Enter the 17-character VIN of your Buick 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 HistoVIN decoder tells you the manufacturer, the model year and the country of manufacture for a Buick. Our data covers 30 Buick models, from Cascada, Century and Electra to Enclave, Encore GX, LaCrosse, Regal and Velite 7. The body styles in it are convertible, sedan, wagon, coupe, SUV and hatchback, and the highest power figure we hold is 310 hp.
The decoder reads only the VIN itself. It does not know about accidents, mileage, theft or previous owners, because none of that is stored in the number. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report, while the decoding on this page is free and needs no registration.
Every VIN has 17 characters, and the letters I, O and Q are never used, so they cannot be mistaken for 1 and 0. The first three characters are the WMI, which names the manufacturer and where it is based. For Buick we recognise these WMI codes: 04W, 1G4, 2G4, 3G5, 5GA, G4G, KL4, L4C, LRB and W04. They belong to the United States, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, China and Germany. The first character of a VIN points to a region, so 1 stands for the United States, 2 for Canada, 3 for Mexico, K for South Korea, L for China and W for Germany. The list is the set of codes we know, not every code that could exist, so a VIN starting differently is not a reason for concern.
Characters 4 to 8 describe the vehicle, and character 9 is a check digit. In North America the check digit is required and follows a fixed calculation, while many European VINs fill that position differently. Position 10 gives the model year and position 11 the assembly plant. The last six characters, 12 to 17, are the serial number of the individual car.
The model year letter is the part most people want. A VIN with L in position 10 is a 2020 model year, P means 2023 and R means 2024. Digits are used for 2001 to 2009, so a 7 means 2007. The letters repeat every 30 years, so B can mean 1981 or 2011, and you need to know roughly what kind of car you are looking at. The 17-character format applies to cars built since 1981, and that is the range the decoder works with, even though our version data for Buick reaches back to 1945.
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.
Look at the base of the windshield on the driver side, where the number can be read from outside, and on the sticker in the driver door frame. It is also printed on the registration papers and usually on the insurance documents.
The first three characters are the WMI, the manufacturer code. We map 04W, 1G4, 2G4, 3G5, 5GA, G4G, KL4, L4C, LRB and W04 to Buick, and the first character shows the region, for example 1 for the United States or K for South Korea.
Read the 10th character. For example, J is 2018, L is 2020 and R is 2024, and the digits 1 to 9 cover 2001 to 2009. Because the letters repeat after 30 years, check the result against the car's look and documents.
It cannot show accidents, mileage, theft records or the number of owners. A VIN carries none of that, it only identifies the manufacturer, model year, plant and serial number.
Compare the VIN on the windshield and door frame with the one in the papers, and make sure all 17 characters match. Then decode it here and see whether the model year and country fit what the seller tells you. Ask for service records and look at the car in person.