Buick VIN Decoder

What Does Each Character of the VIN Mean?

In this section, we will break down each character of a 2014 Buick Lacrosse VIN: 1G4GB5G30EF213018 as an example. For a comprehensive analysis of all Buick VIN formats, check the Buick decoding chart.

Position	Number	Position	Number
1st	1	10th	E
2nd	G	11th	F
3rd	4	12th	2
4th	G	13th	1
5th	B	14th	3
6th	5	15th	0
7th	G	16th	1
8th	3	17th	8
9th	0

1st Character (Country of Origin):

The first character(1) indicates the Buick country of origin – where it was manufactured. This helps identify the country of production. From the characters below, the sample VIN starting with “1” means the car was manufactured in the United States. Other characters include:

• 1, 4, 5: United States
• 2: Canada
• 3: Mexico
• K: South Korea
• W: Germany

2nd Character (Manufacturer):

The second character (G) in the VIN identifies the vehicle’s manufacturer. With the sample VIN, the second character, “G” denotes General Motors Company as the manufacturer.

3rd Character (Vehicle type or Manufacturing division):

character(4) shows the vehicle type or the division. The sample VIN with “4” as the third character means we are dealing with a Buick. The first three characters can be any of the following:

• 1G4 and 5GA – Buick in America
• 2G4 – Buick in Canada
• 3G4 – Buick in Mexico
• KL4 – Buick in Korea
• LSG – Buick in China
• W04 – Adam Opel in Germany or Poland

4th and 5th Characters:

This represents the model and trim. Some of the characters for some models include:

LaCrosse	Regal	Verano
G1 Early models	G2 Early models	PP Early models
G4, GF Touring	G3 Sport Touring	PR Convenience
GA Base	GK Leather	PS Leather
GB Leather	GL Leather AWD	PT Premium Turbo
GC Leather AWD	GM Fleet	PV 1SV
GD Premium	GN Premium eAssist	PW Sport Touring
GE Premium AWD	GP Premium I
	GP Premium I AWD
	GS Premium II
	GT Premium II AWD
	GU, WS GS
	GV GS AWD

This represents the engine type.

6th character:

This represents the body style. Some of the characters include:

• 1 or 2 – Two door
• 3 – Convertible
• 5 – Sedan
• 6 – Sedan or four door hatchback
• 8 – 5 door wagon or hatchback
• 9 – Touring

7th Character:

This represents the restraint system. Some of the characters include:

• 1 – Seat belts only
• 2 – Dual front airbags
• 3 – Driver’s side airbag
• 4 – Front and side airbags
• 5 – Front airbags and side airbag on driver’s side
• 6 – Front and side airbags with occupancy sensor
• 7 – Front airbags and side airbags for front and rear passengers

8th Character:

This represents the engine type. From the sample VIN with “3” as the eighth character, the Buick car’s engine is a 3.6L LFX V6 Engine Gasoline 304HP. Some other characters include:

• 1 – 3.8 liter V6
• 3 – 3.6 liter V6
• 4, 6 – 2.2 liter four cylinder
• A, D – 2.3 liter four cylinder
• E – 3.4 liter V6 or 5.0 liter V8
• G, P – 5.7 liter V8
• H – 5.0 liter V8
• J – 3.1 liter V6
• K – 3.8 liter V6 or 2.4 liter four cylinder
• R – 2.4 liter four cylinder or 3.0 liter V6
• T – 2.4 liter four cylinder
• V, X – 2.0 liter turbo four cylinder
• W – 4.3 liter V6

9th Character:

The check digit(0) verifies that the VIN is authentic and not a fake string of random characters. It is calculated using a specific algorithm developed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Sorry, it’s a mystery – we have no idea how this works.

10th Character:

The tenth character (E) indicates the model year and alternates between numbers and letters. Each letter represents a specific year; ‘E,’ from the VIN example, signifies the Buick car is a 2014 model.

Here’s a table that can help you quickly identify any car’s model year:

Code/Year	Code/Year	Code/Year	Code/Year	Code/Year
A 1980 B 1981 C 1982 D 1983 E 1984 F 1985 G 1986 H 1987 J 1988 K  1989	L 1990 M 1991 N 1992 P 1993 R 1994 S 1995 T 1996 V 1997 W 1998 X 1999	Y 2000 1 2001 2 2002 3 2003 4 2004 5 2005 6 2006 7 2007 8 2008 9 2009	A 2010 B 2011 C 2012 D 2013 E 2014 F 2015 G 2016 H 2017 J 2018 K 2019	L 2020 M 2021 N 2022 P 2023 R 2024 S 2025 T 2026 V 2027 W 2028 X 2029

11th Character:

The eleventh character (F) shows the manufacturing plant. The sample VIN has “F” as the 11th character, indicating the Buick car was assembled in Fairfax Assembly, KANSAS CITY, KANSAS, UNITED STATES (USA). Other characters include:

• 0 – Landing, MI
• 1, 9 – Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
• 4 – Orion, MI
• 5 – Bowling Green, KY
• 7 – Lordstown, OH
• A – Arlington, TX
• C – Changwon, Korea
• F – Fairfax, KS
• G – Gilwice, Poland
• L – San Luis Potosi, Mexico
• S – Ramoz Arizpe, Mexico
• U – Detroit, MI

12th Character:

These characters (213018) make up the unique sequential number (serial number) of the Buick. This number is nothing more than the production number when the car rolled out from the assembly line.

You can spend the whole time trying to decode a VIN manually and this is usually prone to errors. To get accurate information as quickly as possible, we recommend you use our reliable Buick VIN decoder.