Ford VIN Positions Explained

This page breaks a 17 character Ford VIN down position by position, so you can see exactly what each character stands for. It works as a companion to the pillar guide on how to read a Ford VIN, and as a quick lookup when you have a number in front of you.

The table below lists each position and what it tells you on a modern Ford VIN.

Position	What it means
1 to 3	World Manufacturer Identifier, the maker and country, such as 1FA for a Ford car from the United States or WF0 for Ford of Europe
4 to 8	Vehicle descriptor, including the body style, the restraint system, the series and the engine
9	Check digit, calculated from all the other characters to catch errors and tampering
10	Model year code
11	Assembly plant code
12 to 17	Production sequence number, unique to the individual vehicle

The single most useful position for a buyer is the engine information in the descriptor section, because that is what confirms whether a car really has the V8, the turbocharged unit or the diesel that the seller claims. The check digit at position nine is the most useful for spotting a bad number, since a VIN whose check digit does not add up has either been mistyped or altered.

Remember that the letters I, O and Q never appear in a VIN, so if you think you see one of those it is really a one or a zero. And remember that this position by position logic applies to vehicles from 1981 onward, since earlier Fords use shorter numbers with a different layout.