What is the check digit?

Position 9 of every VIN is a checksum over the other 16 characters, set by the ISO 3779 standard. A flipped or mistyped character breaks it. A VIN that fails answers valid: false as a 200, never a 404.

Where does the data come from?

The manufacturer's own government filings. Year, make, model, and the rest are what the maker filed for that VIN pattern, decoded from official sources.

Why are some fields null?

The filing left them blank. Foreign-market VINs decode partially. Null is the honest answer, never a guess.

Open recall campaigns for the decoded year, make, and model. Each row carries the campaign number, report date, component, and the summary verbatim. Paid plans.

Market value or accident history?

No. This decodes the build and lists open recalls. Ownership, title, and valuation are different products from licensed sources.

GET /vin/{vin}

VIN Decoder API

Decode a VIN. Year, make, model, engine, and the plant that built it.

vin

Normalized VIN, uppercase, no spaces. Invalid input still echoes the fold

valid

17 characters and the ISO 3779 check digit both pass

year

Model year

make

Make (Honda, BMW)

model

Model name as the manufacturer filed it

trim

Trim level, or null

body

Body style (sedan, coupe, suv, pickup)

type

Vehicle type (passenger car, truck, motorcycle, bus, trailer)

cylinders

Engine cylinders, or null

fuel

Primary fuel (gasoline, diesel, electric)

drive

Drive type (fwd, rwd, awd, 4wd), or null

transmission

Transmission style (automatic, manual, cvt), or null

plant_country

Assembly plant country, or null

deep.recalls

Open recall campaigns for the decoded year, make, and model. campaign, date, component, summary verbatim. [] when none, null when the registry did not answer. Paid plans

Pass the VIN

17 characters. Spaces and case do not matter. Junk and a failed check digit answer valid false, never a 404.

Get the build

Year, make, model, trim, body, doors, engine, drive, transmission, manufacturer, and assembly plant. Blank filings are null, never a guess.

Deep adds recalls

Open recall campaigns for the decoded vehicle. Campaign, date, component, and the summary verbatim. Paid plans.

Every VIN since 1981.

Decoded from official filings. Pooled requests on every plan.

1981
model years back to: 21
fields per decode

Pass a VIN. Spaces and case do not matter. You get the build: year, make, model, trim, body, doors, engine, drive, transmission, the manufacturer, and the plant that assembled it. The data comes from the manufacturer's own government filings.

Junk and a failed check digit answer valid: false as a 200. Fields the filing leaves blank are null. Deep adds open recall campaigns for the decoded vehicle on paid plans.

RESPONSE

$ curl "https://api.parseapi.com/vin/1HGCM82633A004352" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

// 200 · ~34ms US · ~124ms worldwide
{
  "vin": "1HGCM82633A004352",
  "valid": true,
  "year": 2003,
  "make": "Honda",
  "model": "Accord",
  "trim": "EX-V6",
  "series": null,
  "body": "coupe",
  "type": "passenger car",
  "doors": 2,
  "cylinders": 6,
  "displacement": 3,
  "fuel": "gasoline",
  "horsepower": 240,
  "drive": null,
  "transmission": "automatic",
  "manufacturer": "American Honda Motor Co., Inc.",
  "plant_city": "Marysville",
  "plant_state": "Ohio",
  "plant_country": "United States",
  "gvwr": "Class 1C: 4,001 - 5,000 lb (1,814 - 2,268 kg)"
}

Response fields

vin: Normalized VIN, uppercase, no spaces. Invalid input still echoes the fold
valid: 17 characters and the ISO 3779 check digit both pass
year: Model year
make: Make (Honda, BMW)
model: Model name as the manufacturer filed it
trim: Trim level, or null
series: Series, or null
body: Body style (sedan, coupe, suv, pickup)
type: Vehicle type (passenger car, truck, motorcycle, bus, trailer)
doors: Door count, or null
cylinders: Engine cylinders, or null
displacement: Engine displacement in liters, or null
fuel: Primary fuel (gasoline, diesel, electric)
horsepower: Engine horsepower when published, or null
drive: Drive type (fwd, rwd, awd, 4wd), or null
transmission: Transmission style (automatic, manual, cvt), or null
manufacturer: Manufacturer of record
plant_city: Assembly plant city, or null
plant_state: Assembly plant state or region, or null
plant_country: Assembly plant country, or null
gvwr: Gross vehicle weight rating class as filed, or null
deep.recalls: Open recall campaigns for the decoded year, make, and model. campaign, date, component, summary verbatim. [] when none, null when the registry did not answer. Paid plans

QUESTIONS

What is the check digit?: Position 9 of every VIN is a checksum over the other 16 characters, set by the ISO 3779 standard. A flipped or mistyped character breaks it. A VIN that fails answers valid: false as a 200, never a 404.
Where does the data come from?: The manufacturer's own government filings. Year, make, model, and the rest are what the maker filed for that VIN pattern, decoded from official sources.
Why are some fields null?: The filing left them blank. Foreign-market VINs decode partially. Null is the honest answer, never a guess.
What does deep add?: Open recall campaigns for the decoded year, make, and model. Each row carries the campaign number, report date, component, and the summary verbatim. Paid plans.
Market value or accident history?: No. This decodes the build and lists open recalls. Ownership, title, and valuation are different products from licensed sources.

SPEED

How long a lookup takes.

34ms

60ms

APAC

148ms

LatAm

21ms

124ms

See live status →

Coverage

Every 17-character VIN since 1981. Decoded from official filings.

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