Peugeot VIN decoder: VF3, VR3 and the engine code in the middle

VF3, VR3 and VS8: the first three characters

VF3 is Peugeot’s code for cars built in France. The Wikibooks register lists VR3 for Peugeot under Stellantis, and VS8 for Peugeots built in Spain.

Peugeots from outside Europe start differently. The same register gives 8AD for Argentina, 936 for Brazil and LDC for Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën in China, so the first three characters tell you who built the car and in which country.

Peugeot VIN decoder, position by position

Wikibooks documents the PSA layout for cars built from 2009 and marks it as valid for Citroën as well. Older Peugeots follow earlier layouts, so decode those in the catalog.

• Positions 1 to 3: maker and country, such as VF3
• Position 4: model line, such as C for the 208
• Position 5: body type
• Positions 6 to 8: engine type code
• Position 10: production year
• Position 11: assembly plant
• Positions 12 to 17: serial number

Position 4 settles the model

The Wikibooks list gives C for the 208, U for the 2008 and M for the 3008, and both 9 and 4 appear for the 308. B is the Expert van and 7 covers the 306 and the Partner. If a customer asks for 3008 parts and position 4 reads U, the car on your ramp is a 2008.

Model names travel between generations, so position 4 is a first check and nothing more. The generation, the engine and the equipment come from the full decode.

The engine type code in positions 6 to 8

The sample VIN on the Wikibooks page is VF38DRHRHBL067462. The 8 in position 4 is the line Wikibooks gives for the 406 and 508, and positions 6 to 8 spell RHR.

RHR is the PSA type code for the DW10BTED4, the 2.0 HDi with 136 PS, so those three characters lead you to the engine the car left the factory with. Our post on Peugeot engine codes matches the common type codes to their families.

Position 11: where the car was built

In the Wikibooks table S is Sochaux, Y Mulhouse and W Poissy, all in France. T is Trnava in Slovakia, 4 is the Zaragoza plant in Spain and 5 is Kenitra in Morocco.

The current 3008 is built in Sochaux and the current 308 in Mulhouse. The second-generation 208 comes from Trnava, Zaragoza and Kenitra, while the first 208 was built in Mulhouse, Poissy and Trnava among other plants. The plant letter is a quick cross-check that the VIN and the car in front of you agree.

Vans carry the plant letters of shared factories

Peugeot vans come from plants shared with other brands, and position 11 shows which one. Wikibooks lists Z for Sevel Nord in Lieu-Saint-Amand, which builds the Expert and the Traveller, and 7 for the Vauxhall plant in Luton, which has built them too.

A Boxer carries 2 for Sevel Sud in Atessa, Italy, or G for Gliwice in Poland, and 8 marks a Partner from Ellesmere Port in England. If a van’s plant letter points to a factory you did not expect, decode the VIN before you trust the model name on the tailgate.

From the VIN to the parts

The free VIN decoder reads the maker, the country and the year. For the build itself, open the Peugeot parts catalog: Service Box resolves the VIN to the engine, gearbox and equipment of that car and shows the genuine references for it, with supersessions applied.

Enter the VIN once and the diagrams that open belong to that engine and body. The catalog covers parts. Recall status is a separate lookup with the manufacturer, which our guide to checking recalls by VIN walks through.