A vehicle identification number (VIN) (also called a chassis number or frame number) is a unique code, including a serial number, used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles. The VIN consists of 17 characters, which contain information about the vehicle, such as year, country, and factory of manufacture, the make, model and the serial number.
If you want to purchase a used car, you should always obtain a vehicle’s VIN before buying. If you have a VIN, you can get reliable information about the car’s history. This can protect you from getting scammed. You can use VIN check services to find out if car has been in an accident, if it’s ever been recalled by its manufacturer, how often the car has been bought and sold.
A | 1980 | L | 1990 | Y | 2000 | A | 2010 |
B | 1981 | M | 1991 | 1 | 2001 | B | 2011 |
C | 1982 | N | 1992 | 2 | 2002 | C | 2012 |
D | 1983 | P | 1993 | 3 | 2003 | D | 2013 |
E | 1984 | R | 1994 | 4 | 2004 | E | 2014 |
F | 1985 | S | 1995 | 5 | 2005 | F | 2015 |
G | 1986 | T | 1996 | 6 | 2006 | G | 2016 |
H | 1987 | V | 1997 | 7 | 2007 | H | 2017 |
J | 1988 | W | 1998 | 8 | 2008 | J | 2018 |
K | 1989 | X | 1999 | 9 | 2009 | K | 2019 |
The 1st character in a car's vehicle identification number indicates the country in which it was manufactured. Some of the country codes include: