The first three characters of a VIN are the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI). JF1 is assigned to Subaru, built in Japan (Asia). Any VIN that starts with JF1 decodes to Subaru. The sample VINs below are checksum-valid and start with JF1.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| WMI | JF1 (VIN positions 1–3) |
| Manufacturer | Subaru |
| Country of assembly | Japan |
| Region | Asia (from the first character, J) |
| Models seen here | WRX |
Subaru test VINs · Decode a JF1 VIN →
After the JF1 WMI, positions 4–8 describe the model, body and engine; position 9 is the mod-11 check digit; position 10 is the model year; position 11 is the assembly plant; and positions 12–17 are the serial number. See the full 17-digit VIN format.
JF1 is a Subaru WMI. Every VIN beginning with JF1 was built by Subaru and decodes to that make.
The first character J places the manufacturer in Japan (Asia region) under the VIN standard.
No. They are synthetically generated but checksum-valid and use the real JF1 WMI, so a decoder returns Subaru. No real vehicle's VIN is used.