Enter the 17-character VIN of your Volkswagen 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 the 17-character VIN of a Volkswagen and the decoder reads the manufacturer, the model year and the country of manufacture from it. Our data covers 79 Volkswagen models, from the 181, Beetle and Karmann Ghia to the Golf, Amarok and the ID. range, with model years from 1946 to the present.
The decoder only reads the VIN itself, so it says nothing about accidents, mileage, theft or previous owners. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report, while the decoding on this page stays free and needs no registration.
Pick a Volkswagen model to see how its VIN works.
The first three characters are the WMI, the code for the manufacturer. We map these codes to Volkswagen: 112, 117, 1V1, 1V2, 1VW, 2V4, 2V8, 3VV, 3VW, 8AW, 9BW and AAV. Together they point to production in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Spain, Germany and Russia. The first character of a VIN works as a regional marker, so a VIN that starts with 3 was built in Mexico, one that starts with 9 in Brazil, and one that starts with A in South Africa. Our list of codes is not complete, and a VIN that begins differently is not a sign of a problem.
Characters 4 to 8 describe the vehicle, and character 9 is a check digit. In North America the check digit is required, while many European VINs fill that position in their own way. Letters I, O and Q are never used in a VIN, which avoids confusion with the digits 1 and 0.
Character 10 gives the model year. K means 2019, L means 2020, M means 2021 and N means 2022, and the same letters repeat in a 30-year cycle. Character 11 is the assembly plant, and characters 12 to 17 are the serial number. This 17-character system applies to cars built since 1981, so earlier Volkswagen models from our 1946 start do not carry a VIN in this 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.
Look at the base of the windscreen on the driver's side and on the door pillar. It is also printed in the registration documents. Compare these places, because the number should be the same everywhere.
The first three characters are the WMI, the manufacturer code. We recognise 112, 117, 1V1, 1V2, 1VW, 2V4, 2V8, 3VV, 3VW, 8AW, 9BW and AAV for Volkswagen. The list is not complete, so a VIN with a different start can still be genuine.
Check the 10th character. For example, a K stands for 2019 and a P stands for 2023. This applies to VINs of vehicles built since 1981.
It reads only the VIN, so you get the manufacturer, model year and country of manufacture. Accidents, mileage, theft and owners are not stored in the VIN, and the decoder cannot show them.
Make sure the VIN on the car matches the one in the documents, and that the decoded model year and country fit what the seller tells you. Then look at the service records, inspect the body and test drive the car.