Vauxhall VIN · Factory options

Vauxhall VIN decoder: the factory options by VIN

A Vauxhall VIN identifies the maker, the type and the serial number. The trim, the options and the paint code are not in it — they are held by Vauxhall against it, on the factory build sheet.

Vauxhall build sheet by VIN or registration

The make, model, colour and year are shown free, before anything is charged.

The registration is enough. Prefer the VIN? It's on the V5C and at the base of the windscreen.

What you get

2022 Audi A4 40 TDI quattro

Paint

Daytona grey pearl effect

Also on the same sheet

Interior trim: Soul (black) (EI)
Gearbox: 7-speed automatic, quattro
Equipment codes: 182 items, by code and description

From a real build sheet. Most recent cars carry the paint code; for some older ones the manufacturer recorded only the colour name.

What can you find out from a Vauxhall VIN?

It gives the manufacturer (VXE on most Vauxhalls), a description of the vehicle in Vauxhall's own coding and the serial number. Its real use is as a key: with it you can retrieve Vauxhall's factory build sheet, which lists the factory option codes with their descriptions, the paint and the trim. None of that is inside the number itself.

Vauxhall manufacturer codes

Code (characters 1 to 3)	What it identifies
VXE	Vauxhall Motors
W0L	Adam Opel AG — UK cars on this code wear the Vauxhall badge
W0V	Opel Automobile GmbH, 2017 onwards — Corsa F, Astra L
VXK	Opel Espana, Figueruelas — Corsa and Mokka

A Vauxhall is an Opel with a different badge, and the VIN usually says Opel. W0L and W0V are Opel codes, and a UK car carrying one of them wears the Vauxhall badge on exactly the same number — so a decoder telling you your Vauxhall is an Opel is right, not broken. VXE is Vauxhall Motors itself.

Cars from about 2017 onwards are Stellantis-era, on PSA platforms, and the codes on their build sheets read differently from the older GM ones. Use the date of first registration on the V5C to tell which side of that line a car falls.

What a Vauxhall VIN cannot tell you

Not the trim, not the options, not the paint code, not the interior and nothing about the car's past. Those are not stored in the number. They are stored by Vauxhall against the number, which is the distinction every VIN decoder glosses over.

That record is the factory build sheet. For a Vauxhall it returns the paint name and usually its code, the trim, the gearbox and the factory option codes with their descriptions.

Paint: Daytona grey pearl effect (6Y)
Interior trim: Soul (black) (EI)
Gearbox: 7-speed automatic, quattro
Equipment codes: 182 items, by code and description

From a real build sheet for a 2022 Audi A4 40 TDI quattro. Most recent cars carry the paint code; on some older ones the manufacturer recorded only the colour name.

Where to look on the car first

Vauxhall records the paint code on the data label, usually on the driver's door pillar, the one that also carries the tyre pressures. The option list is not on it.

If it is your own Vauxhall, the myVauxhall app and a Vauxhall retailer can both look the car up from the VIN.

If the label has gone, the book is missing or the car is not yours yet, the build sheet is the way to the same information — which is the common case when you are looking at a car to buy.

The 17 characters, in three blocks

A VIN (vehicle identification number) is always 17 characters, letters and digits, with I, O and Q left out so they cannot be confused with 1 and 0. The layout follows the international standard, ISO 3779:

Characters	Name	What they carry
1 to 3	WMI	The manufacturer and the region it built the car in — the first character gives the part of the world
4 to 9	VDS	A description of the vehicle in each maker's own coding: model, body, sometimes the engine. Many makers use the ninth as a check digit
10 to 17	VIS	The car itself: depending on the maker, the model year and the plant, then the serial number

The first character is the region: S to Z for Europe, J to R for Asia, 1 to 5 for North America. With the second it gives the country — W for Germany, S for the United Kingdom, V for France and Spain, Z for Italy, J for Japan, KM or KN for South Korea.

Other makes

VIN and factory options by make: Audi · BMW · Mercedes-Benz · Volkswagen · MINI · Jaguar · Land Rover.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my Vauxhall VIN say Opel?

Because it is the same car. Vauxhall and Opel are one manufacturer with two badges, and UK cars are built on the Opel manufacturer codes W0L and W0V. A decoder that returns Opel for a Vauxhall VIN has read it correctly.

Can I get a Vauxhall build sheet from the registration?

Yes — enter the registration and we resolve the VIN behind it before the sheet is fetched. You see the make, model, colour and year free, and the sheet is charged only if the manufacturer holds one.

Where is the VIN on a Vauxhall?

On the V5C, at the base of the windscreen on the driver's side, in the driver's door frame and stamped into the body. They should all read the same.

What does the Vauxhall build sheet show?

The factory paint name and, on most recent cars, its code; the interior trim; the gearbox; and the factory option codes with their descriptions. It does not separate standard equipment from options, and it carries no list prices — whether an item cost extra depends on the model and trim.

How much is it, and what if there is no record?

£3.99 per vehicle, no account and no subscription. The amount is authorised on your card and taken only once the manufacturer's record comes back. If there is nothing on file, the authorisation is released and you are not charged.

Can I check the service history with the VIN too?

Yes, and on a Vauxhall that is usually the more useful answer. The service history is what Vauxhall's own dealer network recorded against the VIN — dates, mileages, the work done and the workshop. £9.99, and nothing to pay if we find no records.

Get the Vauxhall build sheet

Paint, trim, gearbox and every option code Vauxhall built into the car. £3.99, and nothing to pay if there is no record.

Get the build sheet · £3.99