Reference

VIN year chart: model year codes, 1980 to 2039

The 10th character of a VIN is the model year. It uses a thirty-character cycle that repeats, so every code means two possible years.

By Pixoware. Published 12 September 2026, updated 28 October 2026.

Position 10 of a VIN is the model year. It is a single character, and the same character comes round every thirty years, so on its own it is ambiguous. For most cars, SUVs and light trucks the federal VIN rule supplies a second clue in position 7. This page gives the full code table, the exact rule for resolving it, where that rule stops working, and why the model year is not the year the vehicle was built.

Why one code means two years

The model year codes run through thirty characters: the letters A to Y, skipping I, O, Q and U, then the digits 1 to 9. Z and 0 are never used. The year table in 49 CFR 565.15 (Table VII) simply leaves those characters out. After thirty years the sequence starts again, so A means 1980 or 2010, and S means 1995 or 2025.

The same regulation forbids two vehicles built within a sixty-year period, starting with the 1980 model year, from sharing a VIN. A thirty-year year code could not guarantee that on its own. Something else in the VIN has to say which cycle a vehicle belongs to.

The position 7 rule

NHTSA rewrote Part 565 in 2008, ahead of the 2010 model year, when the letter A would come round again. The new rule, 49 CFR 565.15(b), requires position 7 to be a letter for some vehicles, and the note to the year table explains how to read it. In the regulation's words:

“For passenger cars, and for multipurpose passenger vehicles and trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4536 kg (10,000 lb) or less, if position 7 is numeric, the Model Year in position 10 of the VIN refers to a year in the range 1980–2009. If position 7 is alphabetic, the Model Year in Position 10 of the VIN refers to a year in the range 2010–2039.”

NHTSA's stated purpose, in the 2008 final rule, was “to enable VIN users to determine in which 30-year period a vehicle was manufactured.”

The older half of the rule works because of how earlier VINs were laid out. The previous version of the requirements, which still governs vehicles their manufacturers identify as model year 2009 or earlier (Subpart C of Part 565), required the same classes of vehicle to have letters in positions 4 and 5 and digits in positions 6 and 7. So a light vehicle from the 1980s, 1990s or 2000s should have a digit in position 7, and one from 2010 onward a letter.

The switch was tied to the code itself. The new rules applied to vehicles manufactured on or after 27 October 2008 whose VINs carry A or B in position 10, and to all vehicles manufactured on or after 30 April 2009, unless the manufacturer identifies them as model year 2009 or earlier.

An example

Take an illustrative VIN: 1HGAB1CD2TK123456. It uses a real Honda passenger car WMI, but the rest is invented and describes no real vehicle. Position 7 is C, a letter, so the T in position 10 means 2026, and that is what NHTSA's vPIC returned when we tested it on 26 October 2026. Change position 7 to a digit and recompute the check digit, giving 1HGAB12D0TK123456, and vPIC reads the same T as 1996.

The full table

The fourth column applies only to passenger cars, and to multipurpose vehicles and trucks of 10,000 lb GVWR or less. For everything else, see the next section.

Position 10 model year codes · 30 codes, two cycles
Code	1st cycle	2nd cycle	Position 7 (light vehicles)
A	1980	2010	digit → 1980 letter → 2010
B	1981	2011	digit → 1981 letter → 2011
C	1982	2012	digit → 1982 letter → 2012
D	1983	2013	digit → 1983 letter → 2013
E	1984	2014	digit → 1984 letter → 2014
F	1985	2015	digit → 1985 letter → 2015
G	1986	2016	digit → 1986 letter → 2016
H	1987	2017	digit → 1987 letter → 2017
J	1988	2018	digit → 1988 letter → 2018
K	1989	2019	digit → 1989 letter → 2019
L	1990	2020	digit → 1990 letter → 2020
M	1991	2021	digit → 1991 letter → 2021
N	1992	2022	digit → 1992 letter → 2022
P	1993	2023	digit → 1993 letter → 2023
R	1994	2024	digit → 1994 letter → 2024
S	1995	2025	digit → 1995 letter → 2025
T	1996	2026	digit → 1996 letter → 2026
V	1997	2027	digit → 1997 letter → 2027
W	1998	2028	digit → 1998 letter → 2028
X	1999	2029	digit → 1999 letter → 2029
Y	2000	2030	digit → 2000 letter → 2030
1	2001	2031	digit → 2001 letter → 2031
2	2002	2032	digit → 2002 letter → 2032
3	2003	2033	digit → 2003 letter → 2033
4	2004	2034	digit → 2004 letter → 2034
5	2005	2035	digit → 2005 letter → 2035
6	2006	2036	digit → 2006 letter → 2036
7	2007	2037	digit → 2007 letter → 2037
8	2008	2038	digit → 2008 letter → 2038
9	2009	2039	digit → 2009 letter → 2039

