lawyers who want to make sure the car is authentic.

The VIN looks something like this: 1C6SRFFT8LN218916. The International Standards Organization (ISO) developed this format in 1981, and it is applicable to all cars today. Each digit can be a number from zero to nine or any letter of the alphabet except "I", "O", or "Q" to avoid confusion with the numbers one and zero.

To make sense of the VIN, you can break it down into different parts:
1C6-SRFFT-8-L-N-218916. We'll explain what each of these parts means below.

VIN Examples

Here are some examples of the VIN from different types of automobiles and models:

• 1C6SRFFT8LN218916
• 2T3R1RFV8LC123249
• 5UXCR6C07N9N07366
• 3C6MR4AJ0NG410085
• 1FMCU0G65NUB81782
• WAUEAAF45NN011294
• WDDSJ4EB1JN510150
• 5YFBURHE8GP549799

Where to Find the VIN Number?

You can find the VIN on the car itself and on the documents related to it. It is very important to check the VIN number provided on our website with the one on the vehicle, especially if you are buying a used car.

You should also visually confirm that the VIN is stamped on the frame and look for any signs of tampering or alteration.

A mismatched or tampered VIN could indicate a stolen or salvaged vehicle.

On the Vehicle

The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) can be found in several locations:

• Dashboard: The most common spot, visible on the driver's side through the windshield.
• Driver's Side Door: Often located on the Federal Safety Certification Label inside the door post or door jamb.
• Under the Spare Tire: Usually in the trunk, requiring removal of the spare to see it.
• Front of the Car Frame: Found under the hood, near the windshield washer container, or stamped on the frame, typically on the driver's side.

VIN on Paperwork

The VIN is used on all official documents. You can find it by checking the following documents:

• Title: The VIN appears on the first page of the title document. You'll find it listed along with the vehicle's model, make, and body type on the title's header.
• Owner's Manual: The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) should also be listed in the owner's manual. You should have the owner's manual if the car is brand new. However, if you purchased a secondhand car, you may not have access to it.
• Insurance Card: When insuring an automobile, the insurance company will ask for the title so that they can verify the VIN. It will then be listed on the insurance card or policy.
• Registration Card: If you have a registration card, you can find the VIN on the front of the card. You need to contact your Department of Motor Vehicles to ask for the registration card if you don't have it.
• Body Repair Records: Repair facilities will typically ask the owner for the VIN, as it's useful when ordering the right parts or recording any relevant details about the kind of damage.
• Police Reports: Following thefts or accidents, the police will require the VIN to identify the unit and file relevant reports.

What Does Each Digit Mean in a VIN?

You can learn a lot about an automobile from its VIN. The first digit tells you which country made the model, while the next two digits indicate the manufacturer and unit type. Details such as the brand and size are encoded in the next five digits.

The ninth digit is a security code that verifies whether the maker authorized the Vehicle Identification Number. The tenth digit indicates the model year of the vehicle. And the eleventh digit tells you which plant assembled the vehicle. The last six digits are the serial number.

Here is a table that will allow you to identify specific information encoded in each digit:

VIN Digit	Meaning		VIN Digit	Meaning
1st	Country		10th	Year
2nd	Region / Maker		11th	Assembly Plant
3rd	Vehicle Type		12th	Sequential Number
4th	Vehicle Attributes		13th	Sequential Number
5th	Vehicle Attributes		14th	Sequential Number
6th	Vehicle Attributes		15th	Sequential Number
7th	Vehicle Attributes		16th	Sequential Number
8th	Vehicle Attributes		17th	Sequential Number
9th	Check digit

World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI)

The first three digits of the VIN are called the WMI code. It stands for World Manufacturer Identifier, and it tells you where the vehicle was made, who made it, and what kind of car it is. If a vehicle manufacturer makes less than 1000 units a year, they use 9 as the third digit and the next three digits of the VIN provide more identification.

• Country: The country is indicated by the first letter of the VIN, which ranges from A to Z. For example, if it starts with AA*–AH*, that means that the car was made in South Africa.
• Manufacturer: The second character tells you which manufacturer produced the car. For instance, if the second character is 1FD, it indicates that Ford Motor Company made the vehicle in the US.
• Vehicle Type: The third character indicates the type of vehicle. For example, 1G1 is a Chevrolet passenger car.

Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS)

The VDS code contains information about the vehicle's features. It consists of the 4th to 8th characters and varies depending on the manufacturer. Some of the common data encoded in the VDS code are:

• Vehicle Attributes: This section describes the engine, body type, and restraint system.
• Check Digit: It's the ninth character and serves as a security code to validate the VIN. It is calculated using a mathematical formula based on all characters.

Vehicle Identifier Section (VIS)

The vehicle identifier section (VIS) is a part of the VIN that provides specific information about the unit. The VIS consists of eight characters from the 10th to the 17th position. These characters indicate the following details:

• Year: The 10th character shows the model year of the vehicle according to a standard VIN-to-Year chart. For example, A stands for 1980, B for 1981, and so on.
• Assembly Plant: The 11th character identifies the specific plant. Each manufacturer has its own set of codes for different plants.
• Sequential Number: Characters (12th to 17th) are the serial number of the vehicle, assigned by the manufacturer in sequential order.

Older VINs (Before 1981)

Before 1981, vehicle identification numbers were not standardized and often contained 11 to 13 characters instead of today’s 17. These shorter VINs can still reveal key details about a car, but decoding them requires specialized knowledge or manufacturer records. Understanding these older formats is essential for verifying the history of classic and vintage vehicles.

How Is a VIN Used?

The unique ID is beneficial to different people throughout the car's lifetime:

• Mechanics: They can use the VIN to find out the engine type and easily source other parts required for servicing or repairs.
• Insurance Companies: They need the VIN to verify the details of the car they are insuring, such as the make, model, year, and safety features.
• Manufacturers: The VIN helps track their vehicles and recall them if necessary.
• Police: Law enforcement agencies request VINs to record accidents or follow up on theft and criminal cases.
• DMV & BMV: The state agencies use the number to register the vehicle and issue a title and license plate.
• Buyers: Interested parties may use the VIN code to perform a background check on a used vehicle before buying it. This can help them avoid buying a vehicle that has a history of accidents, damages, or mechanical problems.

Decoding VIN Examples

The following example shows what you can see with our free VIN report:

VIN	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Engine	Trim
1FTFW1CT5DFC10312	2013	Ford	F-150	3.5L V6 TURBO	FX2 SuperCrew 5.5-ft. Bed 2WD
1GC5CZEG0F0017106	2015	Chevrolet	Silverado	6.0 Li	3500 LT
4T1BG28K81U790207	2001	Toyota	Camry	2.2L L4 DOHC 16V	CE
WBA5B3C50GG252337	2016	BMW	5-Series	3.0L L6 DOHC 24V	535i xDrive
7SAYGAEE7PF684052	2023	Tesla	Model Y	ELECTRIC	Long Range AWD

Is it Safe to Give Out My VIN?

You should definitely share your VIN with potential buyers of your car. Otherwise, they might doubt the accuracy of the information you provide about your car's features.

Sharing it does not pose any security risk to you, as it is not a confidential piece of information like your Social Security number.

In fact, the VIN is visible in some parts of your car, such as the dashboard. Moreover, you expose your license plate every time you drive, and anyone can easily obtain a VIN from a license plate.

Why Perform a VIN Lookup?

A VIN decoder is a crucial step if you're considering a vehicle purchase and even allows you to get information about your own car.. Here's why the check is so important:

• Vehicle History: A car history lookup reveals vital historical details. You can uncover past ownership records, accident history, insurance claims, and previous uses such as taxi or police service.
• Fraud Detection: A VIN check is essential to detect various types of fraud. They can reveal issues such as odometer rollback, mileage discrepancies, undisclosed liens, title washing, and salvage rebuilds. You likewise protect yourself from a car with legal issues or financial complications.
• Safety and Recalls: A VIN lookup can inform you about any outstanding recall notices or safety issues. With a high percentage of unresolved recalls, many pre-owned vehicles may be unsafe to drive and require necessary repairs before they become dangerous.
• Insurance and Valuation: Understanding a vehicle's history through a VIN lookup can impact insurance rates and valuation. Insurers use the details to assess risk and determine premiums. Armed with this check information, you can negotiate better prices when you buy or insure a vehicle and avoid units that will be hard to insure.
• Legal Compliance: A car history lookup checks if the vehicle is legally clear for purchase. It can verify that the car isn't stolen and complies with local regulations.
• Peace of Mind: A VIN check reduces uncertainty by revealing verified ownership, title, and accident records.

