How to Check and Decode a Chrysler VIN
Your Chrysler VIN is usually located on the driver’s side dashboard or door jamb and encodes identifying features of your vehicle.
Written by Shannon Fitzgerald
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
You can usually find a Chrysler VIN on the driver’s side dashboard or door jamb. Decoding it will let you know information about the manufacturer, vehicle assembly, model year, and series, amongst other factors.
A vehicle’s identification number, or VIN, is required in almost all the paperwork you’ll file with the DMV—from registration and renewals to the vehicle title. But what exactly do those 17 digits communicate?
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How to check your Chrysler’s VIN
The VIN on your Chrysler, or vehicle identification number, is a series of 17 unique digits that identify and classify the specific Chrysler you drive.
You can find your Chrysler’s VIN in multiple locations in your car, including:
- Your insurance card
- On your dashboard—usually a sticker or metal tag on the driver’s side
- In your door jamb—usually a sticker inside the driver’s side
Most Chryslers will have the VIN fixed in these areas. But it is usually located in other areas of the car, as well—such as the engine compartment under the hood.
How to decode a Chrysler VIN
Though your Chrysler’s VIN is useful for identification purposes with the DMV, there is actually quite a bit of information encoded in its digits.
These digits were standardized in 1981 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)—though they’d been in use in the U.S. since the 1950s—as a means of communicating production and vehicle information across both brands and borders.
All ten numeric digits (0-9) are used in a VIN, as well as every letter of the alphabet except I, O, and Q. This is because I, O, and Q are often misidentified as the numbers 1, 0, and 9. To prevent confusion, VINs will never include those letters.
First position: country of origin
The first digit of a VIN is always going to indicate where in the world the vehicle was manufactured, or its country of origin.
The number 1 means that your Chrysler was manufactured in the United States. Numbers 2 and 3, however, mean that it was manufactured in Canada or Mexico, respectively.
Positions 2-3: manufacturer information
The second character of your Chrysler’s VIN lets you know who the manufacturer is. For a Chrysler, you can decode this as such:
The third character of your VIN, combined with the second character, helps indicate what type of vehicle you’re driving. For Chryslers, the number 3 is usually used for passenger vehicles, like a
Chrysler 300
, whereas number 4 stands for multipurpose vehicles like the Grand Voyager. Positions 4-8: vehicle-specific information
Digits 4-8 of your VIN encode vehicle-specific information. On a Chrysler, the 4th digit will usually communicate the safety restraint system your vehicle uses, while digits 5-8 list the model, vehicle class, body type, and engine type.
Position 9: the VIN check digit
The 9th digit of all VINs is called a “check digit” and is used to verify the validity of the VIN. Essentially, this is a code generated by the manufacturer to ensure that no one tries to create a fake VIN based off the standard information codes.
Position 10: model year
The 10th digit of your Chrysler’s VIN reflects the year of the model. Because new models emerge every year, however, VINs end up needing to re-use digits that they’ve used in previous years.
Since this can get a little complicated, here’s a guide to the model year codes for the past twenty or so years:
Code | Year |
|---|---|
1 | 2001 |
2 | 2002 |
3 | 2003 |
4 | 2004 |
5 | 2005 |
6 | 2006 |
7 | 2007 |
8 | 2008 |
9 | 2009 |
A | 2010 |
B | 1981 OR 2011 |
C | 1982 OR 2012 |
D | 1983 OR 2013 |
E | 1984 OR 2014 |
F | 1985 OR 2015 |
G | 1986 OR 2016 |
H | 1987 OR 2017 |
J | 1988 OR 2018 |
K | 1989 OR 2019 |
L | 1990 OR 2020 |
M | 1991 OR 2021 |
N | 1992 OR 2022 |
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Position 11: assembly plant
You can tell which plant location assembled your Chrysler by taking a look at the 11th digit of the VIN. Chrysler’s plants are typically encoded as follows:
- D—Belvidere, Illinois
- H, R—Brampton, Ontario or Windsor, Ontario
- N—Sterling Heights, Michigan
- V—Warren, Michigan
- W, L—Toledo, Ohio
- C, 8—Detroit, MI
- G, E, T, D—Saltillo, Cuahuila or Toluca, Mexico
Positions 12-17: vehicle serial number
The last six digits of your Chrysler’s VIN are the vehicle’s serial number. These are usually designated by production sequence and are completely unique to your individual Chrysler.
How to find affordable Chrysler insurance
No matter how much you’re paying for your premium, your insurance card will always have your Chrysler VIN on it. With
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