How to Find a VIN Number
You’ll need the VIN for two of the most important financial decisions of your life: buying a car and selling a car. If you’re buying a car, which ranks second only to buying a home in Big Important Life Decisions (though you shouldn’t quote me on that), you should know the VIN. If you’re selling your car, additional information sets the buyer’s mind at ease and is best done by providing the VIN.
The Easy Way
If you are the owner of the car, you’re probably going to have your vehicle’s VIN listed on a couple of places. Take a closer look at your insurance card and see if you can find the 17-character VIN on it (if your car was made before 1981, the VIN may be shorter). Also try looking at your insurance policy, or at the title and registration of the vehicle. If you are buying a used car, it isn’t unreasonable for you to ask the seller for the VIN number.
The Not-As-Easy Way
If you can’t find your VIN in any of these places, your car will give up the information. If it’s not your car, the owner might not want to go around showing you his title and registration, but will probably let you take a closer look at the car. The most common location of the VIN on cars made on or after 1969 have the VIN on the driver’s side of the dashboard. This is usually viewable through the windshield. Another pretty common location you can try to look for the VIN is under the hood. Just raise it and take a look at the front of the engine block.
Other VIN-Finding Options
If you still can’t find it, try looking in the rear wheel well by kneeling and looking up into the wheel well. You can also look underneath the spare tire. Other models also display the VIN location in the driver’s side door on the door post, where the door locks when you close it.
The Vehicle Identification Number is a fountain of information for the buyer and the seller. It can open up a can of worms and warn you against buying it, or it can instill confidence in a potential buyer. Always remember, though, if you’re having a suspiciously hard time finding the VIN on a car, TV has taught us that this is a pretty bad sign.
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