Ford VIN Decoder
Enter any 17-character Ford VIN. Free US-market Ford VIN decoder backed by the official NHTSA VPIC database — engine code, assembly plant, model year, body class, and every open recall, in about 30 seconds.
How to read a Ford VIN
A Ford VIN, like any modern road-vehicle VIN, is 17 characters split into three blocks: the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) in positions 1–3, the Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS) in positions 4–9, and the Vehicle Identifier Section (VIS) in positions 10–17. Here's a real Ford VIN broken down position by position.
112F3T4F5W617E8T9910D11F12C131140153161172
| Position | Chars | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Country of origin 1 = United States. Ford VINs starting with 2 are Canadian-built (Oakville, ON), 3 are Mexican (Cuautitlán / Hermosillo), and WF0 prefixes are Ford of Europe. |
| 2-3 | FT | Manufacturer (WMI) FT = Ford Motor Company, light truck division. Other US Ford WMIs include FA (passenger car), FM (MPV — Explorer/Edge/Expedition), and FD (heavy-duty F-450 and up). |
| 4-8 | FW1ET | Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS) Encodes the specific platform, body style, restraint type, and engine. Ford does not publish a public VDS-to-trim table, so CheckMyVIN reports what NHTSA VPIC returns directly (Model, Body Class, Engine Model, Drive Type) rather than trying to decode the chars in isolation. |
| 9 | 9 | Check digit A mod-11 checksum computed from the other 16 positions. NHTSA uses this to reject typos before returning a decode — if the check digit is wrong, VPIC returns ErrorCode 1 and CheckMyVIN treats that as an unreadable VIN. |
| 10 | D | Model year D = 2013. The full year code table is below. The 30-year cycle skips I, O, Q, U, Z and 0 to avoid being confused with similar-looking digits. |
| 11 | F | Assembly plant For this VIN, F maps to Dearborn (the Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan, where every F-150 has been built since 1948). CheckMyVIN reads Plant City and Plant Country directly from the VPIC record rather than inferring plant from this character — Ford runs more US assembly plants than any other automaker and the position-11 character is brand-internal. |
| 12-17 | C10312 | Production sequence A 6-digit serial number that increments through the model year at that plant. Not useful on its own, but combined with year and plant it confirms the VIN is internally consistent. |
VIN year codes (position 10)
The 10th character of every modern VIN encodes the model year. The cycle skips the letters I, O, Q, U and Z, and the digit 0, to avoid being confused with similar digits. This table covers every model year currently on US roads.
| Code | Year | Code | Year | Code | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2010 | H | 2017 | R | 2024 |
| B | 2011 | J | 2018 | S | 2025 |
| C | 2012 | K | 2019 | T | 2026 |
| D | 2013 | L | 2020 | V | 2027 |
| E | 2014 | M | 2021 | W | 2028 |
| F | 2015 | N | 2022 | X | 2029 |
| G | 2016 | P | 2023 | Y | 2030 |
Full year code chart for all years (1980–2030) →
Ford WMI codes (positions 1–3)
The first three characters of the VIN identify the manufacturer and country of assembly. Ford uses several WMI codes depending on plant and model line.
| WMI | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1FT | Ford truck — USA |
| 1FA | Ford passenger car — USA |
| 1FM | Ford MPV (Explorer, Expedition, Edge) — USA |
| 2FA | Ford passenger car — Canada |
| 3FA | Ford passenger car — Mexico |
| WF0 | Ford of Europe passenger car — Germany |
| 1FD | Ford heavy-duty truck (F-450+) — USA |
Ford build sheet & options
A full Ford build sheet — original window-sticker options, paint code, trim package contents, dealer-installed extras — is not part of the federal NHTSA VPIC dataset. CheckMyVIN can confirm engine family (EcoBoost / Coyote / PowerStroke / Hybrid), assembly plant, model year, body class, and recall history pulled live from NHTSA, but it cannot, for example, return the original FX4 Off-Road package contents or the dealer-installed extended warranty. For the original spec sheet your best authoritative source is a Ford dealer, who can print the build sheet from the VIN through Ford's service system — the Ford Owner site at ford.com also retains the original sale configuration when the VIN is linked to your account. CheckMyVIN never claims options data it cannot verify against the NHTSA record.
