Seventeen characters · one car · one answer
Every car you sold is still out there.
Keep the VIN of every car you’ve owned in one garage. We take each 17-character VIN apart, tell you what its characters mean, and hand you the exact searches that turn a number back into a car.
What the number says
Seventeen characters, one car.
Every modern VIN is built the same way. Tap a section to see what it holds.
The first character is the country (1 is the United States), and the next two name the maker. HG is Honda.
Example: a 2003 Honda Accord. Your VIN is on the dashboard, the door jamb and your paperwork.
Two decoders, one site
Which era is your VIN from?
Vehicle numbering split into two eras in 1981, and the two halves don’t read the same way. Pick the one that matches your car.
Classic VIN decoder
Pre-1981 cars used manufacturer-specific numbering that the 17-character standard can’t read — AMC, Camaro, Mustang, Charger and more, each with its own format, sourced from factory documentation rather than guesswork.
21 makes · back to 1946 Decode a classic VIN → 1981 — today 17charactersModern VIN decoder
Every car and truck built since 1981 carries a standardised 17-character VIN, decoded instantly against NHTSA’s public database — year, make, model, engine, plant, and the check digit that proves the number is real.
Live NHTSA data Decode a modern VIN →Three steps
From a VIN to “there it is.”
Type it once
Year, make and model decode from NHTSA automatically. Add the years you had it, then keep it private or give it a public page.
Line them all up
Every car you’ve owned in one list, in the order you owned them. Private by default; public per vehicle when you want to show it off.
Mark it found
Mark it found when you spot it — listed, scrapped or still rolling. Everything else stays searching until it turns up.
Where a VIN turns up
Six places worth checking.
One tap sends the exact VIN to each of them, pre-quoted, so you are not fighting the search box.
The broadest net — listings, forums, local ads that mention the VIN directly.
Best for recent listingsBing
Different index, different results — often turns up what Google’s already dropped.
Worth the second lookCARFAX®
Title history, accidents and odometer readings, if a report exists for the VIN.
Best for historyClassic.com
Auction results and dealer listings for collector cars — the place to look once a car has become a classic.
Best for collector carsHemmings
The classic-car marketplace, with listings and auctions for older and collectible vehicles.
Best for pre-1981 carseBay
eBay Motors listings, where a VIN often turns up in the description of a car or a parts car.
Best for odd findsA garage in progress
This is what yours looks like.
Nissan Pathfinder
5N1AR18B08C600139Pontiac Firebird
1G2AW87T5BN111316Buick Regal
1G6KD5RS2JU100175Chevrolet Camaro
1G1FE1R7XJ0173925Sort by year, make, model or status. Flip any vehicle between public and private from the same row.
Recall check
Open recalls, pulled live from NHTSA.
Any VIN, yours or not. Useful before you buy, and useful when the car you sold is still someone else’s problem.
Run a recall check ↗Look it up by make
Know the brand? Start there.
Every manufacturer codes its VINs a little differently. Pick yours to see what its codes mean, including pre-1981 formats.
Discover
Public garages, if you feel like showing off.
Straight answers
What is FormerCars?
FormerCars is a personal VIN garage that lets you save vehicle VINs, organize basic details, and keep track of cars or trucks you once owned, still own, or simply want to remember.
Is FormerCars free to use?
Yes. FormerCars is designed to be a simple, free way to start saving VINs and organizing your vehicle history in one place.
What can I save in my VIN garage?
You can save a VIN along with vehicle details such as year, make, model, trim, color, notes, a photo, and whether you have marked that vehicle as found again.
Are my saved VINs public?
By default, vehicles you add get a shareable public page so you can show a car you’re tracking. You can make any vehicle private with one click when adding or editing it, and private vehicles never appear in public listings or search.