ATTENTION: You should be prepared to satisfy any insurance requirements when you transfer, register, or title your vehicle.

Custom Insurance Quote

Enter your ZIP to see current rates for your vehicle in minutes.

As we’ve covered in another article, there is a lot of information that a VIN can tell you.

One of those things is a vehicle’s specifications and details. 

By using just the VIN, you can find important vehicle specs that can help you:

  • Find replacement parts for your vehicle. 
  • Make sure you are getting exactly the car you want. 
  • Learn about the vehicle’s engine. 
  • Find out what standard features came with the specific vehicle. 

If you’ve got a VIN you want to check the specs for, head over to our free VIN decoder to get started. 

How do you find what features and specs a vehicle has?

Using your VIN, you can quickly find out what specs the vehicle has. 

If you know how to read a VIN number, you already know that this information is contained within the 4th through 8th digits within the vehicle identification number, which is also known as the Vehicle Description Section (VDS).

What Vehicle Specs can you get with a VIN?

Depending on the manufacturer, the exact vehicle specs you can get from the VIN may vary from vehicle to vehicle. 

However, there are some common ones you can find for most vehicles. These include:

  • Engine specs. 
  • Body, styling, and trim details. 
  • Additional features. 

We’ll go into the different types of information you can get with the VIN below. 

Vehicle Specs by VIN

There is a lot of information contained in a vehicle’s 17-digit VIN number. 

Learn about the things you can find below. 

Basic Specs by VIN

First, there are some basic details included in the VIN. 

These include:

  • The year, make, and model of the vehicle. 
  • Where the vehicle was manufactured.
  • The manufacturing plant name.

Body, Trim, Series Specs

Next up, is some information about the vehicle type. 

These specs will often include:

  • The body type or body class of vehicle. (e.g. motorcycle, passenger car, truck, trailer, etc.).
  • The series of the particular model. 
  • The trim style of the vehicle. 
  • Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.
  • Towing capacity.
  • Number of doors.
  • Number of wheels.
  • Wheel base.
  • Vehicle dimensions. 

Engine and Transmission Specs by VIN

There is often a decent amount of specs on the vehicle’s engine and transmission contained in the VIN as well. 

Engine specs by VIN often include:

  • Engine model and type. 
  • The manufacturer of the engine.
  • Horsepower. 
  • Engine size including number of cylinders and engine displacement.
  • Primary and secondary fuel types.

You’ll also find information about the vehicle’s transmission, such as:

  • Drive type. 
  • Transmission speed and gear ratio. 
  • Transmission style. 

Safety Features By VIN

Another thing you can learn about from the VIN number is any safety features that come standard with the vehicle. 

These will include:

  • Seatbelt and restraint systems.
  • Airbag types. 
  • Airbag locations. 

Additional Features and Packages by VIN

Finally, a VIN can also tell you what types of automated and assistive technologies are included with the vehicle. 

This can tell you things about:

  • Self driving features.
  • Parking assistance. 
  • Cameras. 
  • Hazard detection and warning systems. 
  • Adaptive cruise control systems.
  • Braking features. 

There’s a lot you can learn about your vehicle for free by simply entering the VIN into a decoder tool. 

If you need more information, you can run other types of VIN reports too.