Enter the 17-character VIN of your De Lorean 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 De Lorean and the decoder reads the manufacturer, the model year and the country of manufacture straight from the code. Our data for the brand has one model, the Dmc-12, with version data covering model years 1981 to 1983. The highest power figure in that data is 145 hp.
The decoder works only from the VIN itself, so it says nothing about accidents, mileage, theft or previous owners. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report, which you can order separately if you need it. The decoder stays free and needs no registration.
Pick a De Lorean model to see how its VIN works.
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 World Manufacturer Identifier, or WMI. The WMI code we map to De Lorean is SCE, and it belongs to the United Kingdom. A VIN that begins with SCE therefore decodes to De Lorean as manufacturer and the United Kingdom as country of manufacture. The list of codes is the one we recognise for the brand, and it is not a complete register.
Characters 4 to 8 describe the vehicle, and character 9 is the check digit. North American VINs must use it as a check digit, while many European VINs fill that position differently, so a different value there tells you little by itself. Character 11 identifies the plant, and characters 12 to 17 are the serial number.
The model year sits at character 10. For a Dmc-12 in the range of our version data, the letter will be B for 1981, C for 1982 or D for 1983. So a VIN that starts with SCE and has a C in the tenth position decodes to model year 1982. Because VINs in this format cover cars built since 1981, the range lines up with the first years of the standard.
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 first at the registration or title documents, where the 17 characters are printed. The VIN is also marked on the car itself, and it is worth comparing the two character by character.
SCE is the WMI code we map to De Lorean, and it belongs to the United Kingdom. It tells you the manufacturer and the country of manufacture. Our list of codes is not complete, so it covers only the ones we recognise.
Read the tenth character. Within our version data it is B for 1981, C for 1982 or D for 1983. The decoder shows this year for you after you enter the VIN.
It cannot show accidents, mileage, theft records or the number of owners, because none of that is stored in the VIN. It also cannot tell you the condition of a particular car.
Make sure the VIN on the car matches the one on the documents, and decode it to see that manufacturer, country and model year fit what the seller tells you. Then ask for service records and have the car inspected in person.