France free VIN decoder and lookup
Decode the VIN of a car from France: make, model, model year and engine, for free. The VIN is on the certificat d’immatriculation (carte grise), field E.
How VINs from France look
Cars built in France carry VINs that start with VF–VR: the first two characters are the country code given by ISO 3780, the third identifies the maker. Characters 4–8 describe the model and engine, the 10th is usually the model year and the last six are the serial number.
Cars built in France: the codes to look for
Many plants use the maker's home code (a Volkswagen built abroad can still start with WV), so the first three characters name the maker; the 11th character, the plant code, tells where the car was built.
What the free decoder reads for a car from France
For a European or other non-US VIN the decoder finds the maker from the first three characters and estimates the model and engine from VINs with the same pattern decoded before. Many European makers do not put the model year in the 10th character, so the year comes from the model's production years or the documents (date of first registration).
Official checks in France
Links to the official services; each opens in a new tab.
France VIN check: vehicle history · What each VIN character means