Enter the 17-character VIN of your Subaru 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 Subaru VIN and the decoder shows the manufacturer, the model year and the country where the car was made. It is free and needs no registration. Our Subaru data covers 28 models, among them the Ascent, Baja, BRZ, Forester, Impreza, Legacy, Outback and WRX, with model years from 1979 to the present.
The decoder reads only the VIN, so it cannot tell you about accidents, mileage, theft or previous owners. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report.
Every VIN has 17 characters, and the letters I, O and Q are never used. The first three characters are the WMI, which identifies the manufacturer. For Subaru we recognise 1F2, 4S3, 4S4, JF2 and JFS. A first character of 1 or 4 stands for the United States and a J stands for Japan, so a VIN starting with JF2 or JFS points to Japan, while 1F2, 4S3 and 4S4 point to the United States. These are the codes we recognise for the brand, and the list is not meant to be complete.
Characters 4 to 8 describe the vehicle, and character 9 is a check digit. The check digit is required in North America, while many European VINs fill that position differently. Character 10 is the model year, character 11 is the plant, and characters 12 to 17 are the serial number.
As an example, a Subaru VIN with R in position 10 is a 2024 model year, L means 2020 and 8 means 2008. The letters repeat every 30 years, so B can mean 1981 or 2011. Our data starts at 1979, but the 17-character VIN is used for cars built since 1981, so the earliest cars may carry a number in a different format.
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.
The VIN is usually printed on a plate at the base of the windscreen on the driver side and on a label in the door frame. It is also written in the registration papers. Compare these places, because they should all show the same 17 characters.
The first three characters are the WMI, the manufacturer code. We recognise 1F2, 4S3, 4S4, JF2 and JFS for Subaru, which belong to the United States and Japan.
Look at the 10th character. For example, J means 2018, P means 2023 and 5 means 2005. The same letter returns after 30 years, so use it together with what you know about the car.
It shows the manufacturer, the model year and the country of manufacture, nothing more. Accidents, mileage, theft and owners are not stored in the VIN itself.
Make sure the VIN on the car matches the one in the registration documents and that the characters are not damaged or altered. Then compare the model year from the 10th character with the year the seller gives. Ask for service records and have the car inspected in person.