Enter the 17-character VIN of your Seat 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 Seat VIN and the decoder reads the manufacturer, the model year and the country of manufacture straight from the code. Our Seat data covers 20 models, from the 133 and the 1500 to the Tarraco and the Toledo, with version data for model years from 1963 to the present, since some models are still built.
A VIN does not contain accidents, mileage, theft records or previous owners, so the decoder cannot show them. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report. The decoder itself is free and needs no registration.
The first three characters are the World Manufacturer Identifier, or WMI. For Seat we recognise VSS, VSZ and WSS, and between them these codes belong to Spain and Germany. The list is not exhaustive, so a Seat VIN that starts with other characters is not a reason for concern. These are simply the codes we map to the brand.
Characters 4 to 8 form the descriptor section, which the maker uses to describe the vehicle. Character 9 is a check digit. It is required in North America, while many European VINs fill that position differently, so do not expect it to behave the same way on every Seat. The letters I, O and Q are never used in a VIN, which helps avoid confusion with 1 and 0.
Position 10 gives the model year. An L there means 2020, an M means 2021, and a 9 means 2009. Position 11 marks the assembly plant, and positions 12 to 17 are the serial number. The 17-character format applies to cars built since 1981, so for older Seat models from the 1960s and 1970s the code may look quite different.
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 papers and is also marked on the car itself, often visible at the base of the windscreen. Compare both, as the characters should be identical.
They are WMI codes, the first three characters of the VIN, which identify the manufacturer. We map VSS, VSZ and WSS to Seat, with Spain and Germany as the countries behind them.
Look at the 10th character. A letter or digit stands for a year, for example L for 2020 or M for 2021. This system applies to cars built since 1981.
It cannot show accidents, mileage, theft or previous owners, because none of this is stored in the VIN. It reads only the 17 characters and tells you the manufacturer, model year and country of manufacture.
Make sure the VIN on the car matches the one in the registration papers, and that the decoded model year and country fit the description in the advert. Any mismatch is worth asking the seller about before you go further.