Enter the 17-character VIN of your Citroen 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.
Type or paste a 17-character VIN into the Citroen decoder and it tells you who made the car, which model year it belongs to and in which country it was built. It is free and needs no registration. Our data for the brand lists 46 models, from the 2 CV, AMI and Berlingo to the C5 X, DS4 and Jumpy.
The decoder reads only the VIN itself, so it says nothing about accidents, mileage, theft or previous owners. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report.
A VIN has 17 characters and never uses the letters I, O or Q. The first three form the WMI, the manufacturer code. For Citroen we recognise 935, 8BC, FV7, VF7, VFG, VFZ, VR7, VS7 and WF7. Together they cover five countries: Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain and Germany. The list is not complete, so a VIN that starts with something else is not a problem in itself. It only means the code is not one we map to the brand.
Characters 4 to 8 describe the vehicle, and character 9 is a check digit. North America requires it, while many European VINs fill that position in their own way. Character 10 gives the model year, character 11 the assembly plant, and characters 12 to 17 are the serial number.
The model year character is the easiest part to check by hand. A J in position 10 stands for 2018, a K for 2019 and an L for 2020. Our version data for Citroen runs from 1955 to the present, but the 17-character format applies to cars built since 1981, so that is where the decoder is most useful.
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 windscreen on the driver's side, on a sticker in the door pillar, and in the registration papers. If the number on the car and the number in the papers differ, find out why before going further.
The first three characters are the WMI, which identifies the manufacturer and the country of manufacture. For Citroen we recognise 935, 8BC, FV7, VF7, VFG, VFZ, VR7, VS7 and WF7, which belong to Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain and Germany.
Use the 10th character. For example, J means 2018, K means 2019 and L means 2020. Letters I, O, Q, U and Z and the digit 0 are not used for this position.
It cannot show accidents, mileage, theft records or the number of owners, because none of that is stored in the VIN. It also does not tell you the condition of the car.
Make sure the VIN on the car matches the one in the papers and decode it to see that the manufacturer, country and model year fit the advert. Then ask for service records, inspect the car in person and take a test drive.