Since 1981 every road vehicle carries a 17-character VIN split into three blocks: the WMI (positions 1–3), the VDS (4–8), and the VIS (9–17). No VIN ever contains the letters I, O or Q — they are dropped to avoid confusion with 1 and 0. Here is a real generated VIN, position by position.
5YFBURHE5EP324253This VIN decodes to a 2014 Toyota Corolla.
| Position | Section | Value | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | WMI | 5YF | World Manufacturer Identifier — the make and country of origin |
| 4–8 | VDS | BURHE | Vehicle Descriptor — model, body style, engine and restraint system |
| 9 | Check digit | 5 | A mod-11 checksum over the other 16 characters; catches typos |
| 10 | Model year | E | The model-year code (here E = 2014) |
| 11 | Plant | P | The assembly plant that built the vehicle |
| 12–17 | Serial | 324253 | The unique sequential production number |
WMI (1–3) identifies the manufacturer and country — see what 5YF means. VDS (4–8) describes the vehicle; position 9 is the check digit. VIS (10–17) starts with the model-year code (position 10), then the plant (11) and the serial number (12–17).
Decode a VIN → · Generate a test VIN →
Positions 1–3 are the WMI (manufacturer + country), 4–8 are the VDS (model, body, engine), 9 is the check digit, 10 is the model year, 11 is the plant, and 12–17 are the serial number.
The 1981 ISO/US standard fixed the length at 17 so that the WMI, descriptor, check digit, year, plant and serial each get a defined slot and VINs can be compared and validated reliably.
I, O and Q are never used — they look too much like 1, 0 and 0. The legal VIN alphabet is A–H, J–N, P, R–Z and 0–9.