Decode Your VIN & Unlock a Car's History with ABCVIN
Want to unlock the secrets of your vehicle? ABCVIN.com can help you decode the VIN and reveal your car's hidden history.
Where is my VIN number?
Every vehicle has a unique Vehicle Identification Number, often called a VIN. According to manufacturer's rights, the VIN number can be applied to different parts of the body:
- under the windshield;
- under the hood;
- under the upholstery next to the driver's seat;
- on the door sills.
The VIN code is an individual vehicle cipher consisting of seventeen characters (numbers and letters). The VIN is unique – it never repeats and is similar to human fingerprints.
How to use the VIN code when buying a car?
Before buying a car, using the VIN code is necessary because you can learn the entire history of the vehicle from the moment it was manufactured to the time when the owner or intermediary puts the car up for sale.
- Information about the number of buy-sell transactions and related data, how many owners the car had and how often they changed;
- Information about the technical characteristics of the car, information about owners, etc.;
- Photos of the car in auction databases, it may have been damaged more significantly than the current owner suggests;
- Data on accidents involving the vehicle of interest, including the type of damage, date of the incident, and mileage at the time of the incident;
- Basic information about the vehicle, including year of manufacture, country, make, model, fuel type, drive, engine, auction history, and ownership history.
The ABCVIN databases contain cars from popular US auctions – Copart and IAAI.
Decoding the VIN number
The first digit or letter of the VIN is the geographical area where the car was produced.
What the first VIN symbol means:
- A–H: Africa
- J–R: Asia
- S–Z: Europe
- 1–6: North America
- 6–7: Oceania
- 8–9: South America
The second symbol is the country. Some countries correspond to a range of letters or numbers. For example, after the first digit, it will always represent the USA if it begins with a number 1.
Symbols four through nine are determined by the manufacturer themselves. These may contain information about the model, engine type, body, and transmission.
The ninth position is typically a check digit, calculated by a special algorithm at the factory. If any symbol in the VIN is "overwritten", the check digit will also change.
Symbols ten through seventeen are the identification of a specific car. The tenth symbol usually represents the model year of the car. One manufacturer can have many factories worldwide, so the eleventh digit indicates the specific manufacturing plant.
Model year of the car by the tenth VIN symbol
- 1: 2001
- 2: 2002
- A: 2010
- B: 2011
- C: 2012
What else can the VIN code be used for?
Selecting auto parts. Parts sellers often recommend specifying the VIN when ordering to minimize errors in selecting parts. The VIN will help determine the exact car model and configuration for precise part selection.
What won't a search by license plate and VIN code show?
A search by license plate and VIN code will not show:
- A safety recall that has already been addressed.
- Some recently announced safety recalls for which not all VIN codes have been identified.
- A safety recall that occurred more than 15 years ago.
- Safety recalls conducted by small vehicle manufacturers.
- Manufacturer customer service or non-safety related recall campaigns.
- Recalls concerning international vehicles.