QandAs: Autos

How do I find my VIN or Vehicle Identification Number?

Answer:
Your Vehicle Identification Number or VIN provides

insurance companies with details about your car as well as serves as an identifier of the vehicle that they are insuring. Think of it as your vehicles birth certificate. It's unique to each vehicle, for this reason Law Enforecement use it as a means to track stolen vehicles.

You can find your VIN number on the car’s registration as well as on the car itself. Look on the dashboard of the car near the windshield on the driver’s side. Here, you’ll see a metal plate with a 17 digit alpha numeric number. If your car was built before 1981, the number may be shorter.

Each digit has its own meaning and identifies much of the car’s information including the manufacturer, model year, assembly plant, and the car’s unique serial number. The VIN number even tells what type of restraint system the vehicle uses.

If you can’t find it on the dashboard, look on the inside door pilar or jam of the driver’s door, the left hand side inner wheel arch, steering column, the front of your engine block, or the firewall of the vehicle.


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