Enter the 17-character VIN of your Nissan 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 Nissan VIN and the decoder tells you who made the vehicle, the model year and the country where it was built. It reads only the VIN itself, so the result appears straight away, with no registration and no cost. Our Nissan data covers 96 models, from the 100 NX and 240SX to the 350Z, Juke, Kicks and Ariya.
A VIN does not record accidents, mileage, theft or previous owners. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report, which you can look at once you know the basic details are right.
Pick a Nissan model to see how its VIN works.
The first three characters are the WMI, the code for the manufacturer and the region. We map eight WMI codes to Nissan: 1N4, 1N6, 3N1, JN1, JN3, JN6, JN8 and SJN. The first character points to the country, so 1 is the United States, 3 is Mexico, J is Japan and S is the United Kingdom. That is how a Nissan VIN can show four different countries of manufacture. The codes listed are the ones we recognise for the brand, and our list does not claim to be complete.
Characters 4 to 8 describe the vehicle, and character 9 is the check digit. North American VINs must carry a check digit, so it is meaningful on a 1N4 or 3N1 number. Many European VINs fill that position differently. Character 10 gives the model year, and character 11 the plant. Characters 12 to 17 are the serial number. The letters I, O and Q are never used, so they cannot appear anywhere in a genuine VIN.
Take the tenth character as an example. A J there means 2018, and a 5 means 2005. Because the same letters come back after thirty years, a B can mean 1981 or 2011, so look at the rest of the VIN and the car itself. Our version data for Nissan reaches back to 1910, but the 17-character format applies to vehicles 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 on the registration documents and on the vehicle itself, commonly at the base of the windscreen or on the door pillar. Copy all 17 characters exactly, remembering that I, O and Q are never used.
The first three characters are the WMI. We recognise 1N4, 1N6, 3N1, JN1, JN3, JN6, JN8 and SJN for Nissan, which stand for the United States, Mexico, Japan and the United Kingdom as countries of manufacture.
Look at the tenth character. For example, K is 2019 and R is 2024, while digits cover 2001 to 2009. The same letter repeats after thirty years, so B can be 1981 or 2011.
It shows the manufacturer, model year and country of manufacture, nothing more. Accidents, mileage, theft and owners are not stored in the VIN.
Compare the VIN on the car with the one in the registration papers and the advert, then decode it to see whether the model year and country fit the description. Body style is worth a look too, since Nissan models in our data range from coupe, roadster and convertible to wagon, SUV, pickup and van.