Volkswagen VIN · Factory options
Volkswagen VIN decoder: the factory options by VIN
A Volkswagen 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 Volkswagen against it, on the factory build sheet.
Volkswagen 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
6Y
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
What can you find out from a Volkswagen VIN?
Volkswagen manufacturer codes
| Code (characters 1 to 3) | What it identifies |
|---|---|
| WVW | Volkswagen — the cars |
| WVG | Volkswagen — the SUVs and MPVs |
| WV1 | Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles |
| WV2 | Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles |
On European-market cars Volkswagen fills characters 4 to 8 with ZZZ and a model code rather than a full vehicle description, so a European VW VIN reads WVWZZZfollowed by the model code, the model-year letter and the serial number. The middle of the number is not hiding a specification — there is nothing there to read.
Volkswagen does use the tenth character for the model year on most cars. That is the model year, not the registration date; the V5C carries the date of first registration.
What a Volkswagen 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 Volkswagen against the number, which is the distinction every VIN decoder glosses over.
That record is the factory build sheet. For a Volkswagen it returns the paint name and usually its code, the trim, the gearbox and the three-character PR 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
Where to look on the car first
Volkswagen prints the car's PR codes on a label in the service book and on a sticker under the boot floor or in the spare-wheel well, with the paint code alongside. If the service book has gone, so has the easiest copy.
If it is your own Volkswagen, the My Volkswagen app and a Volkswagen retailer can both look the original specification 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 · Vauxhall · MINI · Jaguar · Land Rover.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What are VW PR codes?
PR codes are the three-character codes Volkswagen Group uses for every item a car was built with — gearbox, wheels, seats, each option pack. They appear on the label in the service book and under the boot floor, and on the build sheet with a description beside each one.
Why is my VW VIN full of Zs?
Because Volkswagen Group fills the vehicle-description part of a European VIN with ZZZ instead of coding the model, body and engine into it the way US-market VINs do. It is normal, and it means a VIN decoder has very little to work from on a European VW.
Where is the VIN on a Volkswagen?
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 Volkswagen build sheet show?
The factory paint name and, on most recent cars, its code; the interior trim; the gearbox; and the three-character PR 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 Volkswagen that is usually the more useful answer. The service history is what Volkswagen'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.
Related
More on Volkswagen
Get the Volkswagen build sheet
Paint, trim, gearbox and every option code Volkswagen built into the car. £3.99, and nothing to pay if there is no record.
Get the build sheet · £3.99