VIN year chart: the 10th digit

Character 10 of a 17-digit VIN encodes the model year. Letters run A–Y (skipping I, O, Q, U, Z and 0) for 1980–2000, digits 1–9 cover 2001–2009, then the letters repeat from 2010. The full cycle spans 30 years, so every code maps to two possible years.

Which of the two years is right?

Use the rest of the VIN: the plant code, the serial number range and the car's visible generation usually settle it in seconds. A vehicle can't be from the future, and a visibly-1990s car with a "2019" letter has simply rolled into the second cycle.

The motorcycle trap

The 30-year repeat bites hardest on motorcycles because generations last longer. The letter B means both 1981 and 2011 — a difference of three decades. Always match the code against the bike's visible generation (brakes, switchgear, emissions hardware) before assuming a mismatched title is fraud. More on the motorcycle VIN decoder page.

Rather have it read for you? Decode the full VIN — year, plant, engine and more.