VIN 10th digit: the model year chart and how to read it

VIN 10th digit year chart, 2010 to 2030

US federal rule 49 CFR 565.15 sets the code for position 10, and the list below matches Table VII of that rule as published on eCFR. After Y for 2030 the cycle moves to digits, so 2031 is 1 and 2039 is 9.

The earlier cycle used the same characters. A stood for 1980, Y for 2000, and the digits 1 to 9 covered 2001 to 2009.

• A: 2010
• B: 2011
• C: 2012
• D: 2013
• E: 2014
• F: 2015
• G: 2016
• H: 2017
• J: 2018
• K: 2019
• L: 2020
• M: 2021
• N: 2022
• P: 2023
• R: 2024
• S: 2025
• T: 2026
• V: 2027
• W: 2028
• X: 2029
• Y: 2030

Letters and numbers the year code never uses

A VIN never contains I, O or Q, because they are too easy to confuse with 1 and 0. The model-year position also skips U, Z and the digit 0. That leaves 30 usable characters, and that count is where the 30-year cycle comes from.

This helps when a plate is worn or a customer reads the VIN over the phone. A character in position 10 that looks like O is a 0 or a D, and only D is a valid year code (2013). A reading of U or Z in that position means someone copied the VIN wrong.

Telling 1990 from 2020 with position 7

L stood for 1990 and now stands for 2020. The same goes for every code: A was 1980 and returned as 2010, and K was 1989 and returned as 2019. The 2008 amendment to Part 565 added a tie-breaker for passenger cars, and for multipurpose vehicles and trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 lb or less.

Look at position 7. If it is a number, the year in position 10 falls between 1980 and 2009. If it is a letter, the year falls between 2010 and 2039. Heavier trucks, buses, trailers and motorcycles have no such rule, so for those you place the cycle from the rest of the VIN or the registration papers.

Model year and build date can differ

Position 10 holds the model year the manufacturer assigned, and a car can leave the plant in the calendar year before its model year. A 2026 model built late in 2025 carries T in position 10 and a 2025 build date.

For parts, the build date often decides the answer, because manufacturers introduce running changes on a production date. Our article on model year vs production date shows where to find the build month and how the catalog uses it.

European VINs may not use the 10th digit for the year

The international VIN standard, ISO 3779, and the EU rules leave the second half of the VIN to the manufacturer. They do not require a model-year character in position 10 or a check digit in position 9.

Many cars built for Europe carry a 0 or a character with another meaning in position 10. Read one of those against the North American chart and you get a year that looks plausible and is wrong. For those cars, decode the VIN in the manufacturer catalog, which reads the factory build record.

Checking the year on VINsearch

The free VIN decoder reads position 10 together with the maker and the country, and shows both candidate years when position 7 cannot settle it. The guide to reading a VIN covers the other 16 characters.

For the exact build, open the car in its manufacturer catalog on VINsearch. The VIN resolves to the production date, engine and options, and the part numbers you see are the ones fitted to that build.