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. Hi,

    The chassis number on my car consists of only 13 digits. Can you tell me what could be the reason?
    Thanks
    Archil

    Reply

    1. Hi there, thanks for getting in touch.

      Your local Toyota Centre is best placed to take a look at this, we can only advise on UK vehicles.

      Thanks,

      Toyota UK

      Reply

  2. I recently bought a used Toyota RAV4 XSE 2020 and I’m supposed to give to the people who do my documentation in my country the VIN code which is a metal plate usually located under the passenger seat or in front of windshield, but I can’t seem to find it. Anyone has an idea where it might be located? The car was manufactured in Canada. They want the VIN metal plate because that’s the only thing they will accept, the regular documents or stickers aren’t enough.

    Reply

    1. Hi there, thanks for getting in touch.

      Please contact Toyota in your area directly, we can only assist on the UK market.

      Thanks,

      Toyota UK

      Reply

    1. Hi Dave, thanks for your comment.

      This isn’t a genuine accessory that we offer. But if you want to cover the plate, there are items on the aftermarket or a good old bit of tape will do the trick.

      Thanks,

      Toyota UK

      Reply

      2. Good afternoon Muez,

        Please get in touch with Toyota in your region for assistance.

        Thank you.

  4. can you help me to check this farme or chassis number to know year of manufacture?

    farme or chassis number “***”

    Reply

    1. Hi there, thanks for your message.

      We can only advise on UK vehicles, please contact Toyota in your area directly.

      Thanks,

      Toyota UK

      Reply

    1. Hi there, thanks for getting in touch.

      There will be a specific part unique to your vehicle, your local Toyota Centre can assist with this.

      Thanks,

      Toyota UK

      Reply

  6. Hello

    My car chassis number is only 10 digits what will be the reason??
    And also how can i check my car details using chassis number beacuse 10 digits chassis showing no record

    Reply

    1. Hi there, thanks for getting in touch.

      Your local Toyota Centre is best placed to assist with this, we can only help with UK queries.

      Thanks,

      Toyota UK

      Reply

    1. Hi, thanks for your comment.

      We can only advise on UK vehicles. Please contact Toyota in your area directly.

      Thanks,

      Toyota UK

      Reply

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