Every Kia Soul (2020–2024) carries a 17-character VIN that begins with the KND WMI. The Soul is a gas hatch; this page shows what each character of a Kia Soul VIN means and gives 4 checksum-valid sample VINs you can drop straight into test fixtures. Synthetic — not real: no scraping, no real-owner data. The generator below is pre-filtered to the Soul.
Each sample below is built from the real KND WMI and the Soul's descriptor, so it decodes to a Kia Soul of the right model year:
Have a real Kia Soul VIN? Decode it →
Worked on the sample KNDJ23AU8L7158924 — a 2020 Kia Soul:
| Position | Section | Value | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | WMI | KND | Marks the VIN as Kia, built in South Korea |
| 4–8 | VDS | J23AU | Descriptor for the Soul — hatch body, gas powertrain |
| 9 | Check digit | 8 | Mod-11 checksum over the other 16 characters |
| 10 | Model year | L | Code L = 2020 |
| 11 | Plant | 7 | Assembly-plant code |
| 12–17 | Serial | 158924 | Sequential production number |
Positions 1–3 of every Kia Soul VIN read KND — the World Manufacturer Identifier that marks the vehicle as Kia, assembled in South Korea (Asia). After the WMI, positions 4–8 (J23AU in our seed) describe the Soul itself; see the full 17-digit format.
Position 10 encodes the model year. For the Soul, 2020 is code L and 2024 is code R. See the 2024 year code or the check-digit math.
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A Kia Soul VIN is 17 characters starting with the KND WMI, for example KNDJ23AU8L7158924. Positions 4–8 describe the Soul, position 9 is the check digit, position 10 is the model year, and 12–17 are the serial number.
Read it left to right: KND is the Kia WMI, positions 4–8 are the Soul descriptor, position 9 verifies the VIN via a mod-11 checksum, position 10 gives the year, position 11 the plant, and 12–17 the serial. Paste any VIN into the decoder to do it automatically.
The Soul in our seed uses the KND WMI (South Korea). Any VIN beginning with KND decodes to Kia.
No. They are synthetically generated but checksum-valid, use the real Kia KND WMI, and carry the Soul's descriptor and a valid year code — so a decoder returns a Kia Soul. No real vehicle's VIN is used.