Home How To Find your Toyota VIN (Vehicle Identification Number)

Find your Toyota VIN (Vehicle Identification Number)

By Toyota Blog
Vehicle Identification Number

The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is your Toyota’s legal identifier, and is applied to your car during production.

Each VIN is unique, and is usually a 17-character code made up of letters and numbers, and reveals important details about your vehicle. As well as containing information on the time and place of your car’s creation, it also contains information about its specification and design.

First introduced in 1954, Vehicle Identification Numbers are an important component in determining the history and identity of a vehicle, particularly when combined with the car’s DVLA licence plate and V5 or V5C documents.

While licence plates can be altered, the car’s VIN remains unchanged, and therefore is the primary identification number for your Toyota.

How to locate your Vehicle Identification Number

In most modern Toyota cars, you’ll find a visible Vehicle Identification Number through a special cut-out at the bottom of the windscreen. Additional VINs are printed on tamper-proof stickers located just inside the shut line of the front nearside door. Earlier models may have a metal plate instead of a sticker.

The VIN is repeated on the vehicle’s chassis, stamped into the metal floor of the car under the right-hand (driver’s side) front seat. It’s usually visible through a small flap, deliberately cut into the vehicle’s carpet.

Read more How to connect your phone to your car

Of course, there are some important exceptions to the rule…

These include the four-door Hilux pick-up – in which the tamper-proof sticker is mounted just inside the nearside rear door, and the five-door Aygo – in which it is applied to the body just inside the offside rear door shut.

Decoding your Vehicle Identification Number

Although there are exceptions to the rule, the first three digits of the Vehicle Identification Number usually refer to the country of manufacture, the vehicle maker and the vehicle type.

For example, if you check the first letter of the code, ‘J’ references Japan, ‘S’ references England, while ‘V’ identifies France. Turkey gets an ‘N’, while Thailand and South Africa (where some of our Hilux vehicles are produced) get an ‘M’ and ‘A’ respectively.

The second letter is usually ‘T’, which describes Toyota, the third describes which group of cars (or sometimes which chassis type) the vehicle sits on.

The next six numbers reference the car’s body style, engine and gearbox, while the remaining eight is a combination unique to the car, listing the year the car was made, the factory it was produced in and where it came in the production process.

For more on your VIN, please contact your nearest dealer, or visit toyota.co.uk/mytoyota

411 comments

  1. I have Toyota Prius 2011. The registration number is BC11YNZ. Can you please tell me the VIN number. Thank you

    Reply

    1. Hi Noor, thanks for your query.

      We are unable to give this information here.

      Your VIN number can be found in your Owner’s Manual.

      Thanks.

      Reply

  2. Hi, I have a Toyota Hilux 2006 D4D could you please tell me if the VIN number is printed anywhere else on this model aside from on the sticker under the bonnet? Part of my sticker is missing and I can’t have my MOT done because of it.

    Reply

    1. Hi Glyn, thanks for getting in touch.

      Please provide a vehicle registration so that we can look into this for you.

      Thanks.

      Reply

  3. Hi, I have a Toyota Touring Hiace from around year 2K, but I’m trying to get a month and year of manufacture.

    Thank you for your assistance

    Reply

    1. Hi Stevie, thanks for your comment.

      Please can you provide your vehicle registration so that we can look into this for you. Please note, we have removed your VIN number from this comment.

      Thanks.

      Reply

  5. Hi could you please tell me if a panoramic sunroof reduces the towing capacity of the Rav4 2020 AWD.
    Many thanks…

    Reply

    1. Hi Nigel,
      The Panoramic Roof doesn’t reduce the towing capacity of the RAV4.
      We hope this helps, please let us know if you have any other questions.
      Thanks.

      Reply

  7. Hi, I need to find the exact build date of my daughter’s Toyota Yaris for her driving test. Apparently some 2005- Yaris aren’t permitted to be used for the driving test because a seat rail issue. I think my car was made before the June 2005 cut-off date, but I need to be able to prove it. is there a way to tell the month /year of manufacture from the VIN number?

    Reply

  8. I have a 12 plate Hillux. The VIN number on the chassis is eligible due to corrosion. How do I get this restamped so I can sell the vehicle?
    Thanks

    Reply

    1. Hi there, thanks for getting in touch.

      We can only advise on the UK market, please get in touch with Toyota in your area directly.

      Thanks,

      Toyota UK

      Reply

    1. Hi there, thanks for getting in touch.

      We can only advise on the UK market, please get in touch with Toyota in your area directly.

      Thanks,

      Toyota UK

      Reply

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