VIN decoder and recall check
Type or paste a VIN to get the year, make, model, engine and trim, and see the safety recalls NHTSA lists for that model. Free, no signup.
Vehicle data and recalls come from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) vPIC and Recalls APIs. Gearboxly is not affiliated with NHTSA.
Reading a VIN
The first three characters say who built the car and where. Characters 4 to 8 describe the model, body and engine. The 9th is the check digit, the 10th is the model year, the 11th is the plant, and the last six are the serial number.
At the counter, decode before you quote. The engine code decides which parts fit and which labor time applies, and a recall the dealer will fix for free is worth telling the customer about before you sell the same repair.
Writing it up? Use the free estimate and work order templates, or let Gearboxly repair orders fill the vehicle in from the VIN.
Questions shops ask
Where does the vehicle data come from?
From NHTSA, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The decode uses its free vPIC database, which is built from what manufacturers report, and recalls come from its Recalls API.
Do the recalls shown mean this car still needs the repair?
Not necessarily. Recalls here are listed for the year, make and model, not the single car. Some may not apply to this VIN and some may already be done. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a dealer to see what's still open.
Why does it warn me about the check digit?
The 9th character of a VIN is a check digit worked out from the other 16. If it doesn't match, a character was probably misread, often a 5 for an S or an 8 for a B. We still try to decode it, but double-check the VIN on the car.
Why won't it accept my VIN?
VINs from 1981 on are exactly 17 characters and never use I, O or Q, so they can't be confused with 1 and 0. Older vehicles have shorter VINs that this tool can't decode.
Do you save the VINs I look up?
We don't log or save the VIN you type with anything about you. To keep lookups fast, decoded vehicle details are cached on our server for up to 30 days and recall lists for up to 24 hours, then fetched again from NHTSA.
Why is some information missing, like trim or engine?
Manufacturers don't report every field for every vehicle, so vPIC leaves some blank. Trim is the most common gap. The year, make and model are almost always there.
Can I decode VINs inside my shop software?
Yes. In Gearboxly you scan or type the VIN when you check a car in, the vehicle fills in on the repair order, and labor times and parts lookups use it from there.
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