A Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) can tell you almost everything you’d want to know about your new car, truck, or SUV, from the specific make and model to the included safety features. Once you learn how to decipher a VIN, you can quickly identify some of the most pertinent information about a vehicle, including where the vehicle was manufactured, most of the time.
A recent scandal surrounding the Lincoln Nautilus has raised new questions about the accuracy of some VINs. The Nautilus is manufactured in China, which means the VIN should start with the letter “L” according to the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) system. This caused suspicion amongst some eagle-eyed drivers, who noticed that some Nautilus models actually bore a VIN starting with the number “5”, which implies it was manufactured in the United States. Upon digging a little deeper, many noticed that the VIN’s 11th character contained the abbreviation “HNG” for Hangzhou, China, but it’s easy to understand why some consumers felt a little misled by the discrepancy.
This isn’t the first scandal to hit the auto industry in recent years, and it isn’t even close to being the most dangerous or underhanded. The Takata airbag recall led to over 100 injuries, 13 deaths, and the recall of 3.6 million vehicles after the company was found to have used defective inflator units in many of its products. The VW emissions scandal was another dark chapter in automotive history, with the German brand installing illegal software to pass emissions tests in violation of the Clean Air Act. While the Lincoln episode seems to be an isolated example of corporate failure, it does provide us with an opportunity to dive into the mysteries of the VIN. Let’s walk through some of the VIN basics, learn why an automaker might seek to obscure a vehicle’s true country of origin, and explore other information that can be gathered from the 17-character code.
Single Numbers Or Letters
If you have any doubts about the importance of a vehicle’s country of manufacture, just take a look at how VINs are coded. Every VIN starts with a three-character code known as a World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) that denotes the country of manufacture and the brand that produced it. The very first character is reserved to describe a vehicle’s origin, giving buyers a quick and easy way to identify the provenance without having to wade through the entire 17-character code. This first character will be either a letter or a number. While it might seem a bit mystifying at first, it’s actually quite easy to decode once you learn some of the basics.
Vehicles manufactured in North America, South America, and Oceania (Australia/New Zealand) begin with a number, while those produced in Europe, Africa, and Asia rely on letter-based codes. If you’re searching for a “made in the USA” ride, you’ll want to keep an eye out for a VIN that starts with the numbers 1, 4, or 5. Cars, trucks, and SUVs crafted in Canada will bear the number 2, while those from Mexico start their VIN with a 3. Other major car-producing nations stick with a single letter at the start of their VIN, with some notable examples including Germany (W), Japan (J), and China (L).
Multiple Numbers or Letters
Of course, sticking to single numbers and letters can be a little difficult in a world with 195 distinct nations. For this reason, many countries employ a two-letter code of a combination of numbers and letters, with many encompassing a short range rather than a two-character code. Take France and the Philippines, for example. A VIN that starts with letters ranging between “VF” and “VR” was produced in Europe, while anything between “PA” and “PE” came from the Pacific island nation. Alphanumeric examples include Croatia (V3-V5) and Argentina (8A-8E).
To make matters even more confusing, some manufacturers opt to use entirely different codes, even when vehicles are produced in the same country. Brazil is one of the worst offenders in this regard, with 9A-9E and 93-99 both showing up in the VIN. If you’re a little overwhelmed, you’re certainly not alone. Luckily, there are plenty of resources that can make this sort of car-based cryptography just a little bit easier. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) offers a handy VIN decoding tool, while EpicVIN provides a convenient chart outlining every country code.
Manufacturer’s Unique VIN
The country of origin is just one part of the equation when it comes to a VIN. The second and third characters can be just as important as they tell you what brand built the vehicle. Every automaker that produces at least 500 units per year is given a unique code designed to help drivers easily identify the manufacturer. Major brands like Ford (F), Honda (H), and GM (G) are given a one-letter code, while newcomers like Tesla (YG) rely on two letters.
While the brand should be pretty obvious based on a quick look at a vehicle’s badging, things aren’t always as simple as they seem. For example, most automakers operate multiple divisions with specific specialities, which can lead to some confusion when trying to interpret a VIN. Ford is a force to be reckoned with in the modern market. Its sheer size and diversity of products mean that the brand has to leverage nearly a dozen different codes to differentiate between divisions.
Let’s say you’re driving America’s most popular vehicle, the Ford F-150. The full-size pickup’s VIN will use “FT” to peg it as a truck, but a Ford car would kick off its own VIN with an “FA”. The letters “FM” indicate a Ford SUV, while “FB” would be one of Ford’s vans, like the E-Series or Transit. The same goes for many other auto brands, with Volkswagen using “VV” for its SUV models and “VW” for cars. Brands also use alphabetic codes to point to vehicle types and country-specific divisions, such as 3VV (a Volkswagen SUV made in Mexico) or 3VW (A VW car made in Mexico). These codes might seem a little cryptic, but once you know the basics, it’s easy to pinpoint exactly where your vehicle was made and who produced it.
