Every Land Rover Defender (2020–2024) carries a 17-character VIN that begins with the SAL WMI. The Defender is a gas SUV; this page shows what each character of a Land Rover Defender 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 Defender.
Each sample below is built from the real SAL WMI and the Defender's descriptor, so it decodes to a Land Rover Defender of the right model year:
Have a real Land Rover Defender VIN? Decode it →
Worked on the sample SALE17EU7LA798723 — a 2020 Land Rover Defender:
| Position | Section | Value | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | WMI | SAL | Marks the VIN as Land Rover, built in United Kingdom |
| 4–8 | VDS | E17EU | Descriptor for the Defender — SUV body, gas powertrain |
| 9 | Check digit | 7 | Mod-11 checksum over the other 16 characters |
| 10 | Model year | L | Code L = 2020 |
| 11 | Plant | A | Assembly-plant code |
| 12–17 | Serial | 798723 | Sequential production number |
Positions 1–3 of every Land Rover Defender VIN read SAL — the World Manufacturer Identifier that marks the vehicle as Land Rover, assembled in United Kingdom (Europe). After the WMI, positions 4–8 (E17EU in our seed) describe the Defender itself; see the full 17-digit format.
Position 10 encodes the model year. For the Defender, 2020 is code L and 2024 is code R. See the 2024 year code or the check-digit math.
Land Rover Range Rover · Land Rover Discovery · all Land Rover test VINs
A Land Rover Defender VIN is 17 characters starting with the SAL WMI, for example SALE17EU7LA798723. Positions 4–8 describe the Defender, position 9 is the check digit, position 10 is the model year, and 12–17 are the serial number.
Read it left to right: SAL is the Land Rover WMI, positions 4–8 are the Defender 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 Defender in our seed uses the SAL WMI (United Kingdom). Any VIN beginning with SAL decodes to Land Rover.
No. They are synthetically generated but checksum-valid, use the real Land Rover SAL WMI, and carry the Defender's descriptor and a valid year code — so a decoder returns a Land Rover Defender. No real vehicle's VIN is used.