Enter the 17-character VIN of your Mazda 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 in a 17-character Mazda VIN and the decoder reads the manufacturer, the model year and the country of manufacture straight from the characters. It is free and needs no registration. Our Mazda data covers 73 models, from the 1000, 121 and 323 to the CX-60, CX-80 and CX-90, with model years running from 1945 to the present.
The decoder does not show accidents, mileage, theft records or previous owners, because a VIN does not contain them. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report.
Pick a Mazda model to see how its VIN works.
The first three characters are the WMI, the world manufacturer identifier. For Mazda we recognise 1YV, 3MD, 3MY, 3MZ, JM1, JMZ, MM0, MM8, PE3 and YCM. Together they point to five countries: United States, Mexico, Japan, Thailand and Belgium. The very first character gives the region in general, so a 1 stands for the United States, a 3 for Mexico and a J for Japan, which is why JM1 and JMZ read as Japanese codes. The list is the set of codes we recognise for the brand, and a VIN that starts with other characters is not a reason for concern.
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 do not read anything into it on its own. The letters I, O and Q are never used in a VIN, which helps when you are unsure whether a character is a letter or a number.
Character 10 is the model year. A J means 2018, an L means 2020, an N means 2022 and a P means 2023, while the years 2001 to 2009 use the digits 1 to 9. The letters repeat after 30 years, so B can mean 1981 or 2011. Character 11 marks the plant and characters 12 to 17 are the serial number. This 17-character system applies to cars built since 1981.
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 printed in the vehicle registration document and on the car itself, often visible at the base of the windscreen or on a plate in the door frame. Copy all 17 characters exactly, remembering that I, O and Q never appear.
The first three characters are the WMI, which identifies the manufacturer and the country. We recognise 1YV, 3MD, 3MY, 3MZ, JM1, JMZ, MM0, MM8, PE3 and YCM for Mazda, covering the United States, Mexico, Japan, Thailand and Belgium.
Look at the 10th character. For example, P means 2023 and R means 2024, and the digits 1 to 9 stand for 2001 to 2009. The same letter returns after 30 years, so check it against what you know about the car.
It shows only the manufacturer, the model year and the country of manufacture. Accidents, mileage, theft and previous owners are not stored in the VIN, so the decoder cannot tell you about them.
Compare the VIN on the car with the one in the registration papers and the advert, and make sure the decoded year and country fit the description. Then ask for service records and have the car inspected, since the VIN alone says nothing about its past.