Ford VIN decoder FAQ
Is the Ford VIN decoder free?
Yes — every Ford VIN lookup on CheckMyVIN is free, no signup, no email gate, no usage cap on individual users. Data comes from the public NHTSA VPIC API. The optional "full vehicle history report" link at the bottom of each report is an affiliate to a paid third-party history service; you can ignore it.
How do I read a Ford VIN (including F-150, Mustang, Ranger, Bronco)?
A Ford VIN is 17 characters: position 1 is the country (1 = USA, 2 = Canada, 3 = Mexico), positions 2-3 are the Ford division (1FT light truck, 1FA passenger car, 1FM MPV/SUV, 1FD F-450+), position 10 is the model year (D = 2013, see the year table on this page), and position 11 is the assembly plant. Enter the VIN above and CheckMyVIN reads every field via the official NHTSA database, regardless of whether the truck is an F-150, Super Duty, Ranger, Transit, Mustang, Bronco, Explorer, Expedition, Maverick, or any other Ford in NHTSA records.
Where is the VIN located on a Ford?
Three places on every modern Ford: the dash plate at the base of the windshield (visible from outside, driver side), the driver-door jamb certification sticker, and on the title / registration. F-150 and Super Duty trucks ALSO have the VIN stamped on the frame rail behind the front wheel — useful when restoring an older truck where the dash plate is missing.
My Ford has an 11-character or 13-character VIN — can you decode an old Ford VIN?
Honestly: not fully. Federal law standardized VINs at 17 characters in 1981; pre-1981 Fords (and many vintage/antique trucks) used shorter 11- or 13-character VIN formats with a different structure (no standardized check digit, no global WMI registry). NHTSA's VPIC database has limited coverage of these older vehicles, and CheckMyVIN will not invent fields it cannot verify. For pre-1981 Ford VINs your best resources are Ford historian groups, marque clubs (e.g. the Early Ford V-8 Club for 1932-1953), and the Ford Heritage Vault — they specialize in the era-specific decoding tables. Some competitors claim to "decode" 11-digit Ford VINs but the output is largely placeholder; treat any such tool with skepticism.
Can I find my Ford keyless-entry code from the VIN?
No — the keyless-entry code (the 5-digit factory keypad code on F-150 / Explorer / Expedition) is NOT encoded in the VIN. It is set per-vehicle at the assembly plant and stored separately. The right way to retrieve it: check the printed sticker inside the front passenger fuse box cover (many Ford trucks 2011+), pull it from the BCM via OBD with the Ford dealership-grade IDS / FDRS tools, or have a Ford dealer look it up from the VIN through their service system (they have access — we don't). Beware sites that claim to decode the keyless code from the VIN; that information is simply not in the 17 characters.
Can I find my Ford paint code from the VIN?
No — paint code is not part of the federal NHTSA VPIC dataset. The right place to look is the door-jamb certification sticker (driver-side), which lists a 2-3 character paint code (e.g. "YZ" = Oxford White, "UM" = Agate Black). On older Fords the paint code is on a separate body data plate. A Ford dealer can also pull it from the VIN. CheckMyVIN will never invent a paint code from VIN characters — the field doesn't exist there.
Can I check Ford recalls with the VIN?
Yes. CheckMyVIN automatically queries the NHTSA recall API alongside the decode and shows every open campaign for the year/model/make combination. Examples appear on the /ford/recall page with the official NHTSA campaign numbers (format: 19V075000 etc.) and links to the NHTSA recall portal so you can verify.