Subaru VIN Decoder

car

Your Subaru’s VIN reveals everything about the vehicle. It discloses the vehicle's country of origin, type, model, manufacturing year, and engine size, among other facts. It can also give away critical information regarding the car, such as if it has been stolen or modified.

When buying a used Subaru, decoding the VIN is an essential step you must consider. With a Subaru VIN decoder, you are able to determine if a used Subaru vehicle is worth purchasing.

Where to Find a Subaru’s VIN

It is quite easy to find the VIN if you have Subaru’s documents in hand, including vehicle registration papers, purchase contracts, and insurance or lease policies. You can also locate the Subaru’s VIN in the following places on the car, depending on the model:

  • The build plate of the car's engine bay;
  • The build plate is located at the passenger side "B" pillar;
  • The door jamb from the driver's side;
  • The door jamb from the passenger's side;
  • Under the windshield (driver's side);
  • Near the vehicle's firewall;
  • Near the steering column;
  • The dashboard tag from the driver's side;
  • The top of the strut tower.

It is also available to use the photo guide in your Subaru Owner's Manual to find out the VIN of the vehicle.

How Does a Subaru VIN Decoder Work?

Looking at the 17-digit VIN can be baffling at first. But once you learn how to understand the code, you will find it easy to interpret what the VIN tells you about the Subaru car. Here's a simple guide to understanding how the Subaru VIN number decoder works:

  • First Character: Country Code
  • Second Character: Manufacturer
  • Third Character: Manufacturing Division or Vehicle Type
  • Fourth Character: Line Type
  • Fifth Character: Body Type
  • Sixth Character: Engine Type
  • Seventh Character: Trim and Model Type
  • Eighth Character: Restraint
  • Ninth Character: Check Digit
  • Tenth Character: Model Year
  • Eleventh Character: Manufacturing Plant
  • Twelfth to Seventeenth Characters: Sequential Production Numbers

When the first three characters are combined, it indicates the WMI (World Manufacturer Identifier). And the fourth to ninth characters are the VDS (Vehicle Descriptor Section) while the 10th to 17th characters are used as the VIS (Vehicle Identifier Section).

If you would like to decipher a Nissan VIN by yourself, click here for further information on each digit.

How to Lookup a Subaru VIN Instantly?

Looking up a Subaru VIN on your own may take a lot of time and effort. To check a Subaru VIN instantly, you can perform a VIN search with a Subaru VIN checker like VinPit, which can do a great job of deciphering the VIN. Here are the simple steps to decipher Subaru VIN with VinPit:

Step 1: Enter the VIN into the search window and run the decoder.

Step 2: Receive the data regarding the vehicle specification and history report.

It's easy to use, fast, and reliable!

What Info Can You Find with a Subaru VIN Decoder?

When you look up a Subaru VIN with VinPit, you can find out information about the vehicle, including:

Vehicle Specifications

A Subaru VIN number can tell you the vehicle's manufacturer, make, model, model year, vehicle type, body style, engine displacement, number of cylinders, transmission type, and more.

Vehicle Condition

You can gain information about the actual mileage, odometer readings, part replacements, maintenance history, and safety ratings to judge the current vehicle condition.

Vehicle History

It is also available to discover the accident history, repair history, safety recalls, title records, and theft records on the vehicle.

Sales History

The VIN decoder service also provides you with a record of the change of vehicle ownership and current market value.

Why Do You Need a Subaru VIN Lookup?

Looking up a Subaru VIN is important to you as a buyer or an owner. With a quick lookup of the Subaru vehicle identification number, you are assured of the kind of vehicle you are getting. Here are the main reasons why you need to use a Subaru VIN lookup to check your vehicle.

Stolen Car

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), vehicle thefts are continuing to increase in many areas of the United States. If you are not careful, you could purchase a stolen car without knowing.

Before committing, run the VIN check through NICB or use an online VIN lookup service to make sure the car was never reported stolen.

Title Status

There are many risks associated with buying a used car without checking the title status. A Subaru VIN lookup can tell if the title is branded or not. The vehicle's price with a branded title will deduct 20% to 40% of its original value, however, the potential repair costs may be high.

You should also run a VIN check to find out if the car still has a lender's lien on it. When you purchase a car with a lien, make sure the lien has been cleared before you make final payments.

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in each state also offers free service to check for the lien on the vehicle. For example, if you are residing in New York, you can look up the title or lien status online or through email.

Fake VIN

When buying a used car, you should be aware of fake VINs. Typically, some unscrupulous sellers take the VIN from a similar car and use it to create a fake VIN for their car to hide some information about the vehicle's history.

A Subaru VIN decoder or the VIN decoder service of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) can reveal critical information about a vehicle that can be used to avoid this used car scam.

For example, if you perform a VIN check and find an older car with only recent details in the vehicle history report, there is a good chance that the car's VIN is fake.

Odometer Fraud

Since used vehicles with fewer miles are worth much more than used vehicles with more miles, some sellers tamper with the vehicle's odometer so that it shows fewer miles than were actually driven.

However, the mileage is recorded on the vehicle history report each time there is a change of ownership or title. Therefore, by running the VIN decoder, you can easily know if the odometers have been rolled back.

If you need to file a personal odometer fraud case, please contact the enforcement agency for odometer fraud in your state.

Open Recalls

Subaru issued a recall for more than 270,000 vehicles in 2022 due to an increased risk of fire, while a do not drive notice and recall was issued for 802 vehicles in 2021 due to the risk of a collision. Also, some of the Subaru vehicles are included in the Takata airbag recalls.

It's important to conduct a VIN search to check if your vehicle has any unresolved recalls. In addition to online VIN decoders, Subaru and NHTSA also offer a free recall lookup tool. If there are any outstanding recalls, be sure to fix them as soon as possible.

Subaru Sample VIN Numbers

Applying the Subaru VIN decoder system, let us have a look at the following VIN numbers and decode them to figure out what they mean:

  • JF1BPDLYF8G102036

This is a Japan-made 2008 Subaru Legacy, manufactured by Fuji Heavy Industries. It has a 5-door wagon body style; the engine type is a 2.0-liter DOHC with four-wheel drive (4WD); it has a 5-speed manual transmission; and it utilizes diesel fuel. It is a midsize (vehicle class) passenger car (vehicle type).

  • 4S4BRBAC4E3274483/li>

This is a US-made 2014 Subaru Outback, manufactured by Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. It is a multi-purpose wagon; it has AWD (all-wheel drive); the engine model is a 2.5-liter flat-4; it has a continuously variable transmission (CVT); and it is the base trim.

Tips for Buying a Used Subaru Car

If you are considering buying a used Subaru vehicle, VinPit has gathered some useful information here.

Subaru VINs provide crucial information to help make better and more informed decisions on buying a used or new Subaru. Thanks to VinPit, decoding a Subaru VIN is quick and easy. Also, check out other VinPit services like license plate lookup.