The VIN information is also useful to other parties, including used car dealers who can use our information to enhance their sales and even current owners who can check on hidden issues that are starting to creep up. Plus, you can perform a free VIN search without creating an account or entering any payment information on our site.

What Does a VIN Lookup Reveal?

Our free car history check will pull the VIN from official databases along with the vehicle specs and confirm the validity of the check digit. If you need more data, you can order the paid report. The paid VIN search at our site will be up-to-date, in-depth, and fast. Moreover, it reveals all the key details you need to evaluate the vehicle’s condition, history, and market value:

• Title History: Get a chronological account of all the records associated with the title. For instance, see when the unit shipped to the original dealer, or when the vehicle was insured or renewed.
• Reported Odometer Readings: Our VIN lookup reports will contain records of mileage disclosures at key stages of the car's life, for instance during new registrations and renewals.
• Salvage and Total Loss Records: You can see any junk and salvage records that occur when the vehicle is declared too expensive to repair. Our reports list the date, reporting entity, and the disposition.
• Accident History: We clearly highlight if there is a prior history of accidents. You can even see the estimated damage, primary damage area, and the vehicle’s exterior condition at the time it was listed in salvage auctions.
• Mileage Rollback: See whether the odometer reading was ever declared as not actual. You can also compare the last reported odometer reading in our reports with the current reading on the dash to spot discrepancies.
• Recalls and Defects: Uncover outstanding recalls and unresolved defects to avoid buying a dangerous unit.
• Lien and Repossession Records: Check if the car is currently being used as collateral in a loan to avoid financial complications.
• Hail, Flood, and Fire Damage: We highlight damage caused by natural disasters as reported by insurance companies.
• Theft and Recovery Records: We list past and recovered theft incidents, as cars with problematic pasts may be difficult to insure or have hidden problems from having parts removed.
• Personal, Police, or Taxi Use: Know if the car was ever used as a taxi, rental, fleet, or police vehicle. All represent intensive use cases that lead to more wear and tear, reducing the lifetime of the car.
• Inspection and Service History: See the most recent inspection and service records.
• Other Vital Specifications: While our free car history check shares some attributes, we also offer more specifications from the identification number in the full VIN check report.

A quick VIN check can reveal hidden issues before you buy. Our fast, accurate tool delivers a detailed report in seconds — just enter the VIN from the vehicle’s tag and see the results.

Extra Buyer Details

When you use FAXVIN's VIN lookup to decode a VIN, you can access a lot of useful information about the model you are interested in. Here are some of the categories of data you can see:

• Make: This tells you the brand, such as Chevrolet, Toyota, or others. This can help you narrow down your search and compare similar vehicles from different manufacturers.
• Model: The VIN decoder informs you about the specific name, such as Camry, Impala, or others. If their model name is not clearly visible, some vehicles might be difficult to distinguish. You can also spot inconsistencies between the model stated on the listing page and the actual model based on its original specs.
• Year: It's the model year of the car and this will influence its price and performance. You can better research potential problems or recalls that may affect that particular year of production.
• Trim: Our VIN decoder gives you details about the level of features and options, such as leather seats, a sunroof, a navigation system, or others. Trim options can affect the value and comfort of the car. For instance, if you are looking for a model with off-road capabilities, you may want to know if it has a higher trim level with more rugged features.
• Manufacturing Location: It tells you where the car was built, for example, the USA, Japan, Germany, or others. Knowing the manufacturing plant can indicate the quality and reliability of the unit, as well as its availability and compatibility with parts and services in your area.
• Body Style: You can tell the shape and design, such as sedan, coupe, SUV, or others. This can help you identify changes that were made to a vehicle over time, such as modifications or repairs. It can also help you determine if the model suits your needs and preferences.

