Free VIN Lookup and VIN Decoder From O’Reilly Auto Parts

A VIN (vehicle identification number) is a vehicle’s serial number assigned when it was assembled at the factory. VINs are assigned to all road-going passenger vehicles, including cars, trucks, and SUVs, motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, semi trucks, and towed vehicles like trailers. Since 1981, all VINs have been standardized to be 17 digits, but older vehicle VINs may be shorter in some cases. Each digit of the VIN provides an individual detail about your vehicle. This information includes the year, make, and model, as well as details about the vehicle’s engine size, trim codes, country and factory of origin, and more. Modern vehicle VINs also use a check digit for security and verification to ensure that the VIN is legitimate. Knowing how to read your car, truck, or SUV’s VIN can help you understand all of this information and more about your vehicle.

Your vehicle’s VIN is not only listed in a few places on the body, such as the door jamb, dash, or firewall, but is also printed on your title. If you live in a state where a legal title of ownership is required to transfer or sell the vehicle, or to register and license it for road use, the VIN listed on the title must match the vehicle’s VIN. Vehicle Identification Numbers are also used by law enforcement to identify stolen vehicles, track the accident or service history of a vehicle, and can be used by the manufacturer when necessary to provide recall notices to the current owner.

Your VIN provides a host of details that are important to identifying your vehicle, such as the year, make, model, submodel, and engine codes. This information can be especially important in finding the right parts for your repairs. Easily find the right parts for your vehicle when you use the O’Reilly Auto Parts VIN Lookup Tool. 

O’Reilly developed a helpful and free vehicle VIN Lookup tool to make checking and decoding your VIN faster and easier, and to allow you to more easily search for the parts you need to complete your repair. To use our VIN Decoder, start by locating the VIN on your vehicle. After you’ve located your VIN, click the “Find Vehicle” button above. At the bottom left of the vehicle selector, click “Add New Vehicle”, then navigate back to the bottom left. You will see two options, including “Add by License Plate” and “Add by VIN”. Selecting “Add by VIN” will allow you to enter your VIN, then simply click “Search” to add and select the vehicle. After your vehicle is selected, you can shop O’Reilly Auto Parts online to ensure you get the right parts for your next repair. Once your VIN has been entered, we can provide the most accurate part recommendations and ensure they will fit your application.

On most vehicles, the VIN is listed in several places on the body. Including it in more than one place helps verify that the VIN is legitimate and ensures that even if one VIN label is not easily accessed, located, or readable, others can be found. You can often find the VIN on most vehicles near the driver’s side of the dash or on the A-pillar, and there may be a window or cutout in the windshield trim to ensure it is visible through the windshield. Most modern vehicles also have a sticker that includes the VIN, located on the inside of the driver’s door jamb on the door or pillar. This sticker may also include a barcode that can be scanned when you take the vehicle to a shop, which allows the service technicians to decode your VIN automatically. For more information on how to find your VIN, visit our helpful article.

In some cases, especially with older vehicles, you may also find the VIN stamped under the hood in a few places, or there may be a VIN plate or stamp on the front of the driver’s side of the frame. VINs are often also stamped on several OEM parts, including engines, transmissions, and in other less conspicuous areas. In some cases, the VIN is even etched into the glass of the vehicle. This not only allows you to determine if certain parts of the vehicle have been replaced due to a collision or mechanical failure, but also makes it much more difficult for a stolen vehicle to be sold, and would require the thief to either replace or obscure the VIN in all of these hard-to-access areas. If for some reason you are unable to locate your VIN on the body of your vehicle, you should also be able to find your VIN in the owners manual documentation that came with your vehicle, on your title, or even on your insurance cards.

The VIN on motorcycles is typically located near the steering fork on the frame, underneath the handlebars, or may also be stamped on the engine or under the engine on the frame. Trailers typically have a plate riveted to the frame near the front left that lists the VIN. Boats and other watercraft may also have an identification number, but it is called an HIN, or hull identification number. This identification plate is typically located towards the stern of the boat, or on the starboard side.