ASSEMBLING RECORD
Pulling evidence, grading it, and showing its work.
ASSEMBLING RECORD
Pulling evidence, grading it, and showing its work.
VIN decoder
A VIN is a structured identifier, not a serial number. The first three characters name the manufacturer, the next five describe the vehicle, the ninth proves the other sixteen were copied correctly, and the tenth encodes the model year. Type one in and watch it come apart.
Structure and North American check digit are valid.
This structural decode is a convenience. Make, model, trim, engine and plant come from the authoritative decode when a passport is generated — and every field on the passport says which.
Open the passport for 4T1G11AK4MU123456| Position | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Region | Where the vehicle was built. 1–5 North America, J–R Asia, S–Z Europe, 6–7 Oceania, 8–9 South America, A–H Africa. |
| 2 | Manufacturer | Together with position 1 and 3 this forms the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI). |
| 3 | Division / type | Vehicle type or manufacturing division within the WMI. |
| 4–8 | Vehicle descriptor | Model, body style, restraint system, engine and transmission — manufacturer-specific encoding. |
| 9 | Check digit | A modulo-11 checksum over the other 16 characters. A wrong digit is the fastest way to catch a mistyped or forged VIN. |
| 10 | Model year | A letter or digit that repeats every 30 years (A = 1980 or 2010). I, O, Q, U, Z and 0 are never used. |
| 11 | Assembly plant | Manufacturer-assigned plant code. |
| 12–17 | Serial | The production sequence number — the last six characters uniquely identify the unit. |
A convenience table for lookup UX. The authoritative decode on every passport comes from the live rung and says so.