Identifying the Assembly Plant
One more piece of the VIN, buried towards the back, can be used to trace a vehicle back to its country of origin. The 11th character in a VIN tells you precisely where a vehicle was manufactured, down to the specific plant. A Ford SUV with an “R” in the 11th slot would suggest that the vehicle was made in the company’s Arlington, Texas facility, while a pickup could either bear an “F” (Flint, Michigan) or a “1” (Wentzville, Missouri).
While some plants tend to produce a certain class of vehicle, like pickup trucks, vans, and cars, others churn out specific models. Honda’s Alliston, Ontario plant, identified by the letter “C,” is responsible for producing the popular Civic, while the East Liberty, Ohio facility (“E”) is responsible for the Civic and the CR-V crossover.
Identifying the factory that produced your vehicle is more than a simple matter of curiosity. Some plants have a solid reputation for crafting consistent vehicles, while others tend to be a little more error-prone. If you’re looking for a reliable vehicle that’ll allow you to enjoy years of worry-free driving, it might be worth thoroughly investigating the VIN to ensure that it comes from a dependable source.
Why Fake the VIN?
Why would an automaker try to mislead buyers about a vehicle’s country of origin? While it’s not a widespread phenomenon, there have been a few incidents like the Lincoln Nautilus that have shed new light on the importance of an accurate VIN. The issue usually comes down to where a vehicle was manufactured versus where it was assembled. While the first digit of the VIN indicates the country where the manufacturer is located, the global nature of the modern auto industry means that the vehicle might have actually been assembled in a country where lower labor costs allow brands to reap a larger profit.
Consumer preferences are a major motivating factor in trying to disguise a vehicle’s country of manufacture. The “Made in America” brand still carries a lot of weight with many consumers due to feelings of nationalism and a desire to support domestic manufacturing. By completing the final assembly in the United States, automakers are able to capitalize on this sense of national pride and gain an edge over competing models that might be manufactured in another country. The global nature of the automotive supply chain can also make it difficult to know where specific components were manufactured. Today’s major brands source their parts from all over the world, meaning that a “Made in America” vehicle might contain very few components produced in the U.S.
In more sinister cases, obscuring a vehicle’s VIN can also allow companies to skirt regulations and loopholes that might otherwise raise the cost of production. Finally, there’s outright fraud. Again, there isn’t a lot of documented evidence of automakers producing vehicles with completely fabricated VINs. However, it’s not unheard of for some unscrupulous dealers or private sellers to provide a falsified VIN in order to downplay a vehicle’s true mileage, repair, or accident history.
The easiest way to gain a little clarity about a vehicle’s true origin can be found in that 11th character of the VIN. While sifting through manufacturer-specific codes can be a hassle, brands are required to tell you the specific plant that produced each model. Of course, this system can be gamed, especially by brands that manufacture many of a vehicle’s parts in another country and then put the whole package together at the U.S. plant.
Understanding the Rest of the VIN
A VIN carries a lot of relevant information aside from a vehicle’s country of origin and manufacturer. The code can also be used to learn about everything from the specific model and engine to the trim and model year. Characters 4 through 8 are the VIN’s Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS), which outlines the body style and engine type as well as the specific model and trim. Character 9 is known as the check digit, and it serves an important role in helping to prevent VIN-related fraud. Brands use an algorithm to assign each individual vehicle a unique number that can be used to verify a vehicle’s authenticity. If you’re browsing the selection at your local auto dealership and want to make sure you’re encountering the genuine article, try punching the number into a VIN checking service. If the VIN check digit doesn’t check out, the VIN is likely fraudulent, and the vehicle should be avoided at all costs.
The 10th character in a VIN outlines the specific model year using either a letter or a number. Vehicles produced since 2010 use a single letter to describe the model year, but the VIN will switch back to a number-based system from 2030 to 2040 once brands have exhausted the alphabetic codes. Historically, this means that a vehicle produced in 2000 would use a “Y” to indicate the model year, while one manufactured in 2001 would be pegged with a “1.” To reduce the confusion that can come with trying to differentiate between “1” and “I,” “0” and “O,” and other similar alphanumeric symbols, the letters I, O, Q, U, and Z are never used in a VIN’s 10th character. The VIN wraps up with a unique serial number between the 12th and 17th characters, which can prove very useful when trying to identify a lost or stolen vehicle.
Fluent in VIN
Learning the intricacies of a VIN allows you to get a comprehensive look at a vehicle’s history and features before you even set eyes on the vehicle. From the country of manufacture to the make and model, specific assembly plant, and more, a VIN can be a seriously helpful code once you know what to look for. The first three characters, also known as the WMI, can give drivers an inside look at a car’s origin, which is an important factor for many buyers. If you have a passion for products made in America, seeing the numbers 1, 4, or 5 at the start of the VIN can be a huge selling point when you go to source your next ride. Again, incidents of manufacturer-level VIN fraud aren’t very common, and there’s no telling if Lincoln’s recent troubles were the result of a simple accident or a larger plan, but it’s always important to make sure you have all your bases covered before making a major investment in a new vehicle.