Where the rule stops working

The position 7 rule is narrower than it is often described.

Heavier trucks and multipurpose vehicles. Above 10,000 lb GVWR, position 7 has no required type, so a letter or digit there says nothing about the cycle.
Buses, trailers, motorcycles, low-speed vehicles and incomplete vehicles. These are not covered by the note to the year table either. A 1984 trailer and a 2014 trailer can carry the same position 10 code with nothing in the rule to tell them apart.
Vehicles not built to Part 565. A vehicle built for another market follows that market's rules, if any.
Errors. A misread position 7 moves the answer by thirty years. If the decoded year is plainly wrong for the car in front of you, recheck position 7 before anything else.

For those vehicles, the answer comes from the manufacturer's own filing, which is what a decoder built on NHTSA's database uses; from the title; or from the build date on the certification label, which at least narrows it to the right decade. Our decoder shows the model year NHTSA's vPIC returns for the VIN rather than calculating it from the table.

Model year, build date and sale date

These are three different things, and mixing them up causes most of the confusion about how old a car is.

Model year

Part 565 defines the model year as the year used to designate a discrete vehicle model, irrespective of the calendar year in which the vehicle was actually produced, provided the production period does not exceed 24 months. It is a label, not a date. The VIN records it, and the federal odometer disclosure made on the title when the vehicle changes hands states the year too.

For emissions certification, the EPA's rules add limits: a model year's production period can begin no earlier than 2 January of the previous calendar year and must end by 31 December of the year it is named for. So a 2027 model can legally be built during 2026.

Build date

The build date is on the certification label in the driver's door jamb, required by 49 CFR 567.4. It gives the month and year of manufacture, defined as when work was completed at the place of main assembly. The VIN does not encode it. See where to find the VIN for what else is on that label.

Sale date

The date the vehicle was first sold or registered is a fact about the transaction, not the vehicle. It appears on sales and registration paperwork, not in the VIN, and it can be months after the build date.

Why the difference matters for recalls

Recall lists, including ours, are organized by model year, make and model. But when a manufacturer reports a defect to NHTSA, Part 573 requires it to identify the affected passenger cars by make, line, model year and the inclusive dates (month and year) of manufacture. A recall can cover only part of a model year's production. Our recall lookup shows the campaigns listed for a year, make and model; whether a recall applies to, and is still open on, a particular vehicle is a question for NHTSA's own VIN lookup.

Quick answers

Which digit of a VIN is the model year?

The 10th character. Position 10 is the model year code, but the same code comes round every thirty years, so for most cars, SUVs and light trucks position 7 supplies a second clue to which cycle it belongs to.

How do I know if a VIN year code means the 1980s or the 2010s?

Look at position 7. For passenger cars, and for multipurpose vehicles and trucks of 10,000 lb GVWR or less, a digit there means a model year from 1980 to 2009 and a letter means 2010 to 2039. The rule does not cover heavier trucks and multipurpose vehicles, buses, trailers, motorcycles, low-speed vehicles or incomplete vehicles.

Which characters are never used for the VIN model year?

I, O, Q, U and Z, along with the digit 0. The model year codes run through the letters A to Y, skipping I, O, Q and U, then the digits 1 to 9.

Is the model year the same as the year the car was built?

No. The model year is a label for a vehicle model, not a date, and a 2027 model can legally be built during 2026. The build date is the month and year of manufacture on the certification label in the driver's door jamb, and the VIN does not encode it.

Sources

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