The first three characters of a VIN are the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI). KL4 is assigned to Buick, built in South Korea (Asia). Any VIN that starts with KL4 decodes to Buick. The sample VINs below are checksum-valid and start with KL4.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| WMI | KL4 (VIN positions 1–3) |
| Manufacturer | Buick |
| Country of assembly | South Korea |
| Region | Asia (from the first character, K) |
| Models seen here | Encore |
Buick test VINs · Decode a KL4 VIN →
After the KL4 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.
KL4 is a Buick WMI. Every VIN beginning with KL4 was built by Buick and decodes to that make.
The first character K places the manufacturer in South Korea (Asia region) under the VIN standard.
No. They are synthetically generated but checksum-valid and use the real KL4 WMI, so a decoder returns Buick. No real vehicle's VIN is used.