Enter the 17-character VIN of your Ariel to see the factory basics. Free, with no registration.
Look on the dashboard, the driver's door frame or in the registration document.
Type all 17 characters. The letters I, O and Q are never used in a VIN.
See the factory basics for free, and order a full report for the history behind the VIN.
Enter a 17-character VIN and the Ariel decoder reads what is written into it: the manufacturer, the model year and the country of manufacture. Our data for the brand covers two models, Atom and Nomad, with version data for model years 2015 to 2018, and the body style on record is Roadster.
A VIN does not contain a car's past, so accidents, mileage, theft records and previous owners will not appear here. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report, while the decoder itself stays free and needs no registration.
Every VIN has 17 characters, and the letters I, O and Q are never used. The first three characters are the WMI, which names the manufacturer and the country. We have no WMI code on record for Ariel yet, so we cannot list one here. Our list is not complete, and a VIN that starts with other characters is not a reason for doubt.
Characters 4 to 8 describe the vehicle, and character 9 is a check digit. North American VINs must use it as a check digit, while many European VINs fill that position differently. Character 10 gives the model year. For the years in our Ariel data the letters are F for 2015, G for 2016, H for 2017 and J for 2018.
Character 11 marks the plant, and characters 12 to 17 are the serial number of the individual car. Two Ariel roadsters from the same year will share the year letter but differ in the serial part.
Every VIN has six parts. This is what each of them means.
| Part | Characters | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| WMI | 1 to 3 | World manufacturer identifier: who built the vehicle and where |
| VDS | 4 to 8 | Vehicle descriptor: model, body type and engine, as set by the manufacturer |
| Check digit | 9 | Control value that helps confirm the VIN is valid |
| Model year | 10 | Code for the model year |
| Plant | 11 | Code for the assembly plant |
| Serial | 12 to 17 | Production sequence number of this vehicle |
On the driver's side, visible through the windshield.
On a sticker on the door frame or the edge of the door.
Printed in the vehicle registration or title.
Stamped on the firewall or the frame on many models.
A VIN is built from six parts, and each one says something about the vehicle. Our guides explain how to read it and what it can and cannot tell you.
Enter the 17-character VIN and see the factory basics in seconds.
Start with the registration papers, where the VIN is printed in full. The number is also fixed to the vehicle itself, and it is worth comparing the two character by character.
The first three characters are the WMI, which identifies the manufacturer and the country where it was built. We do not have a WMI code mapped to Ariel at the moment, so we do not name one.
Look at the 10th character. For the years in our data, F means 2015, G means 2016, H means 2017 and J means 2018.
It cannot show accidents, mileage, theft or previous owners, because none of that is stored in the VIN. It reads only the 17 characters.
Make sure the VIN on the car matches the one in the papers and that it contains no I, O or Q. Then decode it and see whether the model year fits what the seller tells you. Ask to see the service records and inspect the car in person.