Enter the 17-character VIN of your Cadillac 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 the 17-character VIN of a Cadillac and the decoder tells you who manufactured it, which model year it belongs to and in which country it was built. It is free and needs no registration. Our Cadillac data covers 30 models, from the Allante and Eldorado to the Escalade, CT5, LYRIQ and VISTIQ, with model years from 1950 to the present.
The VIN itself holds no accident record, mileage, theft status or list of previous owners. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report, which is a separate step from the decoder.
The first three characters are the World Manufacturer Identifier, or WMI. For Cadillac we recognise nine of them: 1G6, 1GE, 1GY, 2G6, 2GE, 3GY, B01, G61 and W06. Together they point to four countries of manufacture: the United States, Canada, Mexico and Germany. The list is the set of codes we map to the brand, not a complete register, so a Cadillac VIN that starts differently is not a reason for concern.
Characters 4 to 8 form the descriptor section, which the manufacturer uses to describe the vehicle. Character 9 is the check digit. It is required in North America, while many European VINs fill that position differently. Letters I, O and Q are never used in a VIN, which helps when you are copying one from a worn plate or a document.
Character 10 is the model year. An M means 2021, an N means 2022, a P means 2023 and an R means 2024. The same letters come back after 30 years, so a B can mean 1981 or 2011, and the rest of the car has to tell you which. Character 11 is the assembly plant and characters 12 to 17 are the serial number. The 17-character format applies to cars built since 1981, so older Cadillacs from our 1950 onward range will not fit the decoder.
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.
It is usually visible at the base of the windshield on the driver's side and on a sticker in the driver's door frame. It is also printed on the registration documents. Compare the places, because they should all show the same 17 characters.
The first three characters are the WMI, which identifies the manufacturer and the country of manufacture. We recognise 1G6, 1GE, 1GY, 2G6, 2GE, 3GY, B01, G61 and W06 for Cadillac, covering the United States, Canada, Mexico and Germany.
Look at the 10th character. For example, L stands for 2020, M for 2021 and N for 2022. Because letters repeat every 30 years, check the result against the car itself and its papers.
It reads only the VIN, so it gives the manufacturer, model year and country of manufacture. Accidents, mileage, theft and previous owners are not stored in the VIN. It also cannot tell you the condition of the car.
Make sure the VIN on the car, in the windshield and door frame, matches the registration papers character by character. Then decode it and see whether the model year and country fit what the seller tells you. Whether the car is a Sedan, Coupe, Convertible, Wagon or SUV, the same check applies.