What is a VIN


Model Year Character Codes

As shown above, the 10th character of the VIN indicates its model year.

  • A: 1980 or 2010
  • B: 1981 or 2011
  • C: 1982 or 2012
  • D: 1983 or 2013
  • E: 1984 or 2014
  • F: 1985 or 2015
  • G: 1986 or 2016
  • H: 1987 or 2017
  • J: 1988 or 2018
  • K: 1989 or 2019
  • L: 1990 or 2020
  • M: 1991 or 2021
  • N: 1992 or 2022
  • P: 1993 or 2023
  • R: 1994 or 2024
  • S: 1995 or 2025
  • T: 1996 or 2026
  • V: 1997 or 2027
  • W: 1998 or 2028
  • X: 1999 or 2029
  • Y: 2000 or 2030
  • 1: 2001 or 2031
  • 2: 2002 or 2032
  • 3: 2003 or 2033
  • 4: 2004 or 2034
  • 5: 2005 or 2035
  • 6: 2006 or 2036
  • 7: 2007 or 2037
  • 8: 2008 or 2038
  • 9: 2009 or 2039

Country of Origin Character Codes

The 1st character in a car’s vehicle identification number indicates the country in which it was manufactured.

Some of the country codes include:

  • 1, 4, 5: United States
  • 2: Canada
  • 3A-37: Mexico
  • J: Japan
  • VF-VR: France
  • 9: Brazil
  • WA-W0: West Germany
  • S: Great Britian