VIN year chart
The 10th character of a VIN encodes the model year on a 30-year cycle, so every code maps to two possible years. To resolve one automatically, use the decoder.
| Code | First cycle | Second cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 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 digit 0 never appear as year codes. The first three are excluded from VINs entirely; the others were dropped from the year sequence to keep the cycle unambiguous.
Questions
›Which character of a VIN is the year?
The 10th. Counting from the left, it sits immediately after the check digit and before the assembly-plant code.
›Why does one code mean two different years?
The code cycles through 30 values before repeating, so B is both 1981 and 2011. The cycle skips I, O, Q, U, Z and the digit 0 to avoid misreading.
›How do I tell which of the two years is right?
On North American VINs, character 7 resolves it: a digit there means the earlier 1980–2009 cycle, a letter means 2010–2039. Failing that, the vehicle's general age settles it — a 30-year gap is rarely ambiguous in practice.