Free, from NHTSA data
VIN decoder
Enter any 17-character VIN to see what the car is: year, make, model, trim, engine and the factory that built it, plus every safety recall, owner complaint and crash-test rating for the model. No sign-in.
Free, no sign-in. The VIN is on the dashboard at the base of the windshield, on the driver's door jamb, and on the title.
What the 17 characters mean
Every car and light truck sold in the US since the 1981 model year carries a VIN laid out the same way (49 CFR Part 565).
- 1–3World manufacturer identifier
- The first character is the country or region (1, 4 and 5 for the US, 2 Canada, 3 Mexico, J Japan, K Korea, W Germany); with the next two it names the manufacturer and vehicle type.
- 4–8Vehicle descriptor
- The manufacturer's own code for the model, body style, engine and restraint system.
- 9Check digit
- Calculated from the other 16 characters, so a single mistyped character fails it. This page checks it before anything is looked up.
- 10Model year
- A letter or digit from the table below.
- 11Assembly plant
- Which factory built the car.
- 12–17Serial number
- The car's production sequence number.
Model year codes (10th character)
The codes repeat every 30 years. For cars and light trucks, a digit in the 7th position means 1980–2009 and a letter means 2010–2039. I, O, Q, U, Z and 0 are never used for the year.
Buying it? Check the title, not just the spec
A decode can't show that a car was written off by an insurer, flooded, rebuilt, re-titled in another state to hide a salvage brand, or had its odometer wound back. Those records sit in NMVTIS, the federal title database. Add Check Any Used Car to Claude, give it the VIN or a photo of it, and ask whether you should buy the car (title history reports are switching on soon; decoding works now).
Questions
- Is this VIN decoder free?
- Yes. Decoding, recalls, owner complaints and crash ratings come from NHTSA, the US government's vehicle safety agency, and cost nothing. There's no sign-in and no limit for normal use (up to 30 VINs an hour from one connection).
- Where do I find the VIN?
- On a plate at the base of the windshield on the driver's side (read it from outside), on a sticker in the driver's door jamb, on the title and registration, on insurance cards, and in most car listings.
- Does a VIN decoder show accidents or a salvage title?
- No. A decode tells you what the car is: its specification, recalls and complaints for the model. Title brands (salvage, rebuilt, flood, junk), insurance total losses, odometer readings and theft records are in NMVTIS, the federal title database, which only approved providers can sell. Check Any Used Car connects Claude to it.
- Can I check recalls by VIN?
- This page lists every NHTSA recall for the car's model year. Whether a recall has been fixed on one particular car is recorded by the manufacturer: enter the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on the manufacturer's site to see open recalls.
- What if it says the VIN fails the check digit?
- At least one character is wrong, most often a misread 8 and B, 5 and S, or 0 and D. VINs never use the letters I, O or Q, so those are read as 1 and 0. Compare the VIN with the plate on the windshield or the door sticker.
- Does it work for cars older than 1981?
- No. The 17-character VIN with a check digit became standard with the 1981 model year; older cars use shorter, manufacturer-specific numbers.
- Does it show who owns the car?
- No. VIN lookups don't include owners' names or addresses, and we don't look them up. Federal law (the Driver's Privacy Protection Act) protects that information.
- Do you keep the VINs I enter?
- No. The VIN is sent to NHTSA to decode and isn't stored. We keep NHTSA's model-year data (recalls, complaints, ratings) for a week so repeat lookups are fast.