Subaru VIN decoder: engine in position 6, plant and gearbox in position 11

Subaru WMIs: Japan or Indiana

Subaru’s VINs start with one of four codes on cars sold in North America. JF1 is a passenger car built in Japan and JF2 a Japanese-built SUV. 4S3 and 4S4 are the car and SUV codes for Subaru of Indiana Automotive in Lafayette, the plant Subaru first built with Isuzu in the late 1980s.

JF1 also appears on cars that do not carry a Subaru badge. The Toyota GR86 is built by Subaru in Gunma alongside the BRZ and starts with the same code, as our Toyota VIN decoder notes.

Subaru VIN decoder table for positions 4 to 8

Position 4 is the model line. S is Forester, B is Legacy and Outback, G is Impreza and Crosstrek, V is the WRX from 2015, W is the Ascent and Z is the BRZ. Position 5 is the body style, position 6 the engine and position 7 the model and trim. Position 8 holds the restraint system on cars and the weight class on SUVs.

Position 9 is the check digit and position 10 the model year: P is 2023, R 2024, S 2025 and T 2026.

Engine codes in position 6

Subaru reuses its engine letters across lines, so position 6 needs position 4 beside it. A is the 2.5-liter FB25D on a 2020 to 2025 Outback or Legacy and a 2019 to 2024 Forester. On an Ascent or a 2022-on WRX the same A is the 2.4-liter FA24F turbo, and on a 2017 to 2023 Impreza it is the 2.0-liter FB20D.

G is the FA24F turbo in the 2020 to 2025 Outback XT and Legacy XT. The 2026 Outback moved to new letters, P for the FB25D and R for the FA24F turbo, and S marks the FB25D hybrid in the Forester Hybrid and 2026 Crosstrek Hybrid. For timing, gasket and turbo parts, confirm the engine against the full code in the catalog.

Position 11: plant and transmission in one character

Subaru encodes the gearbox with the plant. On Indiana-built cars, 3 means full-time all-wheel drive with a CVT, the combination found on the Legacy, Outback 2.5, Ascent and later Crosstrek. At the Yajima plant in Gunma, H is all-wheel drive with a CVT on the 2014 to 2025 Forester and the 2016 to 2025 Crosstrek, and G the six-speed manual on the 2018 to 2023 Crosstrek.

At the Gunma main plant, 8 on a WRX, Impreza or Crosstrek is all-wheel drive with a CVT and 9 on a WRX the six-speed manual. On the rear-drive BRZ and GR86 from the same plant, 8 is the six-speed automatic and 9 the manual. A clutch kit or CVT filter ordered against the wrong reading tends to come back.

The 2026 plant swap

Subaru of Indiana built its last Legacy on September 12, 2025 and ended Outback production around October 2025, when Forester production started there. The 2026 Outback comes from Yajima and shows Y in position 11. So a 2025 Outback starts 4S4 and a 2026 Outback JF2, while the Forester moves the other way. Record the plant on the job card next to the year, because two Foresters a year apart can come from different continents.

Outside North America, and what the catalog adds

The tables above apply to North American Subarus. Cars built for Europe and other markets follow the international VIN standard, which does not require a check digit or a model-year character. Japanese home-market Subarus often carry a frame number built on the model code, such as SK for the fifth-generation Forester launched in 2018, followed by a serial. VIN vs chassis number explains where to find it.

The free VIN decoder reads the maker, country and model year. The Subaru catalog on VINsearch decodes the full VIN or frame number to the model, engine, transmission and trim, and lists the genuine parts with supersessions. Recalls and repair procedures come from Subaru’s dealer and service channels. Coverage is on the Subaru catalog page.