Enter the 17-character VIN of your Lincoln 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 Lincoln decoder reads the manufacturer, the model year and the country of manufacture straight from the code. Our data covers 16 Lincoln models, from Aviator, Continental and Continental Mark to MKZ, Nautilus, Navigator, Town Car and Zephyr. Model years run from 1972 to the present, and the decoder is free with no registration.
A VIN holds no accident entries, mileage readings, theft records or owner changes, so the decoder cannot show them. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report.
The first three characters are the World Manufacturer Identifier, or WMI. For Lincoln we recognise nine of them: 1CN, 1L1, 1LN, 2L1, 2LM, 2LN, 3LN, 5LM and KLM. Together they point to four countries of manufacture: the United States, Canada, Mexico and South Korea. The list is the set of codes we map to the brand, and it is not necessarily complete.
Characters 4 to 8 describe the vehicle, and character 9 is a check digit. North American VINs must carry a calculated check digit there, while many European VINs fill that position differently. The tenth character gives the model year. An R in that position means 2024, an L means 2020, and a J means 2018. Letters I, O and Q are never used in a VIN, so they cannot appear in any position.
Character 11 marks the assembly plant, and characters 12 to 17 are the serial number of the individual car. The 17-character format applies to cars built since 1981. Our version data reaches back to 1972, so for the oldest cars the number on the vehicle may not follow this layout.
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 side and on a label at the driver door pillar. It is also printed in the registration papers. Check that the number is identical in every place.
The first three characters are the WMI, which identifies the manufacturer and the country of manufacture. We recognise 1CN, 1L1, 1LN, 2L1, 2LM, 2LN, 3LN, 5LM and KLM for Lincoln. A VIN that starts differently is not necessarily a problem, because our list does not cover every code.
Look at the tenth character. A letter or digit there stands for a year, for example P for 2023 or N for 2022, and digits from 1 to 9 cover 2001 to 2009. The decoder reads this for you and shows the year.
It does not show accidents, mileage, theft or the number of previous owners, because none of that is stored in the VIN. It also cannot tell you the condition of a particular car.
Compare the VIN on the car with the one in the documents and make sure they match exactly. Decode it to confirm that the model year and country of manufacture fit the listing, then inspect the car in person and ask for service records. Models such as the Navigator or Nautilus are sold as SUVs and the Continental or Town Car as sedans, so the body style should fit the model named in the advert.