Which character in a VIN is the year?

The tenth, counting from the left, on manufacturers that follow the North American convention.

Why does the same letter mean two different years?

The codes repeat every thirty years. The letter L is 1990 and also 2020. You need to know roughly how old the vehicle is to tell which.

Does the 10th character work on every car?

No. It is required in North America but not in Europe. Several European manufacturers do not put a year code there at all, so on their cars the tenth character means something else.

Is the model year the same as the registration year?

Not always. A car can be built late in one year and registered the next, and a model year often starts months before the calendar year. In the UK the year that matters for most purposes is the year of first registration.

How do I find out what year a UK car is?

The registration date is on the V5C logbook. Our reg to VIN lookup also returns the year the vehicle was registered, alongside the VIN.

VIN year chart

The tenth character of a VIN, and the model year it stands for.

How to read it

Count ten characters in from the left of the VIN. On makes that use a year code, that character is the model year. Find it in the first column below. Each code stands for two years thirty years apart, so pick the one that fits the vehicle.

10th character	1980–2009	2010–2039
A	1980	2010
B	1981	2011
C	1982	2012
D	1983	2013
E	1984	2014
F	1985	2015
G	1986	2016
H	1987	2017
J	1988	2018
K	1989	2019
L	1990	2020
M	1991	2021
N	1992	2022
P	1993	2023
R	1994	2024
S	1995	2025
T	1996	2026
V	1997	2027
W	1998	2028
X	1999	2029
Y	2000	2030
1	2001	2031
2	2002	2032
3	2003	2033
4	2004	2034
5	2005	2035
6	2006	2036
7	2007	2037
8	2008	2038
9	2009	2039

The letters I, O, Q, U and Z and the number 0 are never used as year codes.

Why it can give the wrong answer on a UK car

The year code is a legal requirement in the United States and Canada. In Europe the standard allows it but does not insist on it, and a number of European manufacturers use the tenth position for something else or leave a filler character there.

That is how a decoder can tell you a 2020 car was built in 1990: it has read a character that was never meant as a year, or picked the wrong one of the two years a code stands for. If a year from a VIN decoder looks wrong for a European car, it probably is.

What to trust instead

For a UK vehicle, the date of first registration on the V5C is the reliable figure, and the age identifier in the number plate agrees with it unless the car is wearing a private plate. When you look up a reg here, the year shown is the registration year for that reason, not a year decoded from the VIN.

The rest of the VIN

The year is one character of seventeen. What is a VIN covers the others, including the three-character prefix that identifies the manufacturer.

FAQ

VIN year questions

Which character in a VIN is the year?: The tenth, counting from the left, on manufacturers that follow the North American convention.
Why does the same letter mean two different years?: The codes repeat every thirty years. The letter L is 1990 and also 2020. You need to know roughly how old the vehicle is to tell which.
Does the 10th character work on every car?: No. It is required in North America but not in Europe. Several European manufacturers do not put a year code there at all, so on their cars the tenth character means something else.
Is the model year the same as the registration year?: Not always. A car can be built late in one year and registered the next, and a model year often starts months before the calendar year. In the UK the year that matters for most purposes is the year of first registration.
How do I find out what year a UK car is?: The registration date is on the V5C logbook. Our reg to VIN lookup also returns the year the vehicle was registered, alongside the VIN.

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