On FAXVIN, you can perform a VIN lookup free of charge and save the time you'd spend figuring out how to use VIN charts. But aside from providing basic details, our VIN decoder lists other motor vehicle features to make your comparison and search easier:

• Drivetrain: The engine type and drivetrain of the model, such as whether it is front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive.
• Seating: Standard seating capacity and configuration of the car, such as how many passengers it can accommodate.
• Fuel Capacity: Fuel-related details of the model, such as the tank level, fuel economy, and fuel type.
• Dimensions: These include the overall height and width of the unit.
• Braking: The braking system of the model, for instance, whether it is fitted with ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), whether the rear brakes are disc type or drum type, and the availability of a brake assist feature.
• Pricing: Pricing information, including the MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price), the dealer invoice price, and the average market price.
• Entertainment Options: Availability of entertainment features, whether there is an AM/FM radio, a CD player, an MP3 player, or a navigation system.
• Wheels and Tires: Size and type of the wheels and tires.
• Warranty Coverage: The duration and the covered mileage.

The additional details from our free VIN lookup give you a complete perspective on the car you’re considering, making your decision safer and more informed.

What Are the Benefits?

Indeed, as a premium VIN check service, we are proud to offer you the following benefits:

• DMV VIN Check: Our VIN decoder has won the trust of both car sellers and buyers. All the information that we include in our reports is relevant and up-to-date.
• Thousands of Happy Customers: Thousands of clients from the U.S. and Canada choose us as a helpful resource to get comprehensive and detailed VIN reports. Over 98% of them report being completely satisfied with our vehicle identification number service and the detailed data reports they receive using our professional VIN decoder.
• Unbiased Data: We always provide you with 100% unbiased data as we are interested neither in selling nor buying cars. Our goal is to help you get a clear picture of the unit that you want to check.
• Free VIN Check: Yes, you get to perform a VIN lookup free of charge as we are convinced that everyone should have access to reliable vehicle data sources to avoid unpleasant situations in the future.

VIN Decoder vs. a Manual VIN Lookup

Decoding the VIN by manually matching each character to a chart is quite time-consuming and even confusing, as some characters may be quite hard to understand.

A better option is to use a VIN lookup tool that can instantly generate a detailed report of your car's specifications. But note that the free VIN check cannot reveal the history, such as past repairs, services, or damages. For that, you need to use the car's VIN to run a comprehensive vehicle history report that can show you how the automobile has been treated or maintained.

What Vehicle's VIN Can Be Decoded?

VINs have been standardized for vehicles manufactured since 1981 in the USA, but they do not apply to all types of units. They are mostly assigned to the following automobile types:

• Car;
• SUV;
• Pickup;
• Motorcycle;
• VAN;
• Commercial Truck;
• RV and Motorhome;
• Trailer and Camper;
• Moped and Scooter;
• Buses;
• ATV.

What Our FAXVIN Tool Offers

You may think: "OK, great. But why should I perform a check at FAXVIN?" Well, because we offer you not just an ordinary VIN history report. We give you access to the best Vehicle History Reports available on the Web.

In fact, our VIN decoder collects and analyzes information from reliable and proven data sources:

• U.S. Motor Vehicle Title System (NMVTIS);
• All major motor vehicle agencies in Canada;
• Insurance companies;
• Auto auctions;
• Facilities that deal with collision repair;
• Salvage auctions;
• Dealerships;
• Fleet and rental companies;
• Manufacturers;
• State inspection stations.

If you want to check the validity of the specs, please check the VIN number using our free VIN Decoder.

How to Do a VIN Lookup?

To use FAXVIN to get your vehicle specs by VIN, you only need to follow these five steps to get information about your vehicle in no time.

1. Find your VIN – Locate the 17-character VIN on the dashboard (driver’s side), door jamb, title, registration, or insurance documents.
2. Enter the VIN – Type the VIN into the VIN search bar at the top of this page.
3. Click "Decode VIN" – Start the lookup to see free basic specifications instantly.
4. Review free results – Check make, model, year, trim, engine, body style, and assembly details.
5. Get the full report (optional) – Purchase a complete vehicle history to view accidents, title issues, mileage records, theft, liens, and more.

As you can see, the process is very simple, and our VIN lookup service lets you save money. So, don't take any chances when you want to buy a used car and get the vehicle specs with our free VIN number search.

Additional Resources for Drivers

Here are additional resources that you can use to learn more about pre-owned cars and related VIN check information:

• What is included in an NMVTIS Vehicle History Report
• National Insurance Crime Bureau
• FTC Buying a Used Car From a Dealer
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Safety Lookups
• State DMV Websites Directory