VIN guides: reading a VIN, check digits, recalls and year codes

VIN guides

• How to read a VIN: the 17 characters, position by position

  What each of the 17 VIN positions means under US rules: manufacturer code, vehicle attributes, check digit, model-year code, plant and serial number.

  Updated 17 October 2026

• The VIN check digit: how position 9 is calculated

  The check-digit calculation from 49 CFR 565.15 with its own worked example, what a mismatch means, and why a correct check digit does not prove a VIN is real.

  Updated 17 October 2026

• Where to find the VIN on a car, truck or motorcycle

  Where US rules require the VIN to be displayed, how to read it through the windshield, and which documents repeat it. Copy it exactly, character by character.

  Updated 17 October 2026

• How to check a vehicle for safety recalls with NHTSA data

  What a safety recall is, how to check one exact VIN on NHTSA.gov, what the make, model and year list on PlateVIN shows, and how to read a campaign entry.

  Updated 17 October 2026

• What a VIN decoder can and cannot tell you about a vehicle

  A VIN decoder translates the manufacturer’s build codes. It does not know the car’s history. What NHTSA vPIC returns, what a missing value means and where decoding fails.

  Updated 17 October 2026

• The model-year code in a VIN: position 10 and the 30-year cycle

  How position 10 encodes the model year, why the same letter can mean 1990 or 2020, and how position 7 settles it for cars and light trucks. Includes the full code table.

  Updated 17 October 2026

• VIN manufacturer codes (WMI): what the first three characters tell you

  The first three VIN characters name the manufacturer and vehicle type. How SAE assigns them, what a 9 in third position means, with real examples from NHTSA vPIC.

  Updated 17 October 2026