How Do I Check Which State A Vehicle Is Registered In?

Locate the Vehicle Identification Number

Finding Your VIN

You lot can locate your vehicle identification number in a few dissimilar places, both off and on your vehicle itself.

Off the Vehicle

If you need to discover your VIN, you tin first check any documentation y'all accept for the vehicle, such as:

Vehicle championship.
Registration card.
Insurance documents.
Possessor's manual.
Body shop repair records.
Police reports.
Vehicle history study or VIN check.

If y'all don't have the documentation mentioned above, you can detect the VIN on the actual vehicle itself.

On the Vehicle

The VIN tin often be institute on the lower-left corner of the dashboard, in front of the steering bicycle. Yous tin can read the number by looking through the windshield. The VIN may as well announced in a number of other locations:

Forepart of the engine block. This should be easy to spot by popping open up the hood, and looking at the front end of the engine.
Front of the auto frame, nigh the container that holds windshield washer fluid.
Rear wheel well. Try looking up, directly higher up the tire.
Inside the driver-side doorjamb. Open up the door, and look underneath where the side-view mirror would be located if the door was shut.
Driver-side doorpost. Open the door, and await nigh the spot where the door latches, not too far from the seatbelt return.
Underneath the spare tire.

If you still tin can't locate the VIN, attempt consulting your vehicle manua50. Or, telephone call a dealership or the manufacturer and request guidance. Yous will demand it to exercise a VIN cheque.

Recording Your VIN

Once y'all know your VIN, it's important to tape and store the number some place other than in the vehicle. This information is helpful in a number of situations:

Helping constabulary enforcement officials recover your car, should someone steal it.
Sellingyour automobile to someone else and filling out a nib of auction.
Registering a brand new vehicle, or registering your auto in a new state if you lot've recently moved.

Why Do Vehicles Have VINs?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Assistants (NHTSA) began requiring standardized VINs in 1954 for all route vehicles.

Vehicles model twelvemonth 1981 and newer take a VIN made up of 17 characters (letters and numerals). Before that, the VIN length and format varied among vehicles.

The VIN provides clues equally to a vehicle'due south groundwork, including:

The manufacturer.
Model year.
Where it was congenital.

In other words, the vehicle identification number records the vehicle's identity. To larn what the individual characters in a VIN represent, visit our folio on decoding the VIN.