Year Codes Reference
ISO / NHTSA year letters at position 10. 2010 is A, not 0.
How ISO year codes work
Position 10 encodes the model year only when the plant follows ISO 3779 / NHTSA. Letters A–Y (skip I, O, Q, U, Z) and digits 1–9 cycle every 30 years, so A is 1980 or 2010 — never the digit 0. For vehicles after 2010 we show the newer year.
When we do not decode a year
ISO year letters are required only on North American VINs (first character 1–5). Plants in Japan, Europe, Korea, and elsewhere often put 0, U, or Z at position 10. Those VINs are valid; we omit the model year instead of inventing one.
ISO year letters
Not ISO year letters
These characters are legal in a VIN but are not ISO / NHTSA year codes. They appear at position 10 on many vehicles built outside North America.
Used outside North America
Used outside North America
Used outside North America