What's a VIN Check

A VIN check can give you valuable information about a used car. It tells you about the car’s history and previous owners. It’s the same number you provide when getting an auto insurance. We all knowthat a car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) is a unique code assigned to a car which can be used to scan public records as well as records that can be accessed by vehicle history service providers. Usually, it is found on the dashboard on the driver's side, on the inside of the driver's side door, on the frame sill where the door closes, or inside the glove compartment. The same combination is also on the car’s title as well as insurance documents.

Does the actual series of letters and number mean anything other than a random stuff given to a car? The US Department of Transportation set up a unified VIN system in 1981 for a good reason. Every item in the sequence found in the VIN tells something about the vehicle.

World Manufacturer's Identification or WMI

These are the first three digits of the VIN which indicate the country in which the vehicle was built, the manufacturer or make, and the vehicle type or the manufacturing division.

Vehicle Description

The next five digits on the VIN provide more information about the vehicle such as the vehicle's weight, horsepower or both, the platform of the vehicle, the manufacturer or model, body type, and the engine type. A free VIN check offers more details on the information you get out of these digits.

VIN Accuracy Check Digit

The Department of Transportation uses a mathematical system to calculate the VIN Accuracy Check Digit, the ninth in the series, based on the previous eight digits of the VIN.

Vehicle Identification Section

The last section of the VIN, consisting of eight digits, gets into more unique details about the vehicle. The tenth and eleventh digits identify the year the car was built and the assembly plant from which the car came. The VIN ends with the six digit number that can be considered the serial number because it distinguishes the vehicle from others from the same manufacturer and plant and with the same model.

Why You Need a Free VIN Check

You don’t actually need to pull your hair out decoding a used car’s VIN to name the country, vehicle type, model, series, engine type, VIN accuracy, manufacturing date and assembly plant of a used car you want to buy. A free VIN check figures these out for you and so much more.