How to Read a VIN Number: Digit-by-Digit Chart and Example

To read a VIN, split its 17 characters into four sections: positions 1–3 identify the manufacturer and country, positions 4–8 describe the vehicle, position 9 is the check digit, and positions 10–17 give the model year, plant and serial number. The 10th character is the model year and the 11th is the assembly plant, so you can tell when and where a car was built at a glance.

Every position has a job. Once you know the structure, you can also catch most typos without any tool. Jump to the full model year chart if you only need the 10th digit.

The rules come from 49 CFR Part 565, which sets the 17-character VIN format that cars, trucks, motorcycles and trailers built for the US have used since model year 1981. To decode a specific vehicle, paste it into our free VIN decoder. To understand what the result means, read on. Motorcycles and trailers follow the same layout with a few differences, covered in our motorcycle VIN decoder and trailer VIN decoder guides.

The four sections of a VIN

Two rules apply everywhere: the letters I, O and Q are never used, and a VIN on a 1981-or-newer US vehicle is exactly 17 characters. If you count 16 or 18, you have miscopied it. Older vehicles can have shorter VINs.

How many digits are in a VIN?

A modern VIN has 17 characters, and Part 565 sets rules for which characters can go where. These rules let you spot a miscopied VIN before you decode it:

Positions 1–3: country and manufacturer (WMI)

The first three characters are the World Manufacturer Identifier. The first one shows the country the code was assigned to, which is often not the brand's home country (position 11 gives the actual plant):

So a Toyota built in Kentucky starts with 4 or 5, and a Chevrolet built in Mexico starts with 3. The second and third characters identify the manufacturer and, often, the vehicle type. Ford uses 1FT for US-built trucks and 1FA for US-built cars, for example. Our brand guides list the WMIs for Ford, Chevrolet, Subaru, Tesla and Harley-Davidson.

Small manufacturers that build fewer than 1,000 vehicles of a given type a year use a 9 as the third character. Their full manufacturer code then continues in positions 12–14.

Positions 4–8: model, body and engine

The Vehicle Descriptor Section is where manufacturers have the most freedom. Federal rules say what must be encoded, but each manufacturer decides which position holds what. For passenger cars that includes the line, series, body type, engine type and restraint system. For trucks it adds the gross vehicle weight rating class.

In practice:

• Positions 4–7 often encode the model line, series or trim, body style and restraint system; each maker decides the placement within positions 4–8.
• Position 8 is the engine code on most cars and light trucks from US, Japanese and Korean brands. On a 2022 F-150, 5 means the 5.0L V8. On a 2022 Silverado 1500, D means the 5.3L V8. Our Ford engine code guide lists the Ford codes.

There is a catch: these characters are only meaningful in context. The same D that means a 5.3L V8 on a Silverado means a hybrid on an F-150. That is why generic "VIN digit charts" often give wrong answers. A decoder that reads the manufacturer's own filing, such as NHTSA's vPIC database used by our tool, avoids the problem.

Position 9: the check digit, with the math

Position 9 is calculated from the other 16 characters, using a formula set by Part 565. If one character is copied wrong, the check digit catches many, but not all, of those errors, which is why decoders can warn you about typos.

How it works:

1. Convert each letter to a number: 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. Digits keep their value.
2. Multiply each value by its position weight: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 10, 0, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (position 9 itself has weight 0).
3. Add the 17 products and divide by 11. The remainder is the check digit. A remainder of 10 is written as X.

Here is the full calculation for the sample VIN 1FTFW1E51NF100001:

The products add up to 287. 287 divided by 11 is 26 with a remainder of 1, and the ninth character is 1, so the VIN is valid. Change one character and the remainder usually changes, though not always: letters with the same assigned value, such as A and J, give the same result.

A valid check digit only proves the VIN is well-formed. It does not prove the VIN belongs to the car in front of you. Our VIN check digit guide works through full examples, including a VIN that ends its check in X.

Position 10: the model year

Position 10 holds one character per model year. This is the full 10th-digit chart, with both 30-year cycles:

The sequence skips I, O, Q, U, Z and the digit 0, and repeats every 30 years. T meant 1996 and now means 2026. To tell the cycles apart, Part 565 makes position 7 a letter on 2010-and-later cars, SUVs and light trucks, and a digit on 1980–2009 models. That position 7 rule does not apply to motorcycles, trailers or heavier trucks, so on those vehicles use the model and its age to pick the cycle. Our 10th digit of VIN year chart lists every code from 1980 to 2030.

Model year is not the build date. Part 565 defines model year as the year used to designate a vehicle model, regardless of the calendar year it was actually produced in, as long as the production period does not exceed 24 months. A 2026 model can roll off the line in mid-2025. The build month is on the door-jamb label, as our manufacturing date guide explains.

Positions 11–17: plant and serial number

Position 11 is the plant code. Each manufacturer sets its own list, and the same letter means different plants at different brands. F is Dearborn, Michigan, on an F-150, but Fremont, California, on a Tesla.

Positions 12–17 are the production sequence number (for small manufacturers, only 15–17). They make the VIN unique. They do not encode a date, and a lower number only means an earlier build within the same plant and series.

Where to find the VIN to read it

Read the VIN from the vehicle itself, then compare it with the title and any listing. Federal rules put it in two predictable places on most cars and light trucks:

Motorcycles, trailers and heavier trucks are not covered by the windshield rule and carry the VIN elsewhere. Our guide to where to find the VIN number covers them by vehicle type.

Worked example: reading a Ford F-150 VIN

Illustrative only: 1FTFW1E51NF100001 is a test VIN we built with a valid check digit, not a known real vehicle. NHTSA's vPIC database decodes it as follows:

Put together: a 2022 Ford F-150 SuperCrew 4x4 with the 5.0L V8, built in Dearborn. If a seller listed that truck as a 2023 or an EcoBoost, the VIN would tell you something is off.

What a VIN does not tell you

• Build date: see the door-jamb label.
• Color and options: paint codes and option packages are not required VIN attributes, so a decode will not reliably show them. Our guides to the paint code by VIN and the window sticker by VIN cover where to find them.
• History: owners, accidents, theft, salvage titles and odometer readings come from state and insurance records. Start with the free NICB VIN check, then a title-based report.
• Open recalls: our decoder lists NHTSA recalls for the make, model and year. For the exact car, use NHTSA's recall lookup.

Not sure where the VIN is on your car? See the VIN locations above or our full guide to where to find the VIN number.