Camaro Coupe

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
Coupe

What is a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)?

Simply put, a VIN is your vehicle's ID number, which can be used to run a VIN lookup on the specific unit. As with most identification numbers issued to people around the world, these are unique to each unit produced and display vital information about the vehicle, including country of origin, year of production, and individual serial number. In most cases, a total of 17 characters, combining both numerals and letters, comprise the VIN. However, the letters Q, I, and O are never included, since they are too easily confused with the numerals 0 and 1.

Your Car ID: Why is the VIN Important?

A car VIN or ID number serves a very specific purpose. If you run a VIN number check, you can find all sorts of information about that unique model. Looking up the car history by VIN will highlight records of previous owners (if any), as well as any serious accidents it may have been involved in, and relevant repairs undertaken on it. Beyond this, the VIN report includes any recalls issued for the make and model, and if the problems were ever corrected (we elaborate on car recalls here). Lastly, it is possible for law enforcement to perform a VIN number search to identify stolen vehicles.

Where Can I Check for the VIN Number?

The location of the VIN varies between classifications, but some of the more common placements include:

  • Drive-side dashboard visible through the window
  • Driver-side door pillar
  • Other key components, such as the transmission
  • On the steering neck of motorcycles.
  • Near the connector on semi-trailers

You may need to look around a little to find it, but if, for some reason, you cannot locate the VIN, it should be present on the vehicle deed or any insurance documents related to it.

What Do the Numbers and Letters in a VIN Mean?

Much like the numbers on the side of your car's tires have meaning, so too does each character in the VIN. By using a VIN number decoder, you can figure out exactly what the VIN number on your car means. The vehicle VIN number, or vehicle identification number, is broken down into 17 characters:

  • First three characters: These account for the WMI, or world manufacturer identifier, which includes the country of origin, vehicle manufacturer, and division.
  • The following five digits/letters: These classify the automobile by brand, body type, engine size, model and series. This means that if you know how to read a VIN number, you can easily identify car specs by VIN.
  • The ninth character: This is simply a security code
  • Position ten: This lets you know the model year of production.
  • The eleventh character: This is a final broad-spectrum identifier, confirming the assembly plant.
  • The remaining six characters: The actual, unique serial number of the specific unit.

What if the VIN is not 17 Characters Long?

Despite the normalization of the 17-character format, there are still a few vehicles on the road that may have fewer digits. These are generally cars that were produced before 1981. Unfortunately, since the VIN number lookup system is built around the new format, it is nearly impossible to find vehicle specs by VIN for these older models. Similarly, other info is just as limited.

World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) Codes

The first three characters of a VIN serve as the WMI code, which gives the most accurate information on exactly where the specific vehicle was produced. Any number of units can share these three characters, but when read in conjunction with the remaining 14 characters, the VIN verification is entirely unique, at least for a period of 30 years. Here is a tabulation of how the first letters and numbers should be read to determine where a vehicle originated.

WMIRegionExamples
A - HAfricaAA - AH : South Africa
J - RAsiaA - J : Japan KL - KR : South Korea L: China MA - ME : India MF - MK : Indonesia ML - MR : Thailand MS : Myanmar PA - PE : Philippines PL - PR : Malaysia RF - RG : Taiwan
S - ZEuropeSA - SM : United Kingdom SN - ST, W : Germany SU - SZ : Poland TA - TH : Switzerland TJ - TP : Czech Republic TR - TV : Hungary TW : Portugal VA - VE : Austria VF - VR : France VS - VW : Spain VX - V2 : Yugoslavia XL - XM : The Netherlands XS - XW : USSR X0 - X3 : Russia YA - YE : Belgium YF - YK : Finland YS - YW : Sweden ZA - ZR : Italy
1 - 5North America1, 4, 5 : United States 2 : Canada 3 : Mexico
6 - 7Oceania6A - 6W : Australia 7A - 7E : New Zealand
8 - 0South America8A - 8E : Argentina 8F - 8J : Chile 8X - 82 : Venezuela 9A - 9E, 93 - 99 : Brazil 9F - 9J : Colombia