VIN Model Year Codes: The 10th Character Table

The 10th character

Position 10 of a 17-character VIN encodes the model year. The sequence uses letters and digits, skipping I, O, Q, U, Z, and 0.

Extracting It Automatically

When you read this data from photos, the VIN OCR API returns it as structured JSON, and you can apply the rules on this page as validation. Try it with the free scanner.

Where This Fits

• The 30-year cycle: A=1980 or 2010, B=1981/2011, C=1982/2012, D=1983/2013, E=1984/2014, F=1985/2015, G=1986/2016, H=1987/2017, J=1988/2018, K=1989/2019, L=1990/2020, M=1991/2021, N=1992/2022, P=1993/2023, R=1994/2024, S=1995/2025, T=1996/2026, V=1997/2027, W=1998/2028, X=1999/2029, Y=2000/2030, then 1–9 for 2001–2009 and 2031–2039.
• Resolving the cycle: Because codes repeat every 30 years, combine the year code with other information, such as the vehicle’s age or the manufacturer’s use of position 7 in some passenger vehicles, to choose the right decade.

Extract It with the API

Read the document from a photo and validate the returned fields.

Prerequisite: Python 3.9+, `pip install requests`, and a STRUCTOCR_API_KEY

import base64
import os
import requests

with open("vin.jpg", "rb") as image_file:
    image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode("ascii")

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.structocr.com/v1/vin",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"]},
    json={"img": image},
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()["data"]
print("vin:", data.get("vin"))
print("confidence:", data.get("confidence"))
print("carrier_type:", data.get("carrier_type"))

Reference Summary

Key facts from this page in structured form, for quick lookup.

{
  "The 10th character": "Position 10 of a 17-character VIN encodes the model year.",
  "The 30-year cycle": "A=1980 or 2010, B=1981/2011, C=1982/2012, D=1983/2013, E=1984/2014, F=1985/2015, G=1986/2016, H=1987/2017, J=1988/2018, K=1989/2019, L=1990/2020, M=1991/2021, N=1992/2022, P=1993/2023, R=1994/2024, S=1995/2025, T=1996/2026, V=1997/2027, W=1998/2028, X=1999/2029, Y=2000/2030, then 1–9 for 2001–2009 and 2031–2039..",
  "Resolving the cycle": "Because codes repeat every 30 years, combine the year code with other information, such as the vehicle’s age or the manufacturer’s use of position 7 in some passenger vehicles, to choose the right decade.."
}