Paste a 17-character VIN to verify its check digit and decode the structure every VIN is built from.
A VIN is a structured code, not a random string. Positions 1–3 (the WMI) identify the country of manufacture and the maker; positions 4–8 describe the vehicle (model, body, engine family, the exact encoding is the manufacturer's own); position 9 is a check digit computed from all the others, which catches transcription errors; position 10 encodes the model year on a 30-year cycle; position 11 is the assembly plant; and the last six are the production sequence. This decoder validates the format, recomputes the check digit with the official transliteration and weighting tables, and decodes the WMI against the common manufacturers and the year code.
What a structural decode cannot give is the vehicle's option sheet, trim, installed engine variants encoded in positions 4–8 differ by manufacturer and often by year. Dealer and registry databases resolve those; treat this page as verification and structure, not a full factory build sheet. VINs are never transmitted, decoding is local.
The check digit failed, is the vehicle fake? Far more likely is a mistyped character when copying the VIN (0/O and 1/I confusions are classic, note VINs never contain I, O or Q). Re-read it from the dashboard plate or door sticker before suspecting anything else. Some non-North-American vehicles also omit the check digit convention.
Why does the year show two possible years? The year code repeats every 30 years (A is 1980 or 2010; 1 is 1971 or 2001). The vehicle's design era resolves which, the decoder shows both deliberately.
Where is the VIN on a vehicle? On a plate visible through the windscreen at the driver's side dashboard corner, on the driver's door pillar sticker, and on registration and insurance documents.