Enter the 17-character VIN of your Wartburg 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 VIN and the decoder reads what is built into it: the manufacturer, the model year and the country of manufacture. Our Wartburg data covers two models, the 311 and the 353, with model years from 1962 to 1991 and body styles listed as Sedan, Coupe and Wagon. The highest power figure in our data is 58 hp. The decoder is free and needs no registration.
A VIN does not record accidents, mileage, theft or previous owners. That information comes from a paid vehicle history report.
A 17-character VIN splits into fixed parts. Characters 1 to 3 are the WMI, which identifies the manufacturer. Characters 4 to 8 describe the vehicle, character 9 is a check digit, character 10 is the model year, character 11 the plant, and characters 12 to 17 the serial number. The letters I, O and Q are never used.
We do not currently have any WMI codes mapped to Wartburg, so there is no list of codes to show here and no country to name. The decoder still reads whatever VIN you enter. Our list is not complete, and the absence of a code here says nothing about your car.
The 17-character format applies to cars built since 1981, while our Wartburg data starts in 1962. A car from the earlier part of that range may therefore not carry a VIN the decoder can read. On a 17-character VIN, the tenth character gives the model year: L means 1990 and M means 1991, the last year in our data. Character 9 is a required check digit in North America, but many European VINs fill it differently, so do not treat an odd-looking ninth character as a problem.
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 vehicle registration document and on the car itself, where it is usually shown on a plate or stamped into the body. Compare the two and copy all 17 characters exactly, if the car has a VIN of that length.
The first three characters are the WMI, which identifies the manufacturer. We have no WMI codes mapped to Wartburg at the moment, so we cannot list any here.
On a 17-character VIN, look at the tenth character. For example, L stands for 1990 and M for 1991. Our Wartburg data runs from 1962 to 1991, but the letter system only applies to cars built since 1981.
It cannot show accidents, mileage, theft or earlier owners, because none of that is stored in the VIN. It only reads the manufacturer, model year and country of manufacture from the number.
Make sure the VIN on the papers matches the one on the car, and that the body style, Sedan, Coupe or Wagon, fits the documents. Then inspect the car in person and ask the seller for service records.