Where to Find Your VIN on a Car, Motorcycle or Trailer

A U.S.-market car carries its VIN in at least two places by law, and often in several more. Checking more than one location is the quickest way to confirm you have the right number, and that the vehicle is what its paperwork says.

Stand outside the vehicle at the driver's side and look down through the bottom corner of the windshield, next to the pillar. U.S. rules require the VIN on cars, SUVs, low-speed vehicles and trucks up to 10,000 lb gross vehicle weight rating to sit inside the passenger compartment, readable through the glass without moving anything, from a viewpoint next to the left windshield pillar. Each character must be at least 4 mm tall (49 CFR 565.13).

NHTSA's recall site gives the same instruction: look on the lower left of the windshield for the 17-character VIN. Most vehicles use a metal plate riveted to the dashboard; the NICB notes that a few manufacturers use a label in the same area instead. Glare is the main obstacle, so shade the glass with your hand or photograph the plate with your phone and zoom in.

In the EU the rules are different. The VIN must be stamped or hammered into the chassis, frame or a similar structure on the right-hand side of the vehicle, in a clearly visible and accessible place, with characters at least 7 mm tall. It also appears on the manufacturer's statutory plate, which must be fixed in a conspicuous, accessible position (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/535).

It is the federal certification label, which every manufacturer must fix to a U.S.-market vehicle to certify that it meets U.S. safety standards. On cars, SUVs and trucks it goes on the hinge pillar, the door-latch post or the edge of the door next to the driver's seat. If none of those works, it goes on the left side of the instrument panel or the inside of the driver's door (49 CFR 567.4).

• The manufacturer's name.
• The month and year of manufacture.
• Gross vehicle weight rating and gross axle weight ratings.
• A statement that the vehicle meets U.S. safety standards.
• The full VIN.
• The vehicle type, such as passenger car, MPV or truck.

The label must be riveted or fixed so that it can't be removed without destroying or defacing it, and the NICB says the labels are designed to self-destruct if someone tries. A label with loose corners, tears or a VIN that looks typed over deserves a closer look. The build date on the label also helps you understand the model year.

• Engine compartment. According to the NICB, some manufacturers fix a body plate with the full VIN or its last eight characters to the firewall, and many foreign manufacturers stamp the full or partial VIN into the firewall itself.
• Theft-prevention labels on parts. Since model year 1987, designated high-theft car lines have had to carry the VIN on major parts, unless exempted because an anti-theft device is standard on the whole line. A 1994 amendment extended this to MPVs and light trucks and listed parts such as the engine, transmission, bumpers, fenders, hood, doors, quarter panels or side assemblies, cargo box, decklid, hatchback and tailgate.
• Replacement parts. Original-equipment replacement parts for those lines carry a similar label with the letters R and DOT instead of a VIN, the NICB notes.
• Emissions label. The emissions control label under the hood shows the model year, which should match the year code in the VIN.

If you can't get to the vehicle, your paperwork will have the VIN. NHTSA points owners to the registration card and notes that the VIN may also be on the insurance card. The title, bill of sale and loan papers normally carry it too, and the NICB tells inspectors to confirm the VIN is identical on every one of them.

In EU countries, the harmonised registration certificate lists the VIN under code E, next to make (D.1), type (D.2) and commercial description (D.3), as set out in Directive 1999/37/EC. Copy the VIN from a document when you want to check recalls or run a decode, then confirm it against the vehicle before relying on it.

Motorcycles. On many motorcycles the VIN is stamped on the steering head, the part of the frame the front fork pivots in. Recall notices published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission say the VIN is on the right side of the steering head on KTM-group off-road bikes, and on a nameplate at the front right of the frame near the steering head on the Honda CRF450R. The certification label, which also carries the VIN, must be fixed to a permanent part of the motorcycle as close as practicable to where the steering post meets the handlebars (49 CFR 567.4(e)). Don't confuse the engine number with the VIN: California's DMV records both separately when it verifies a motorcycle.

Trailers. The certification label, with the VIN, must be on the forward half of the left side, readable from outside (49 CFR 567.4(d)).

Motorhomes and van conversions. California's DMV notes that the VIN used is the one assigned by the first-stage chassis manufacturer, usually found in the engine compartment and sometimes under the driver's seat.

1. Re-read each VIN in good light. Characters are easy to misread, but remember a VIN never contains I, O or Q.
2. Check the check digit. If one copy fails and the other passes, the failing copy probably contains a typo.
3. If the dashboard plate, door label and title still disagree, stop. Don't buy the vehicle or hand over money until the difference is explained.
4. A single body part with a different VIN on its label can mean an accident repair with used parts; the NICB advises verifying the accident history in that case.
5. Ask your motor vehicle agency or the police to verify the VIN. In California, for example, the Highway Patrol must inspect a vehicle when its identity can't be confirmed or the public and alternate VINs disagree.