Toyota Identification Codes Can Be Understood By Any Of Us With The Following Brief Tutorial…

 

VIN format 1996-

Toyota used the following VIN format and codes in the USA after 1996.

Position	Sample	Description
1	J	Country of Origin
2	T	Manufacturer
3	4	Vehicle Type
4	T	Body Type
5	N	Engine
6	1	Series
7	2	Restraint
8	D	Model
9	8	Check digit
10	V	Model year
11	0	Plant
12	0	Sequential number
13	3
14	0
15	5
16	1
17	9

 VIN format 1980-1995

For vehicles older than 1996 (Model Year 1980-1995):

Position	Sample	Description
1	J	Country of Origin
2	T	Manufacturer
3	2	Vehicle Category
4	S	Engine Type
5	T	Model/Platform
6	8	Series
7	8	Model Grade
8	P	Body/Chassis Configuration
9	X	Check digit
10	P	Model year
11	0	Plant
12	1	Sequential number
13	0
14	8
15	3
16	8
17	5

 VIN positions

 Country of origin

Position 1

Code	Description
1	USA
2	Canada
3	Mexico
4	USA
5	USA
6	Australia
8	Argentina
9	Brazil
J	Japan
S	England

 Manufacturer

Position 2

Code	Description
1NX	NUMMI
T	Toyota

 Vehicle Type

Position 3

Code	Description
D,G,K,X,1,2,7,N	Passenger Car
A,B,M,4	Truck
B	Truck
E,L,3	Multipurpose Passenger Vehicle (SUV)
5	Incomplete Vehicle (typically a convertible)

 Body

Position 4 (1996-present)

Code	Description
A	2DR Sedan 2WD
B	4DR Sedan 2WD
C	2DR Coupe 2WD
D	3DR Liftback 2WD
F	2DR Convertible 2WD
G	4DR Wagon 2WD
H	4DR Wagon 4WD
J	4DR Truck 2WD
K	5DR Wagon 2WD
L	5DR Wagon 4WD
M	5DR Door Van 2WD
P	2DR Regular Cab Pickup 4WD
S	3DR Liftback 4WD
T	2DR Extended Cab Pickup 2WD
W	2DR Extended Cab Pickup 4WD?
Z	5DR Wagon 2WD

 Engine

Position 5 (1996-)

Code	Description
4	7A-FE Lean Burn
A	3MZ-FE
B	1NZ-FXE or Toyota AZ engine#2AZ-FXE|2AZ-FXE
D	2AZ-FE
E	2AZ-FE
F	1MZ-FE
G	5S-FE
H	1AZ-FE
J	1FZ-FE
K	2GR-FE
L	2RZ-FE
M	3RZ-FE
N	5VZ-FE
P	3S-FE
R	1ZZ-FE
S	1BM or Electric — RAV4 EV only
T	3S-GTE
U	1GR-FE
Y	2ZZ-GE

Position 4 (1980-1995)

• Letter indicates engine family; e.g. R represents the Toyota R engine|R series engines, S represents the S series engines, and so on.

 Series

Position 6

• Based on the Chassis code given for the car.

 Restraint

Position 7

Code	Description
0	Manual Belts w/2 Airbags and Curtain Airbags
1	Manual Belt / 1 STD
2	Manual Belts w/Drivers Side Airbag
3	Manual Belts w/2 Airbags
6	Manual Belts w/2 Airbags, Side Airbags, Curtain Shield Airbags, and Knee Airbag (Driver Seat)
7	Manual Belts w/2 Airbags and Knee Airbag (Driver Seat)
8	Manual Belts w/2 Airbags and Side Airbags

 Model/Platform

Position 8 (1996-)

Position 5 (1980-1995)

Code	Description
0	MR2 Spyder
1	Tundra
3	Echo and Yaris
4	xB and Scion xD
7	Scion tC
A	Highlander/Sequoia/Celica RWD/Supra
B	Avalon
C	Sienna and Previa
D	T100
E	Corolla/Matrix
F	FJ Cruiser
J	Land Cruiser
K	Camry
L	Tercel and Paseo
N	Tacoma and older trucks as well
P	Camry Solara
R	4Runner & Corolla
T	Celica FWD
U	Prius
V	RAV4
W	MR2 (non-spyder models)
X	Cressida

 Check digit

Position 9

VIN#Check digit calculation|Check Digit

 Model year

Position 10

10th character- Identifies the model year. For example: 1988(J), 1989(K), 1990(L), 1991(M), 1992(N), 1993(P), 1994(R), 1995(S), 1996(T),
1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000(Y)——2001(1), 2002(2), 2003(3)

VIN#Model year encoding|Model Year, e.g. 5 for 2005

 Plant

Position 11

Code	Description
0-9 (All numeric)	Japan
C	Cambridge, ON, CA (TMMC)
E	United Kingdom
K	Japan
M	Baja, CA, US
R	Lafayette, IN, US (Subaru of Indiana Automotive)
S	Princeton, IN, US
U	Georgetown, KY, US
W	Woodstock, ON, CA (TMMC)
X	San Antonio, TX, US
Z	Fremont, CA, US (NUMMI)