Advice: What is a VIN and where is it located?

Just as humans each possess a unique fingerprint, every modern vehicle in Australia has an individual number which differentiates it and is vital for documentation and history.

A vehicle identification number, or VIN for short, is a unique 17-character serial number used by the automotive industry to identify individual vehicles.

Australia adopted the International Standards Organisation (ISO) VIN more than 30 years ago, meaning tens of millions of cars now bear their very own VIN on our roads.

Where do I find my car’s VIN?

A vehicle’s VIN is typically displayed on a small metal plaque located inside the bottom passenger-side corner of the windscreen.

Failing that, your car’s VIN could be located inside the driver’s door jamb, where it is stamped on a sticker or metal plate.

Another alternative is a plate that resides inside the engine bay, usually directly on the firewall or the vehicle’s chassis. The VIN is stamped on that plate.

What do I use my car’s VIN for?

A VIN is vital for your car’s documentation, which covers everything from registration and insurance to official recalls, ordering parts, or conducting a vehicle history check.

If you need to find your VIN and you don’t have your vehicle handy, it is also worth checking your registration papers, or even flicking through the front pages of your owner’s manual (if separated from the car), which is where you'll also find all the locations where the VIN is physically reproduced on the vehicle.

Just look up 'vehicle identification number' in the index and it will direct you to the page where all the locations are listed. The VIN is also found on build plates and compliance plates, fastened to the car.