Decode Your Scion Vin Number (How To)

Ever wonder what all the codes and numbers mean? Insurance companies and dealerships do and so should you!

(these guidelines will apply to vehicles from 1996 +)





JTKDE167360121832 <----right there is a real VIN for a Scion tC (not mine)

so, let's evaluate:

character 1 (J) shows the country of origin, J is Japan (duh); some other examples would be:

1,5,4 are US and 2 would be Canada, 3 is Mexico. If you look at a Scion VIN and it ever says anything other than J for the first character, it's a trap.








JTKDE167360121832

character 2 is showing you that Toyota makes the vehicle








JTKDE167360121832

character 3 indicates the type of vehicle: in this case it's a passenger car, other characters for passenger car would be G,K,X,1,2,7,N --- others would be truck or other.






JTKDE167360121832

character 4 indicates the body type, how many doors and what wheel drive, "D" indicates a 3-door lift-back with 2WD, this applies to the Scion tC.






JTKDE167360121832

character 5, my favorite refers to the Toyota engine, this this case, "D" or "E" is a 2AZ-FE, other letters are out there for you to research and discover on your own.






JTKDE167360121832 (character 6 will vary depending on the chassis code given for the vehicle, a Scion tC uses an ANT-10 chassis)






JTKDE167360121832

character 7 tells you the type of restraint system equipped on the car, this case "6" means "Manual Belts w/2 Airbags, Side Airbags, Curtain Shield Airbags, and Knee Airbag (Driver Seat)"






JTKDE167360121832

character 8 tells you the vehicle platform, in this case "7" is used exclusively for the Scion tC on all Toyota vehicles. "7" means Scion tC only.






JTKDE167360121832 (character 9 is a check digit, you'll have to research this one on your own)






JTKDE167360121832

character 10 tells you the year, so this is a 2006. 2011 models will have "B" and letters moving forward.






JTKDE167360121832

character 11 gives you the plant location, if you have a number that means the car is made at a Japanese plant. Other Toyota models will have a letter at this location, indicating the vehicle was assembled at a location outside of Japan.

eg: a character U means the vehicle was assembled at Toyota's Georgetown KY plant

no Scion is made in a US location (to date), so you should only see a number at character 11.









JTKDE167360121832

The rest of the characters; this applies to all VIN, 12-17 index digits are like a unique DNA identifier that is only for you.