Decode a VIN instead of typing the details

Typing a VIN is quicker than typing year, make, model, fuel and transmission. Decode VIN does the rest for you.

It is free and there is nothing to install.

Where the button is

Beside the VIN field, on every form that takes a VIN:

• the vehicle add and edit form
• the pre-purchase inspection intake form
• the insurance repair intake form
• the warranty claim intake form
• the roadworthy certificate form

What it fills in

Year, make, model, fuel type and transmission, and only the fields you have left empty. Anything you already typed stays exactly as you typed it, so you can correct a decode and re-run it without losing your correction.

The four answers you can get

The result panel names its own source, because the four are not equally trustworthy.

1. A full decode. The VIN was found in NHTSA's vPIC database. This is the best case and usually fills every field.
2. A register match. The VIN matched our copy of the New Zealand Motor Vehicle Register. Australia and New Zealand are both right-hand-drive markets fed by the same plants, so the prefixes overlap heavily and the match is usually right, but it is a New Zealand record and the panel says so. Where the register cannot settle on a single build year you get the year span instead of a year.
3. An offline partial. Nothing was found, so the make and an approximate year were worked out from the structure of the VIN itself. A partial decode can never give you a model, because the model is not encoded in the part of the VIN that can be read without a database. Fill the model in from the compliance plate.
4. Nothing. Some VINs, particularly older grey imports and some European builds, are simply not in either source. Type the details in, or use the make and model pick lists.

When the year looks wrong

A decoded year is sometimes flagged as approximate. VIN year characters repeat on a 30-year cycle, so a 1996 and a 2026 build can share a character. Check the build plate and correct the field. An approximate year is still worth keeping.

If nothing happens

• Check the VIN length. Most modern vehicles carry 17 characters. The decoder will accept a shorter chassis number but has much less to work with.
• The letters I, O and Q are not used in a VIN. If you have one, it is almost certainly a 1, a 0 or a 0.
• A decode needs an internet connection at the moment you press the button. There is no queue and no retry: press it again.

Credit

Where the answer came from the New Zealand register, the panel prints the required attribution. Vehicle data sourced from the New Zealand Motor Vehicle Register, NZ Transport Agency, licensed under CC BY 4.0.